Jerar Encarnación drove in two runs and Yunesky Maya pitched a ball in five innings with six strikeouts so that the Águilas Cibaeñas extended the chain of victories to five by beating the Leones del Escogido for the second night in a row, this time 3-0 at the Cibao Stadium .
After the match, the Águilas went on to occupy the top of the tournament, now with a 20-7 mark, one game above the Tigres del Licey (17-6).
Maya faced 19 batters, of whom he allowed four hits for his second victory in the tournament that is dedicated to the memory of Don Tomás Troncoso, as an option for the Banreservas Cup. He was backed by fellow relievers Francis Martes (2.0), Nick Hernández (1.0) and Neftalí Féliz (1.0), who barely allowed a hit. Feliz earned his third save of the season. The setback came to starter Christopher Molina (2-2), who pitched four innings of two hits, one run, two walks and four fanned out batters.
The Águilas, who beat the Leones 5-3 at the Quisqueya Stadium last Monday night, scored their first run in the fourth inning with a single by Yairo Muñoz, who brought Orlando Calixte to the rubber. Then, in the eighth inning, they sealed the victory with an Encarnación hit to left field.
Estrellas-Licey game suspended
The match between the Estrellas and the Tigres del Licey at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium in this capital city was suspended due to the bad weather that prevails in a large part of the national territory. The match will be rescheduled for a next business date on the tournament calendar. For the Tigers it was their fourth game suspended in the current championship, while for the Stars it is the second. Only the Eagles have completed the list of the first 27 games of the regular series. Today, the Stars will face the Leones del Escogido at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium, in a match scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m.
giants prevail
The Gigantes del Cibao beat the Toros del Este 3-1 in La Romana. In the bottom of the ninth inning, a heavy downpour began to fall causing the game to be stopped for several minutes. Given the persistence of the rains, and the game already official, the referees made the decision to give the Giants winners.
Knight back with Lions
The Leones del Escogido announced the return of the well-known right-handed reliever Dusten Knight, with the intention of reinforcing the relief of the last innings for the scarlet team.
In the final part of the 2021-2022 regular season, Knight pitched five innings and went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and eight strikeouts.
The right-hander also participated in the Round Robin of the last championship as a reinforcement of the Eastern Stars, he achieved a percentage of earned runs of 2.08 in four chapters and a third.
The Stars hire Lopez
The Stars hired Pedro López as hitting coach.
The Puerto Rican coach replaces Ronny Paulino, who was released. López was bench coach for the All-Stars last season, when the team reached the Final Series. Also in the 2018-2019 season, when the Stars won the national championship. In this season, López began as manager of the Leones del Escogido. He has also been, in other seasons, manager of the Gigantes del Cibao and the Tigres del Licey, in the Dominican League. He has been interim manager of the Stars. The Stars also released Paulino’s assistant, Joermyn Chávez.
Schwindell joins the Eagles
The Eagles welcomed Major League Baseball first baseman Frank Schwindel, who has immediately joined the team’s training camp and will be available for action in a couple of days as a backup. The player, whose wife is a native of La Vega, a neighboring city to Santiago, declared: “I like being here, I want to help the Eagles reach the semifinals, I am happy to be part of the home team, my family is Eaglet, And I want to make them proud.”
