Cheering for the Pirates' players and friends in the winter league playoff games on Saturday night...
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE Tigres de Aragua 5, Leones de Caracas 2 -- The Big Cats had to have a one-game playoff because they finished tied for second place in the round robin tournament. Former Pirate farmhand Ronald Uviedo made the start for Los Leones, and while he made it through the first inning, Los Tigres got to him in the next three innings. DH Hector Gimenez blasted a solo homer in the 2nd inning. A walk, a sacrifice bunt by CF Jorge Cortes, and two RBI's on a double and a single gave Aragua another 2 runs in the 3rd inning. LF Lastings Milledge started the 4th inning rally with a walk, moved to second on a ground out, and to third on a wild pitch. An RBI single plated Milledge, and sent Uviedo to the showrs. The Caracas reliever gave up a single to Cortes, then another RBI single gave Aragua their final run. Caracas scored their first run on a solo homer by LF Mike Ryan in the 2nd inning. Ryan also singled in the 7th inning, and came around to score from first base on 2B Jose Castillo's RBI double. Castillo singled in the bottom of the 9th, and C Carlos Maldonado reached base on an error, and was replaced by a pinch-runner. With two outs, Wil Ledezma came on to make the final out, earning a save. Los Tigres will now face Los Caribes in the championship series.
DOMINICAN LEAGUE Toros del Este 11, Estrellas de Oriente 2 -- Los Toros posted 14 hits as they ran over Los Estrellas, who hurt their own cause with 6 errors. The scoring began with 3 runs in the top of the 1st. SS Pedro Ciriaco began a rally in the 3rd with a lead-off single. He scored on a fielding error and a single, and an RBI ground out brought in another run. A walk, a single, and another error in the 4th made the score 6-0. Los Estrellas got onto the scoreboard with a solo homer in the 6th, and scored again with two singles in the 7th. Los Toros kept going, though, scoring 2 runs in the 7th on yet another error, a walk, and a double. Ciriaco walked in the 8th, and scored on a 3-run homer. Ciriaco singled in the 6th as well. Franquelis Osoria pitched the top of the 9th for Los Estrellas, and worked around his teammates' 6th error to keep Los Toros from scoring in that inning. Los Toros now lead the championship series 4 games to none, and need one more for the series sweep.
Lots of playoff action in the winter leagues on Friday night:
DOMINICAN LEAGUE Toros del Este 2, Estrellas de Oriente 1 -- SS Pedro Ciriaco, who has not been in Los Toros' recent playoff games, started off the scoring in this game. He singled to lead off the 3rd inning, and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. He stole second base, and scored on an RBI single. Ciriaco also reached base on an error in the 5th, and made it as far as third base, but did not score. Los Toros scored again on a walk and two singles in the 7th inning. Los Toros' starter Fernando Abad pitched 6 no-hit innings, including 6 strikeouts. The only runner to reach base against him got there on a fielding error in the 6th, and Abad finished the inning with two grounder force outs. Reliever Jairo Asencio followed Abad with 2 perfect innings. Los Estrellas' only hit and only run came in the top of the 9th, when reliever Julio Manon gave up a walk and a double, and the runner from third base scored on a wild pitch. Los Toros have won the first three games of this 9-game series.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE Leones de Ponce 1, Criollos de Caguas 0 -- Pitching ruled in the Puerto Rican League also. Ponce starter Willie Collazo pitched 9 shut-out innings, allowing just 2 singles and 2 walks. SS Luis Figueroa walked in the 1st inning, and he was Los Criollos' only base runner for the first 6 innings. Collazo allowed a single and a walk in the 7th, and another single in the 8th. Los Leones posted 7 hits and had 5 walks, but they fell victim to 4 double plays, and left 8 runners on base. The only run scored in the 2nd, when the inning opened with a double and two singles. One of the double plays cut the rally short. This series is now tied at one game each.
The Pirates have added a minor league catcher, Kawika Emsley-Pai, to the fold. The Washington State native was the Diamondbacks' 10th round pick in the most recent (2010) draft, signed out of University of Texas. He made his pro debut with the Yakima Bears in the Northwest (short season) league, where he caught a bit more than half of the Bears' games. In his 42 appearances, Emsley-Pai hit .167, with 3 doubles and 8 RBI. He made just one error behind the plate and had 8 passed balls. Base runners had about a 50-50 chance against him -- 17 stolen bases allowed, and 19 runners thrown out. The 22-year-old was released by the D'backs, but the Pirates think he will be able to fill in, probably either at State College or West Virginia.
