Sunday's winter league action with the Pirates' players and friends...
As usual, the Arizona Fall League has Sunday off.  Guess who is leading the AFL in RBI?  That's right, it's OF Andrew Lambo.
The Australian League also has a few days off, with the Adelaide Bite and Quincy Latimore back in action on Wednesday.


 VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
 
Tigres de Aragua  6,  Cardenales de Lara  4  --  A 4-run 4th inning gave Los Tigres the edge over Los Cardenales.  A pair of singles opened the inning, then after a fly out, CF Jorge Cortes loaded the bases with a single into right field.   Lara changed pitchers, but he gave up three more singles.  The first drove in one run, then SS Ronny Cedeno singled in two more runs.  A passed ball put runners onto second and third bases, and RF/LF Lastings Milledge's single drove in the fourth run of the inning.  Los Tigres' first run came on a solo home run that opened the game in the top of the 1st.  Cedeno singled and Milledge walked after the home run, but they did not score in that inning.  Aragua added a run on a double and a fielding error in the 2nd inning.  Cedeno also singled in the 3rd inning, for a total of 3 hits in the game.  C Raul Chavez was hitless in 5 at-bats.  Lara also scored one run in the 1st inning, to tie the score.  Los Cardenales took a 3-2 lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, but that lead lasted only a few minutes, until Aragua scored 4 in the 4th.  

Aguilas del Zulia  10,  Navegantes del Magallanes  4  --  Los Aguilas also had a 4-run inning, the 9th, to cap their scoring and take the win.  LF Mike Ryan singled in the 1st inning for Magallanes but did not come around to score.  Magallanes scored one run in the 3rd and another in the 4th.  In the 9th, Los Navegantes loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, then scored one run on SS Argenis Diaz's sacrifice fly.  Another single plated one more run, but a double play ended the rally.  


Los Bravos de Margarita are reporting that manager Luis Dorante has been hospitalized with kidney failure.  He will be out for two weeks.

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Peoria Javelinas 8, Mesa Solar Sox 7

With four more games to play, the Solar Sox are teetering on the edge of being eliminated from the Arizona Fall League playoffs. If they lose any one of their remaining games, they will not be able to catch up to the Scottsdale Scorpions.

Tonight, a 5-run 7th inning gave the Javelinas the win, and it happened with Aaron Pribanic on the mound. Pribanic relieved Jacob Diekman (Phillies) to begin the bottom of the 7th. The inning began with a single, then a pop out. A double scored one run, then a single and a fielding error by 2B Josh Harrison added a second run. The next three batters each brought in a run: an RBI double, a fielder's choice, and a throwing error by SS Andrew Romine (Angels). Pribanic walked another batter, and then was relieved by Steven Geltz (Angels), who ended the inning with a strikeout. The 5 runs gave the Javelinas an 8-6 lead, and the Solar Sox could not catch up.

Peoria was the first onto the scoreboard, with a run on a double and a single in the bottom of the 2nd, charged to Mesa starter Robert Carson (Mets). Chris Carpenter (Cubs) pitched the 4th inning, and he also allowed a run on a double and a single. Kyle Smit (Cubs) pitched a scoreless 5th, then Diekman gave up a run in the 6th on a triple and an RBI ground out.

The Solar Sox took the lead in the 3rd inning, when they scored 2 runs. Josh Harrison led off the frame with a walk, then stole second base. He moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch. 3B Josh Vitters (Cubs) also walked and stole second base, and he scored on LF John Tolisano's (Blue Jays) single. Doubles were the hit of choice in the 4th inning. RF Andrew Lambo led off with a single, then doubles by C Kai Gronauer (Mets), Harrison, and Romine accounted for 3 runs. A walk and another RBI single by Tolisano gave the Solar Sox a 6-2 lead. Tolisano collected his third RBI single in the 8th inning, driving in Romine, who had doubled. Lambo, Gonauer, and Harrison all singled to load the bases in the 9th, but the threat ended with a grounder force out.  DH Jordy Mercer had one hit in his 5 plate appearances, a single in the 7th inning.  

The Solar Sox and the Arizona Fall League have Sunday off, as usual.  

Cheering for the Pirates' farmhands and friends in Saturday's winter league games...

