Leones de Escogido (Dominican Republic) 6, Yaquis de Obregon (Mexico) 5 (11 innings)

Especially in the postseason, even players who had appeared to be perfect come apart. Unfortunately, Fernando Rodney fell victim to that on Sunday, but his teammates rallied to win 6-5 in 11 innings. Miguel Tejada gave Escogido an early lead with a second inning 2-run home run, but Obregon rallied back with 4 runs over the next 3 innings. In the 4th inning with the score 2-1 Leones, Jesse Gutierrez doubled to begin the inning and then was singled in by Barbaro Canizarez who scored himself on Marlon Byrd‘s RBI single. But after a sacrifice bunt, Byrd was thrown out by Escogido centerfielder Abraham Almonte trying to score on Oscar Robles‘ singe and Escogido escaped further trouble, and that would loom large later in the game. But after the top of the 5th, Obregon led 4-2 and looked to be in control of the game. But in the bottom of the 5th, Obregon shortstop Alfredo Amezaga made a 1-out error, finally getting the Leones going as they followed it with three straight hits, the last two of whom were a Jordany Valdespin RBI single and a huge go-ahead 2-run double by Hanley Ramirez, as Escogido took a 5-4 lead. That lead would stay in place until the 9th, when Fernando Rodney came in trying to close out the game. But the inning went like no one could have expected.

The inning began in disastrous fashion for Rodney and the Leones as Chris Roberson singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, all with nobody out. But Alfredo Amezaga hit a groundball right back to Rodney, and he was able to get Roberson out in a rundown to assuage some of the pressure. But then Doug Clark singled, advancing Amezaga to third. Jesse Gutierrez struck out, but Clark stole second base. Nevertheless, Rodney was 1 out away from sealing the Escogido win. But a passed ball by catcher Francisco Pena allowed the tying run to score before Rodney was able to escape trouble, and the game went into extra innings. It was a disastrous inning for Rodney as he allowed 3 hits and a walk, but if not for the passed ball, he would have found a way to escape unscathed. But in the 11th, another big leaguer came apart, albeit not as high profile of one, as Luis Ayala went to the mound for Obregon in the 11th. Two singles began the inning before Valdespin was intentionally walked to face Hanley Ramirez. The strategy somehow worked as Ramirez grounded into a force play at home. But Ricardo Nanita blooped a single to end it as Escogido won 6-5, improving to 3-0 in the Caribbean Series, while Mexico dropped to 1-2. Escogido mounted a nice comeback only to see it all come apart-  but they rallied to come away victorious and with just 1 win in their next 3 games, the Caribbean Series championship game awaits.

Navegantes de Magallanes (Venezuela) 3, Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico) 1

The Navegantes got dominant pitching, striking out 14 Caguas batters, as they breezed by the Criollos and took over second place in the Caribbean Series. Magallanes starter Ken Ray blew away Criollos batters, going 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 6 hits, striking out 9 while walking not a single batter. Home runs by Jose Yepez and Jose Castillo, a 2-run shot, gave Ray and the Navegantes all the runs the support they needed. Victor Moreno closed out the game for Magallanes even more dominant than Ray had started it, going 1.2 perfect innings striking out 4 of the 5 batters he faced to seal the Navegantes’ 3-1 win and improve them to 2-1 in the Caribbean Series. Caguas drops to 0-3. Magallanes has come back big-time after getting blown out by the first-place Dominican squad in the Caribbean Series opener, and if they can keep going strong, a rematch with the Leones in the championship game could be oncoming.

Leones de Escogido (Dominican Republic) 6, Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico) 2

With a roster littered with current and former major leaguers, opponents have been no match for the Dominican Winter League champion Leones De Escogido, with the Leones outscoring their opponents 13-4 as they have jumped out to a 2-0 record to begin the Caribbean Series. This game was a pitchers’ duel early on with Caguas holding the edge. Both Criollos starter Carlos Alvarado and Escogido starter Edward Valdez had shutouts going through 4 innings, but Escogido broke through against Alvarado in the top of the 5th on a Luis Jimenez double followed by a passed ball and an error. But in the bottom of the inning, Caguas generated a few fireworks versus Valdez as Aaron Bates doubled before Johnny Monell slammed a 2-run homer to give Caguas a 2-1 lead. But in the 6th, Alvarado departed with a runner on 3rd and 1 out and the bullpen could not do the job, allowing a game-tying double Ricardo Nanita. Jordany Valdespin would and score on an error and a wild pitch the following frame, and Donell Linares sealed the game for the Dominicans with a 3-run home run in the 8th. But while the Escogido offense went off in the last few innings, the most impressive part of the game may have been the Leones’ bullpen. Ramon Garcia, Jailen Peguero, Armando Rodriguez, and finally Rays closer Fernando Rodney in a non-save situation finished off the game with 4.1 innings allowing just 1 hit for the only baserunner while striking out 6. Other notables in the game included Miguel Tejada, who went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored for Escogido, and Hanley Ramirez, who went 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored for the Leones. Escogido improves to 2-0 in the Caribbean Series, now needing merely a split in their next four games in the round-robin tournament to clinch a spot in the championship game.

Navegantes de Magallanes (Venezuela) 4, Yaquis de Obregon (Mexico) 3

Before the Caribbean Series, Magallanes saw its two stars, Pablo Sandoval and Elvis Andrus, elect to leave the team and take some time off before the World Baseball Classic. But it was no stars, no problem for the Navegantes as they came back from a 3-1 deficit after 7 innings to win 4-3. It was a starting pitching matchup of two former big leaguers in this one, with two-time 15-game winner (and two-time 16-game loser) Rodrigo Lopez getting the start for Ovewfon while Ramon Ramirez took the ball for Magallanes. Lopez pitched great, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits in 6 innings, striking out 2 while walking 1, with a Robert Perez home run being his only mistake. Ramirez allowed a Barbaro Canizares RBI single for Obregon’s only run through 6 innings, but Magallanes elected to send him back out for the 7th inning, and that proved disastrous. Ramirez allowed a single, an error, and then an RBI single by ex-big leaguer Karim Garcia to give the Yaquis a 2-1 lead and then reliever Darwin Cubillan could not do his job, allowing a Carlos Valencia RBI single to make it 3-1. But Cubillan then proceeded to strike out the side to strand two runners on base, and that loomed large. Former big leaguer Oscar Villareal entered the game for Obregon in the 8th but could not do the job at all. A Mario Lisson solo homer made it 3-2 before Luis Nunez tied the game on an RBI double, and it was Lisson who emerged the hero as well in the 9th, lacing a walk-off single to end the game as Magallanes won 4-3. Both teams are now 1-1 in the Caribbean, but now Magallanes has some momentum while Obregon has to figure out what happened and recover quickly as each team will play four games over the next four days to determine who will go to the championship game.