The DSL Pirates1 beat the DSL Angels 4-3 today to win the deciding game in the Dominican Summer League Championship series. The last time the Pirates won a Dominican championship was in 2003.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, after Ulises Montilla scored on a ground out by Danny Arribas. Montilla reached on a walk, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and throwing error combo. The Angels battled back, taking a 2-1 lead in the fourth after a one-out single, followed by an RBI triple. That was enough to bounce left-handed pitcher Jovany Lopez from the game.
Omar Basulto, who has pitched well in the playoffs, came in from the bullpen. Prior to this outing, the 19-year-old left-hander had seven shutout innings in the playoffs. He allowed the runner on third to score on a wild pitch, and left the inning with the Pirates down 2-1.
The Pirates came back in the sixth inning with two more runs to take a 3-2 lead. Ulises Montilla and Danny Arribas led off the inning with back to back doubles, tying the game at two. Two straight ground outs brought Arribas home to give the Pirates the lead. Both hitters had one hit each on the day, with Arribas knocking in two RBIs. Arribas had a .308 average in the playoffs.
The Angels tied the game in the seventh. After Basulto got the first two outs of the inning, he issued a walk, followed by two singles. The second single resulted in the tying run. Center fielder Luis Benitez saved an additional run by throwing out a runner at home.
Basulto finished with 3.2 innings pitched, giving up one run on four hits, with a walk and four strikeouts. The Pirates put him in line for the win with a run to lead off the eighth inning. Adrian De Aza, who signed for $150,000 out of the Dominican Prospect League a few years ago, hit a one out single. He was replaced by Ramses Pena, who stole second. Pena was later thrown out trying to steal third, giving the Pirates two outs with a runner (Maximo Rivera) on first. Rivera advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored the go-ahead run on a Pablo Reyes single to center.
Rivera, a highly regarded prospect when he was signed, hit for a .300 average in the playoffs. Reyes hit for a .393 average and came up big in many games, including this one. He spent most of his time in the playoffs at shortstop.
Carlos Ruiz came on to close out the game, getting two outs in the eighth, and pitching a perfect ninth, while striking out two in the process. Ruiz had three saves during the regular season, and this was his second in the playoffs.
