Games of December 20

Another big day for Willians Astudillo!

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Twins:  Willians Astudillo (Anzoategui) was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gregorio Petit (Caracas) was 2-for-4 and scored once.

MARGARITA 2, ZULIA 1 IN MARGARITA (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

A wild pitch brought home a run in the fourth to break a 1-1 tie.  Tyler Marincov was 2-for-3 with a home run.  Omar Poveda pitched five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk and striking out four.  For Zulia, Jose Flores was 3-for-3 with a double.  Charlie Rosario pitched five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out one.

MARGARITA 3, ZULIA 2 IN MARGARITA (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Trailing 2-0, Margarita scored three in the fifth to take the lead.  Omar Bencomo struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and three walks.

LARA 2, ARAGUA 1 IN ARAGUA (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Henry Urrutia singled home a run in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie.  Nestor Molina pitched six innings, giving up one run on one hit and no walks and striking out five.  For Aragua, Wil Ledezma pitched 5.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and three walks and striking out one.

LARA 7, ARAGUA 6 IN ARAGUA (GAME 2--8 INNINGS)

Chuck Taylor singled home a run in the eighth to break a 6-6 tie.  Carlos Rivero was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and four RBIs.

ANZOATEGUI 10, CARAACAS 9 IN ANZOATEGUI

Balbino Fuenmayor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for Anzoategui.  Astudillo had another big day, as set forth above.  Rene Reyes was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth), scoring three times.  Fuenmayor's homer was his seventh.  Rafael Ortega hit a three-run homer, his fourth.  For Caracas, Jesus Aguilar was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and three walks, scoring three times.  Ramon Cabrera hit a three-run homer, his third.  Jesus Guzman hit a two-run homer, his fourth.

LA GUAIRA 4, MAGALLANES 1 IN LA GUAIRA

La Guaira scored in three of the first five innings to build a 4-0 lead.  Junior Guerra pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out six.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

Twins:  None.

MAZATLAN 5, JALISCO 3 IN JALISCO

Mazatlan scored two in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead.  Jalisco had the tying run on base with one out in the eighth.  Carlos Munoz was 3-for-4 with a double.  Roy Merritt pitched six innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out two.  For Jalisco, Manny Rodriguez was 4-for-5 with a home run, his tenth.

CULIACAN 5, OBREGON 4 IN OBREGON

Culiacan scored three in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.  Obregon had the tying and winning runs on base with two out in the ninth.  For Obregon, Carlos De Leon struck out six in 4.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up only a walk.

NAVOJOA 5, HERMOSILLO 0 IN NAVOJOA

Navojoa scored one in the first, three in the second, and one in the seventh.  Diego Madero hit a three-run homer, his second.  Tyler Kane pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and five walks and striking out four.

MEXICALI 5, LOS MOCHIS 0 IN MEXICALI

Mexicali scored all five runs in the second inning.  Javier Solano pitched seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and striking out five.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

ESCOGIDO 12, ESTRELLAS 4 IN ESCOGIDO

The Estrellas led 3-2 after two, but Escogido scored four in the third to take the lead and five in the seventh to put the game out of reach.  Erik Gonzalez was 4-for-5 with a double.  Ronny Paulino was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Franchy Cordero was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and two walks, scoring three times.  For the Estrellas, Audry Perez was 4-for-5 with a double.

TOROS 6, LICEY 4 AT TOROS

The Toros scored three in the first and led all the way.  Carlos Franco was 3-for-4 with a double.  Manuel Margot was 3-for-5.  Elih Villanueva pitched five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out four.  For Licey, Julio Borbon was 3-for-5.

GIGANTES 4, AGUILAS 2 AT AGUILAS

The Aguilas led 2-0 after five, but the Gigantes got two in the sixth and one in each of the eighth and ninth.  Carlos Paulino hit a home run, his second.  Alfredo Simon pitched 4.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits.  For the Aguilas, Jorge Lopez pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out five.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.