Dominican Winter League Postseason: Aguilas Cibaenas 2, Estrellas de Oriente 0

In the 4th inning of this one, the Aguilas’ Hector Luna took fellow ex-Ray Ramon Ortiz deep for a 2-run home run. That would be the only scoring in the game as both teams got dominant performances from their pitching staffs. For Cibaenas, Dustin Richardson went 7 innings allowing just 4 hits, striking out 10 while walking 1. A pair of relievers finished off the effort for the Aguilas as they 4-hit Oriente, striking out 13 while walking just 1. The Estrallas’ hitters could not get anything against Cibaenas pitching, but you can blame their staff for that. Ortiz was great except for the home run, going 6.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1, and Jose Trinidad finished the game for Oriente, going 2.2 hitless innings, striking out 2 while walking 1, but their performances went to waste as the Cibaenas pitching was just too good. To wrap up the other performances by ex-Rays, Ray Olmedo went 1 for 3 with one of the Estrellas’ 4 hits and their only walk while Manny Ramirez went 0 for 3 for the Aguilas, reaching once on a hit-by-pitch.

Leones de Escogido 4, Toros del Este 3

Escogido had a remarkable comeback in this one, overcoming a 3-0 deficit with 4 runs in the 8th inning, including a Mauro Gomez 3-run home run, to come away with the win. A trio of ex-Rays had interesting performances. Jorge Cantu, making his Este debut after his Naranjeros de Hermosillo got eliminated from the Mexican Pacific League playoffs, went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI, Willy Aybar went 1 for 1 for Escogido before getting taken out of the game following a hit-by-pitch- hope he’s OK- and Jhonny Nunez tossed a perfect 9th to nail down the save for the Leones.

Mexican Pacific League Playoffs: Aguilas de Mexicali 5, Algodoneros do Guasave 4

Speaking off incredible comebacks, Mexicali has to be feeling awfully good about themselves after this one. Guasave took a 4-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning before the Aguilas responded with 1 run in the bottom of the inning to trail 4-1. The score remained that way until the 6th inning, when a Ricky Alvarez solo home run made it 4-2 Guasave. Then Mexicali kept chipping away in the 7th inning, with Oscar Robles doubling then scoring on an error to make it 4-3. And then a pair of slumping ex-Rays figured prominently in the Aguilas’ 8th inning rally to tie the game. After Alvarez singled to begin the inning, Weber, the Aguilas’ third-place hitter, bunted him over to second base knowing that he wasn’t hitting and just had to do whatever he could to help the team. A wild pitch moved Alvarez to 3rd base before Wes Bankston found a way to get him in on a flyball to centerfield to knot the game at 4. Then in the 9th, pinch-hitter Jorge Guzman came up with a walk-off RBI single as the Aguilas came up with a run each in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to beat Guasave 5-4. Weber and Bankston combined to go just 0 for 5 with a walk in the game, but they did what they needed to do in that game-tying 8th inning rally.

Yaquis de Obregon 10, Tomateros de Culiacan 3

Unlike the games we saw above, Obregon rolled in this one and Iker Franco was in on the fun, going 2 for 4 with a run scored. Juan Miranda also went 0 for 3 with a walk for the Yaquis as 8 of the 9 Obregon starters reached base. Jesse Gutierrez slammed 2 home runs while Doug Clark went 4 for 5 with a homer, a double, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) Postseason: Indios de Mayaguez 7, Cangrejeros de Santurce 6

Despite the best efforts of a pair of ex-Rays, Santurce came up just short in this one. Jose Ruiz went 1 for 2 with 2 RBI for Santurce, but was pinch-hit for in the 5th as he may be hurt, and Julio DePaula worked around a hit with a pair of groundouts as he tossed a scoreless 6th inning to hold a 5-5 tie. Ruiz has been huge for Santurce out of their cleanup spot, hitting .359, and it would be a major blow to them if he misses any time.