On to the winter league games: VENEZUELAN LEAGUE Bravos de Margarita 9, Leones de Caracas 5 -- Los Bravos scored 5 runs in the 7th inning, to put them out of reach for Los Leones. Los Leones scored early, with a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st, and 2 more runs on a single and four walks in the 3rd. C Carlos Maldonado had an RBI walk in that inning. Margarita got onto the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the 3rd, on a single, a triple, and a sacrifice fly. An error, two singles, and a wild pitch gave Los Bravos 2 more runs in the 5th, to tie the score. In the 7th, Los Bravos pounded out a double, three singles, and a grand slam to take the lead. Jean Machi took the mound for Margarita for the final two innings. He struck out the side in the 8th, then struck out 2 more in the 9th, but also gave up a solo homer, and a single and a walk after the homer. LF Mike Ryan went 0-for-4 for Caracas.
Tigres de Aragua 3, Aguilas de Zulia 2 -- A pair of doubles began the bottom of the 11th for Los Tigres, for the walk-off win. Neither team had a hit for the first 3 innings of the game. Zulia scored their 2 runs in the 6th, beginning with a single, a bunt, and an RBI single. Wil Ledezma came on in relief for Aragua, and he gave up an RBI double, to give Zulia a 2-0 lead. Los Tigres tied the score in the 7th inning when LF Lastings Milledge reached base on an error, and came in on a 2-run homer. Both teams threatened in the 8th, but neither scored, and then the bats were mostly quiet until the 11th inning. CF Jorge Cortes singled into left field in the 5th for Los Tigres, but was out when he tried to reach second base. Cortes also doubled in the 8th inning, and was replaced by a pinch-runner, who got as far as third base but did not score.
In the Dominican championship series, Los Toros del Este took a 2-game-to-0 lead with a 3-1 win over Los Estrellas de Oriente. Two runs in the top of the 8th broke a 1-1 tie and gave Los Toros the win. The Puerto Rican League had a night off from their playoff series. The Mexican Pacific League will begin their championship series on Friday.
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE Canberra Cavalry 5, Sydney Blue Sox 1 (Thursday) -- The Cavalry scored 3 runs in the 5th, giving them plenty of insurance over the Blue Sox, who were held to just 3 hits. Jarryd Sullivan pitched 3 scoreless innings for Sydney, allowing only one hit. He gave up a double in the 6th, then retired the side in order in the next two innings.
Adelaide Bite 12, Brisbane Bandits 0 (Friday) -- The Bite chomped on the Bandits, in a game that ended early, due to a 12-run lead after 6.5 innings. Back-to-back homers gave the Bite 5 runs in the 2nd inning -- a grand slam by 3B Stan Welch (Mets), then a solo blast. Another solo homer began the 3rd inning, and another grand slam, by 1B Tom Brice, came in the 4th. Two singles, a walk, and two RBI ground outs finished the scoring in the 5th. DH Quincy Latimore went 0-for-3 with a walk for the Bite. After a dribbly little hit down the third base line by the Bandit's lead-off hitter, Bite starter Brandon Maurer (Mariners) retired the next 21 batters he faced, including 8 strikeouts. The Bite finish the season with a double-header against the Bandits on Saturday. They are currently a half-game behind league-leading Perth Heat in the standings. The Heat are scheduled to play a double-header against the Melbourne Aces on Saturday.
