LA ROMANA.- The Leones del Esgido continued their unstoppable pace in the round robin of Dominican baseball by obtaining their fifth straight victory in the semi-final stage.
The long-haired team beat Toros del Este 10-5, having Sócrates Brito as their offensive pillar by towing three laps, including two of those streaks in the eighth inning as a result of a home run with one on board.
The national and Caribbean champions relied on 14 undisputed victories to continue leading the “all against all.”
El Esgido took the lead in the game with three runs in the first inning against Justin Courtney as a result of a walk to Erik González, a single by Brito to left field, a double steal and a ground ball by Yamaico Navarro to first base that Brito drove in. The bases were filled with walks to Raimel Tapia and Jorge Mateo, and a hit by José Marmolejos to the right field drove two more for the visitors.
The Romanenses made two lines in the bottom of the first, but the Scarlets expanded their advantage in the second with another two runs thanks to Junior Lake’s undisputed hit to the right field, going to second due to theft and scoring with an untargetable run by González to the left field. A single by Navarro to the same area produced the fifth for the reds.
The capitalians added one more in the fourth, but after two outs in the fifth, against Anderson Severino, Michael De la Cruz hit an indisputable hit to the left field, stole the second and scored with a double to the center by Jonathan Guzmán, who reached the rubber with the eighth of the pickers after Lake’s unstoppable attack against Jhan Maríñez.
In the lower part, the orange team filled the bases and a double by Eloy Jiménez to left field against Phillips Valdez led three runners to the register, although two of those runs went to the account of Travis Lakins, who ended without a decision by not completing the five regulation innings.
Brito hit a two-run home run to the right field in the eighth against Miguel Castro to make the game 10-5
Hansel Marcelino won the victory (1-0) after appearing in 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out two. Courtney (0-1) was the defeated pitcher, allowing all three runs in the first inning.
For the long-haired ones, Brito went 4-for-5, with a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases; González, 2-for-4, with a double, three runs scored, one RBI, transfer and stolen base; Lake, 2-for-4, with two runs scored, one RBI, a walk and a stolen base, and Marmolejos, 2-for-4, with two RBIs, a transfer and a stolen base. For the bullfighting team, Jiménez went 1 for 3, with a double and four RBIs, and Liberato, 1 for 3, with a double, a run scored and a walk.
The Lions will return to Quisqueya this Saturday to face the Águilas Cibaeñas at 4:00 in the afternoon.