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Cardenales de Lara  2,  Tigres de Aragua  1  --  Brian Bass suffered the loss for Los Tigres, though he did not pitch poorly.  Bass threw 7.2 innings and scattered 5 hits and 3 walks.  He gave up a run on a single and a double in the 3rd inning, and another on a hit batter and a double in the 6th.  A walk and a double play on a bouncer back to the mound started the 8th inning, then Bass was relieved.  Los Tigres scored their only run in the 5th inning.  A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for SS Ronny Cedeno, whose sacrifice fly plated the run.  Cedeno singled in the 1st inning.  LF Lastings Milledge singled in the 4th inning, but he was picked off.  DH Hector Gimenez doubled in the 8th, but was left on base.  CF Jorge Cortes was the only Tigres batter with 2 hits, both singles.  Romulo Sanchez pitched to two batters in the 6th for Lara -- he walked Milledge, then got a ground out.

Navegantes del Magallanes  6,  Leones del Caracas  3  --  Sean Gallagher earned his third win for Magallanes, going 5 innings in this start.  Gallagher faced only one batter over the minimum over the first three innings, allowing just a walk in the top of the 1st.  He allowed a lead-off homer to DH Jesus Guzman in the 4th, then a single and a double in that inning.  Guzman got to Gallagher again in the 5th, with a 2-run homer.  Jean Machi earned his 5th save of the season with a scoreless top of the 9th for Magallanes, allowing only a single to 

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DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Tigres del Licey  5,  Toros del Este  2  --  C Jason Jaramillo drove in one of Los Toros' runs with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning, but Los Toros would not score after that.  SS Pedro Ciriaco singled in the 9th innning, but was left on base.  Los Tigres scored one run in the 3rd, and tied the game with a solo homer in the 5th.  Licey took the lead in the 6th.  Pinch-hitter Jake Fox began the rally with a single, and he came in on an RBI single.   C Robinzon Diaz gave the team a pair of insurance runs with a 2-RBI single.  

Left over from late Friday night and early Saturday morning:

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

Adelaide Bite  13,  Melbourne Aces 2  (Game 1) --  The Bite continued chomping on the Aces in this 7-inning game.  LF Quincy Latimore got the scoring started for Adelaide in the bottom of the 1st with a 3-run homer that followed a pair of lead-off singles.  The Aces scored one run in the 2nd when two singles and two hit batters forced in a run.  A single, a stolen base, and two ground outs gave Melbourne another run in the 3rd, bringing the score to 3-2.  It was all Adelaide after that.  In the 4th, a single, a balk, and a hit batter put two runners on base, and RBI singles by 3B Stefan Welch and Latimore brought in 2 runs.  The Bite batted around in the 5th to plate 5 runs.  A throwing error, a walk, another balk, an RBI single and a 2 RBI double brought in 3 runs.  At that point, the Melbourne pitcher was ejected from the game.  Latimore reached on a throwing error, which added 2 more runs.  Another 2-RBI double and a sacrifice fly gave the Bite 3 runs in the 6th inning.

Bite   8,  Aces  3  (Game 2)  --  It didn't get any better for Melbourne in the night-cap, though they did post more hits (10).  Adelaide starter Dushan Ruzic scattered 5 hits over the first 6 innings, then gave up one run on a walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly in the 7th.  Two doubles and two singles gave the Aces their other 2 runs in the 8th.  The Bite bats were also quiet for the first three innings, then LF Quincy Latimore started pounding the ball again in the 4th.  His 2-run homer got things started, and the Bite added another run on a double and a single for a 3-0 lead.  Latimore's second homer of the game and third of the day opened the 6th inning.  Then he picked up his fourth RBI of the game in the bottom of the 7th inning.  A walk, a wild pitch, and two throwing errors gave Adelaide one run, then another walk and Latimore's RBI grounder plated the second run of the inning.  Three singles plus a wild pitch and a passed ball added 2 more runs to the Bite's total in the 8th inning, to give the Bite a 4-0 record in the new season. 

Quincy Latimore currently has a .429 average (third best in the league).  He leads the ABL with 3 homers, and teammate Ben Wigmore is next with 2.  Latimore and Wigmore also top the RBI list -- 8 for Latimore and 6 for Wigmore.  Guess who's on top of the SLG list?  Latimore with 1.071 and Wigmore with .933.  OPS?  1.601 for Latimore, 1.404 for Wigmore.  Yes, a very small sample, but we can enjoy it while it lasts.

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MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

Algondoneros de Guasave  16,  Venados de Mazatlan  1  --  It's the start of deer season in Indiana, and somehow that must have translated down to Mexico.  Guasave posted 21 hits, with each member of the starting line-up collecting at least one hit.  Yurendell de Caster contributed a 3-run homer in Guasave's 6-run 7th inning.  Los Venados scored only one run, which (briefly) tied the score in the 2nd inning.  Rogelios Noris came in as a defensive replacement later in the game, and he had a hit in his only plate appearance.