Pirates’ players and friends in Friday’s winter league action:
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Gigantes del Cibao 6, Leones del Escogido 3
RF Starling Marte continued his happy return to the playing field after missing some time with muscle strain. Today he went 2-for-4 with a double and a single. That’s 5-for-15 in the past three games after going hitless in his first game back. Marte was also hit by a pitch in Los Leones’ 4th inning rally, when they scored all 3 of their runs. Former Pirate Juan Perez pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his 2nd Save for Los Gigantes.
Tigres del Licey 4, Toros del Este 1
A walk and two singles in the top of the 1st gave Los Toros their only run of the game. That rally ended when 1B Matt Hague bounced into a double play. Hague went 0-for-4 for the night. Licey came back to scored one run in each of the 1st and the 2nd innings, then 2 more runs in the 3rd.
Aguilas Cibaenas 15, Estrellas de Oriente 2
Los Aguilas buried Los Estrellas with 19 hits for 15 runs, including a 7-run 6th inning. Los Estrellas recorded 12 hits of their own, but left 11 runners on base. LF Jake Fox went 0-for-2 with a walk in the game.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Tigres de Aragua 7, Navegantes del Magallanes 5
Every member of Los Tigres’ lineup collected at least one hit, for a total of 13 hits by Aragua. SS Ronny Cedeno and CF Jonel Pacheco had two hits each, while 1B Hector Gimenez and LF Lastings Milledge had one hit each. Milledge’s hit was a solo homer in the 3rd inning. Pacheco singled and scored in Los Tigres’ 3-run 3rd inning rally. Cedeno and Gimenez both doubled in the 4th, when Los Tigres again scored 3 runs.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Leones de Ponce 2, Indios de Mayaguez 0
Los Leones scored on a solo homer in the 4th, and a run on two singles and an error in the 8th. Los Indios were held to just 3 hits, scattered throughout the game, and even with 3 walks, never had more than one runner on base in any inning. SS Benji Gonzalez was 0-for-2 with a walk for Ponce, and former Pirate farmhand RJ Rodriguez earned his 10th Save of the season for Ponce. Los Indios’ Jeremy Farrell did not play tonight. UPDATE: Farrell was released, according to Jorge. He was hitting a weak .178, with 4 doubles, one homer, and 7 RBI in 19 games. He had 3 walks and 19 strikeouts. (Thanks, Jorge!)