An update on some recent roster moves by the Pirates:
Pitcher Jose Veras took a few days, but did sign a minor league contract with the Pirates. Veras is a 30-year-old who was first signed by the Rays in 1998. He began playing in the US in 2002, and split both the 2003 and 2004 at the AA and AAA levels. He was granted free agency after 2004 and was signed by the Rangers for 2005, spending that season at the AAA level, where he made 57 relief appearances with a 3.80 ERA. Veras signed with the Yankees after that, and pitched in their organization for the next 3+ seasons. He split that time between the AAA level (2.56 ERA in 95 innings, with 115 strikeouts) and the major league club (4.50 ERA in 102 innings, with 94 strikeouts). The 2008 season was his best of those, with 60 relief appearances for the Yankees and 3.59 ERA and a 5-3 record. In 2009, the Yankees traded Veras to the Cleveland Indians, where he finished the last 3 months of the season. The Dominican native made 22 relief appearances for Cleveland with a 1-2 record and a 4.38 ERA, with 22 strikeouts. He signed with the Marlins for 2010 and began the season in AAA New Orleans. He began the season slowly, but got better in May and was tough in June: a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings (10 games) with 12 strikeouts. That earned him a promotion to the Marlins, where he finished the season with 48 relief appearances. In 48 innings, he earned a 3-3 record and a 3.75 ERA with 54 strikeouts. Veras did not play winter ball this off-season. The righty will be competing for a spot in the Pirates' bullpen
C Wyatt Toregas has also been inked to a minor league contract. He was the Cleveland Indians' 24th pick in the 2004 draft, and began his pro career in 2005, reaching the AAA level in 3008 and the major leagues in 2009. Toregas hit .284 for the Columbus Clippers (AAA) in 60 games in 2009, with 7 homers and 69 RBI. In 19 appearances for the Indians in that season, he hit only.176 with 6 RBI. The Virginia native was still on the Indians' 40-man roster at the beginning of 2010, but spent the entire season in the minor leagues, possibly battling injuries. At AA Akron, he got into just 17 games, hitting .203 with one home run and 6 RBI. At AAA Columbus, he was in just 14 games and hit .200 with 2 homers and 6 RBI. He has a slim chance of sticking with the Pirates out of spring training, but will more likely be in Indianapolis to begin 2011.
In addition to Veras and Toregas, a few other minor leaguers have been invited to big league camp for spring training: catchers Tony Sanchez and Eric Fryer, infielders Chase d'Arnaud and Brian Friday, and outfielder Andrew Lambo.
The winter league playoffs are winding down. The Puerto Rican League championship series (best of 7) between Los Criollos de Caguas and Los Leones de Ponce will begin on Wednesday. The Dominican League championship series will be played between Los Estrellas de Oriente and Los Toros del Este, and that series (best of 9) will also begin on Wednesday.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE Caribes de Anzoategui 4, Bravos de Margarita 2 -- Jean Machi pitched a perfect top of the 9th inning for Margarita, but it was too late. Los Bravos scored first, with a solo homer in the 4th. Los Caribes tied the score in the 6th with a run on a single and a double. They added 2 unearned runs in the 7th, started with a fielding error and a bunt. With two outs, Jhonathan Ramos came on in relief for Margarita, but he gave up a double and a single, each of which drove in a run. Another solo home run gave Los Caribes an insurance run in the top of the 8th. Los Bravos rallied in the bottom of the 8th, scoring on three doubles, but the rally ended there, giving Los Caribes the win.
Tigres de Aragua 4, Aguilas de Zulia 2 -- LF Lastings Milledge started Los Tigres' 3-run rally with a lead-off single in the 2nd inning. A sacrifice bunt with a throwing error and a single with a fielding error brought in two runs, and a sacrifice fly added the third run. CF Jorge Cortes also doubled for Aragua in that inning. Milledge worked the second of two walks in the 5th inning, and an insurance run came in on an RBI single. Milledge also walked in the 3rd inning. Zulia scored one run in the 6th on a double, a single, and a sacrifice fly, and they also collected a solo homer in the 8th.
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Algodoneros de Guasave 8, Tomateros de Culiacan 2 -- Guasave had two big innings in their win. The 5th began with a solo homer, then a hit batter, two singles, and a ground out added 2 more runs. They scored 4 more in the 7th, after two outs had been recorded. A hit batter and two singles brought in one run. Another hit batter loaded the bases, and an RBI single plated a run. 1B Yurendell de Caster drove in 2 more runs with a double. SS Luis Cruz went 0-for-4 for Culiacan. The win gives Guasave the series win (4 games to 2) and advances them to the championship round, where they will face Los Yaquis de Obregon, beginning on Friday.
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE Adelaide Bite 6, Brisbane Bandits 1 -- DH Quincy Latimore was back in action in Australia early on Wednesday morning with the Bite. He walked in his first at-bat, then in his second trip to the plate, he drove in the Bite's first two runs with an RBI double. Two walks and a wild pitch had given the Bite two runners in scoring position in the top of the 3rd, ready for Latimore to bring them in. The Bandits got one run back in the bottom of the 4th. Adelaide came back with another run on a hit batter, a walk, and a double in the 6th. The Bite added 3 more runs in the top of the 9th, beginning with a solo homer. A double, two singles, and a sacrifice fly plated two more runs. Latimore reached base on an error in the 8th, and was replaced by a pinch-runner.
