Rays Winter Ball Recap: Jon Weber Drills First HR as Mayos Hold On

One of the grave errors we make as we are watching games is assuming that if one thing in the game had been different, everything else would have stayed the same and our team would have won. In reality, a different score would have led to different pitchers and pinch-hitters, and honestly we can’t know what could have happened. One thing we do really have, though, is the benefit of hindsight, and sometimes that can turn a meaningless hit into a game-saving one as we look back at what happened.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 14, Tigres del Licey 3

The Aguilas reeled off 14 unanswered runs after Licey got ahead 3-0, and right in the thick of things was Joey Terdoslavich, who went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a walk, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Hector Luna also went 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Five of the runs were given up by former Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde in just 0.2 innings of work.

Mexican Pacific League: Mayos de Navojoa 6, Yaquis de Obregón 4

The Mayos led 3-0 entering the 9th before a home run by Alejandro Gonzalez, his first of the season, made it 5-0. Jon Weber hit another home run, also his first of the year, a few batters later, and the Mayos were up a comfortable 6-0 entering the Yaquis’ last time at bat. But then things got crazy. Florencio Bustillos allowed two singles sandwiched around an error to begin the inning, giving Obregón its first run and two more baserunners. He departed after finally recording an out in favor of Zech Zinicola, but Zinicola allowed another single to Jose Figueroa and then a 2-run wild pitch (how does that happen?), and suddenly it was 6-4 with the tying run at the plate and 2 outs. But Zinicola got Alfredo Amezaga to ground out to end it as Navojoa held on to win 6-4. Most games you can survive without too many insurance runs. But when you have them, it gives you a margin for error for when crazy things like this happen. Weber went 3 for 5 with the homer and 2 RBI for the Mayos while Wes Bankston went 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI.

Venezuelan Winter League: Leones del Caracas 4, Tiburones de La Guaira 3 (10 innings)

Sometimes one hit can change everything. Henry Wrigley certainly hopes that is the case. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the 10th, Wrigley ended the game with a walk-off single as the Leones won 4-3. Wrigley went 2 for 5 with a double and that huge RBI while Bobby Abreu went 1 for 5 with an outfield assist. Cesar Suarez went 2 for 3 with a double in the loss for La Guaira.