Tigres win in extra innings

Picture courtesy of los Tigres de Aragua

Aragua 7 at Zulia 5 (14 innings)

W: O. Sosa (3-0, 4.97); L: J. Figueroa (1-5, 5.25)
HR: None.

Former Miracle Oswaldo Sosa (Minnesota) picked up his 3rd win of the Venezuelan Winter League season as los Tigres de Aragua clawed out a win in extra innings Sunday over los Aguilas de Zulia.

The Tigres started out the scoring in the top of the 4th when Willie Romero (F/A) doubled, and Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) followed up with a walk. A double by Jose Martinez (St Louis) brought in Romero. Maza would come home on a Raul Chavez (NY Yankees) ground out to give Aragua a 2-0 lead.

They would add to it in the top of the 5th when Luis Rodriguez (San Diego) doubled, moved to 3rd on a Ronny Cedeno (Chicago Cubs) sac-bunt and came home on a throwing error by Zulia's Andres Blanco (Kansas City).

Aragua starter Corey Bailey (Chicago Cubs) found trouble in the bottom of the 5th, issuing a walk to Carlos Gonzalez (Arizona) to start off. With one out, Rodney Medina (F/A) would single to move him to 2nd, and a wild pitch by Bailey would progress the pair. Alberto Callaspo (Arizona) doubled them in to cut the Tigres lead to just 1.

In the top of the 7th with former Sarasota Reds pitcher Jan Granado (F/A) on the mound, Rodriguez, Cedeno, and Rivera would all single to load the bases. A sac-fly by Mike Aviles (Kansas City) plated L-Rod, but the Aguilas would bring out Freddy Ballestas (Philadelphia) to get Romero to fly out to retire the side.

With one out in the bottom of the 7th, Medina would single. Free Agent Jose Guanchez would replace Yohan Pino (Minnesota) on the mound for the Tigres. Guanchez would hit the first batter he faced, Jonel Pacheco (Pittsburgh). Bobby Korecky (Minnesota) would then trot out to the hill for Aragua, and after a brief warm up, saw Callaspo hit a double off him that tied up the game.

Zulia continued to roll in the bottom of the 8th, with Guillermo Rodriguez (San Francisco) knocking a double off Korecky to start out. Gerardo Parra (Arizona) would be brought in to run for G-Rod. Yurendell de Caster (Pittsburgh) would then reach on a fielder's choice, but Korecky could not make the play on Parra, who found himself safe at 3rd. After striking out Randy Ruiz (San Francisco) Koreckey found himself taken from the game in favor of Kevin Tolar (F/A). A sac fly by Gonzalez would bring in Parra, putting the Eagles up by one.

Milwaukee's Mike Rivera would single for the Tigers with one out in the top of the 9th, and then be replaced by pinch runner Ramon Castro (F/A). Aviles and Romero would both draw walks to load the bases, and a sac-fly by Maza would bring in Castro to tie the game.

The score would stay tied until the top of the 14th inning, when, with two outs, Martin Prado (Atlanta) walked and Chavez singled. Hector Gimenez (Houston) would come into the game as a pinch hitter, and would slam a double to center to bring in the pair for the Aragua win.

Pino would work 1.1 innings giving up 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 1. Korecky worked 1 inning, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, while striking out 1 for his 2nd blown save of the season. Sosa would work 3 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1 for the win. Granado, a former Miracle, would give up 1 run on 3 hits in 1.2 innings for Zulia.

L-Rod was 2-for-8 at the plate with 2 runs and a double, Maza was 2-for-4 with 2 walks, 1 run and 1 RBI.

Following their marathon game, the Tigres deserved their Monday off. They will start out the new week feline on Tuesday, hosting Zulia for a 7:30 PM AST game.

Cedeno was again named the player of the week for Los Tigres. Former Miracle Alex Romero (Arizona) was removed from the active roster after contracting conjuntivitis. He's due to return to the team this coming week.

The Tigres remain in 3rd place in the league, 3 games behind los Caribes de Anzoategui.

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