Rays Winter Leagues Recap: Alex Torres Loses Despite 7 One-Hit IP

Control issues have been plaguing Alex Torres in Winter Ball after they were the bane of his existence in the 2014 regular season as well. However, Friday night was something entirely different as Torres was dominant yet lost because of nothing other than bad luck.

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Dominican Winter League: Estrellas de Oriente 3, Aguilas Cibaenas 1

Manny Ramirez had the only RBI for Cibaenas as he went 0 for 3 with a walk while Derek Dietrich went 2 for 3 with a walk. Dietrich now has a 5-game hitting streak and has looked good in his last 10 games, hitting to a .313/.439/.375 line with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Dietrich is still trying to establish himself in the big leagues after the Tampa Bay Rays traded him to the Miami Marlins, and Miami would like to see his trademark power show up quite a bit more before the Winter Leagues are through.

Mexican Pacific League: Tomateros de Culiacán 3, Venados de Mazatlán 2

Olmo Rosario had another strong game for the Venados in their loss, going 2 for 4 with a double. He has a .366/.409/.537 line in his last 10 games–although his numbers would be quite similar if we went back to 15 instead–and a .295/.358/.448 line on the MPL season. Pretty good for a player that hasn’t played affiliated ball since 2008.

Aguilas de Mexicali 7, Charros de Jalisco 5

Brendan Harris had another strong game for the Charros, going 2 for 3. Harris keeps going strong through 13 MPL games, hitting to a .333//.429/.405 line. Harris played just 6 games in affiliated ball this year, but he hopes to keep playing well and get an invite to somebody’s big league camp.

Matt Gorgen recorded the win for Mexicali, tossing 0.2 scoreless innings allowing a walk. Gorgen hasn’t exactly been dominant–he has managed an 8-4 strikeout to walk ratio with 10 hits allowed in 11 innings pitched yet has a 0.82 ERA. The good news is that Gorgen struck out 3 while walking none in his two appearances prior to this game, and he will need more results like that to continue being a key piece of the Aguilas’ bullpen.

Venezuelan Winter League: Cardenales de Lara 5, Leones del Caracas 4

If we really want to talk about someone playing out of his mind, that would be Daniel Mayora. Mayora went 3 for 4 with a double for Caracas to give him a ridiculous .444/.500/.741 line in his last 10 games. Henry Rodriguez is a little less hot after going 1 for 5 in this game.

Then there is Bobby Abreu. The veteran big leaguer is back in Winter Ball for the Leones and went 0 for 3 with a walk in this game. He’s now 0 for his first 10, although he has walked twice. Abreu retired from the major leagues back in September, but here he is playing for Caracas nonetheless. In all probability, he is truly done, but he has to be dreaming of another team calling him up and giving him a big league chance like the New York Mets gave him last season.

Tiburones de La Guaira 9, Tigres de Aragua 3

The three Rays-related players for La Guaira all had strong games. Cesar Suarez went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Alex Cabrera went 2 for 4 with a walk and an RBI, and Miguel Rojas made it three 2-for-4 days, also walking, driving in a run, and scoring a run. Suarez has reeled off three straight 2-hit games delivering 2 triples, 2 doubles, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored between them.

Cabrera turns 44 this month yet has a .275/.331/.458 line in 130 plate appearances for the Tiburones. Cabrera was a legend in Japan, hitting at least 49 homers in three straight years, and his legend continues now. Rojas is on the opposite edge of the spectrum as a 25 year old with a chance to make a big league impact for the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, he needs to start hitting more consistently, and that has proven to be an uphill battle for him.

Bravos de Margarita 2, Aguilas del Zulia 1

Alex Torres and the Aguilas del Zulia one-hit the Bravos and lost. How frustrating is that? The two runs Torres allowed came in the second and fifth innings. The former run came on a two-base error and two groundouts while the latter came on a solo home run by Luis Jimenez.

Overall, Torres went 7 innings allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on 1 hit, striking out 8 while walking 2. He was completely dominant, a great sign for him after he had seemingly walked everybody in previous outings.

Taylor Motter went 0 for 3 while Matt Nevarez walked both batters he faced in the Bravos win. It’s pretty appropriate that both Rays-related players for Margarita played poorly. Jason Pridie, meanwhile, went 1 for 4 in the Zulia loss.

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