Gigantes de Carolina 3, Criollos de Caguas 1

I am completely befuddled by the fact that Carolina benched Jesus Feliciano in this one, but it worked as they won 3-1. Feliciano, who was the only Gigantes player who could say that he had a good game as he went 3 for 4 in the team’s 14-2 loss, was replaced at the leadoff spot and in centerfield by Osvaldo Martinez, who went 0 for 3 with a walk. Leslie Anderson did the same out of the Gigantes’ 3-hole (yay, Anderson drew a walk!). Catcher Rene Garcia drove in all 3 Carolina runs and that was enough as their pitching was phenomenal in a complete reversal of their last game. Gaby Hernandez allowed just an unearned run on 5 hits in 5 innings, striking out 4 while walking none, and then ex-Ray Eddie Morlan was incredible behind him, allowing just a hit and a walk in 3 shutout relief innings, striking out 3 and getting his other 6 outs on the ground. Sergio Espinosa tossed a perfect 9th for Caguas, striking out 1, but by then it was too late. Morlan has been exceptional this postseason for Carolina, managing a 0.90 ERA.

Dominican Pacific League Postseason: Aguilas Cibaenas 5, Toros del Este 4

Cibaenas’ two ex-Rays in the middle of their lineup completely failed in this game, with Hector Luna and Manny Ramirez going a combined 1 for 7 with a walk. But Joaquin Arias came up big-time for the Aguilas, going 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI, and a third ex-Ray, Bobby Livingston, picked up the win for Cibaenas, going 1.1 innings allowing just 1 hit, striking out 1 and forcing a pair of groundballs.

Estrellas de Oriente 7, Leones de Escogido 6

Oriente very nearly blew a 5-0 lead in this game, but Ray Olmedo had a nice game out of the 9-hole to help insure that they didn’t, going 2 for 3 with a run scored. He’s hitting a solid .297 for Oriente so far in the DWL Postseason. Willy Aybar went 0 for 3 with a walk in the loss for Escogido.

Mexican Pacific League Playoffs: Yaquis de Obregon 6, Tomateros de Culiacan 5

Things got extremely dicey for Obregon at the end of this one as they led 5-0 after 6 innings, but all the great that starter Rolando Valdez did (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5-3 K/BB ratio) was negated by a complete bullpen collapse. The Yaquis got lucky that Juan Miranda added an insurance run on a solo homer in the 6th when the game was still a blowout, his third of the MPL of the season, and Jesus Colome pitched well to escape a 7th inning jam, going 0.2 innings working around a hit, and Angel Ramirez did the same 0.2 innings trick in the 8th inning for Obregon as they managed to come away with an ugly but well-deserved win.

Aguilas de Mexicali 11, Algodoneros de Guasave 5

This one was a blowout, but the Aguilas did not get much from the ex-Rays hitting 3rd and 4th in their lineup. Jon Weber went 1 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored while Wes Bankston went 0 for 3 with a walk. Weber and Bankston have had their moments in the MPL playoffs, but the Aguilas are going to need more consistency from them as the games get closer and closer.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) Postseason: Criollos de Caguas 14, Gigantes de Carolina 2

Not hard to imagine what Jesus Feliciano is thinking right now. After getting his postseason off to a disastrous start, Feliciano finally broke out on Tuesday night, going 3 for 4 with a double- and the Gigantes lost by 12 runs. Hopefully Feliciano’s good game is a sign of things to come for him (and not for the rest of the team as they would like to pretend that this game never happened). Leslie Anderson went 0 for 5 for Carolina while Javier Vazquez, who is not far away from signing with a major league team, pitched well for Caguas, going 5 shutout innings allowing 6 hits and a walk while striking out 4.

Cangrejeros de Santurce 10, Indios de Mayaguez 3

This one turned into an easy win for Santurce, and the nail in the coffin was a 3-run homer by ex-Rays farmhand Jose Ruiz, who went 2 for 4 with a homer, a walk 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored in the game and is hitting .357 so far in the RCPBL playoffs (yes, that acronym reminds everyone else of Communist Russia too). Pretty good for a player who lasted just 36 games in the Rays system after they signed him out of Cuba.