On Friday night in the Dominican, Gregory Polanco returned to action and went 0-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. He has reached base in all 15 games he has played and has collected 14 RBI’s. His third inning RBI on a slow ground out to second base, ended up being the game-winning RBI in his team’s 2-0 victory. Polanco had not played since Sunday due to a combination of the flu and family issues.
Oscar Tejeda had an impressive night, going 3-for-4 with the only RBI in his team’s 2-1 loss. He had not played since October 25th. Carlos Paulino also got into the game, catching the last two innings after coming on as a defensive replacement.
Atahualpa Severino struck out the only batter he faced on Friday night. He came on to face Felix Pie with two outs and a man on third, with his team down 6-5 in the sixth inning. Severino has nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
In Australia, Sam Kennelly played second base in both games of a doubleheader, going 1-for-2 in the opener, then going 1-for-4 in the night cap. In game one, his team managed just two singles in a shutout loss. In the second game, Kennelly picked up his first steal, as his team went 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts, getting at least one from six different players. Kennelly finished his first week of the season 4-for-13 with two walks.
Danny Arribas was back behind the plate on Saturday. He has played first base twice and caught three times. Arribas has struggled early on in the ABL season, and today was no different. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and two passed balls. That leaves his 1-for-18 through his first five games.
In Puerto Rico on Friday night, Ivan De Jesus Jr and Jerry Sands were finally able to get a game in thanks to the fact their teams were opponents. Due to poor weather, both teams were able to play just two games in the first week of the season. De Jesus went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. He has played second base in all three games. Jerry Sands went 1-for-4 with a double, but he also struck out three times. He was the designated hitter and batting fifth in the lineup.
In Venezuela, Elias Diaz started for the second game in a row. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Diaz has played just six games in the first month and had not played in back-to-back games prior to tonight. He is 2-for-16 with four walks and two runs scored.
Jose Osuna got his first taste of playing time in two weeks. He came in during the top of the eighth inning with his team trailing 14-6. Osuna singled in his only AB and came around to score a run. He played first base in the eighth inning and left field in the ninth inning.
In Mexico, Ali Solis went 2-for-4 with an RBI. He is hitting .333 in 19 games and already has more hits in Winter ball than he had during the regular season.
In the Veracruz League, Carlos Esqueda went 1-for-3 with a walk. His team was rained out yesterday.
The Colombian League opened it’s season last night, but no boxscore has been published yet. Last year, the league was slow to put up the boxscore all the time, so it looks like that trend is continuing. Check back later for an update. Judging from the game story, Oderman Rocha picked up the loss in relief and both Harold Ramirez and Tito Polo, on the opposing team, had something to do with that.
