Tigres can't get past Navegantes

Photo courtesy of los Tigres de Aragua

Magallanes 3 at Aragua 4

W: G. Gonzalez (1-1, 6.04); L: H. Bonilla (1-2, 2.72); SV: I. Maldonado (15)
HR: None.

Los Tigres de Aragua could not rally past los Navegantes del Magallanes Thursday, falling 3-2 in front of a home town crowd.

Melvin Mora (Baltimore) opened up the top of the 4th inning with a line drive off Tigres starter Henry Bonilla (LA Angels). Richard Hidalgo (F/A) followed that up with a single to center. Former Twins prospect Luis Rivas (F/A) reached on a force attempt on throwing error by Aragua first baseman Mike Aviles (Kansas City). Mora would come home on the play, leaving 2 men on. Following a line out by Juan Rivera (LA Angels), Bonilla would issue an intentional walk to Jorge Cortes (Cubs) to load the bases. A single by Jesus Flores would bring in Hidalgo and Rivas before Bonilla could get the last 2 outs to end the inning.

Magallenes starter Geremi Gonzalez (F/A) would keep the Tigres off the board for six innings, limiting them to 4 hits. With one out, Aviles drew a walk in the bottom of the 7th. Alex Romero (Arizona) would follow that up with a triple to put the Tigres on the board. A sac fly by Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) would bring in Romero, but would be all the Cats could manage.

Twins prospects Oswaldo Sosa and Yohan Pino worked an inning a piece, allowing 1 hit each in relief. Bobby Korecky worked 2 more, allowing 1 hit and striking out 1. Jose Mijares struck out the 1 batter he faced in the top of the 9th.

Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) as 1-for-4, batting 3rd and playing 3rd base. Alex Rodriguez (San Diego) was 1-for-3 with a walk. Romero was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Maza was 1-for-2 with a triple, as well as an RBI.

Rivas was 0-for-4 with a run for los Navegantes. Former Miracle Erold Andrus (Tampa Bay) replaced Mora in center field late in the game, but did not bat.

Aragua takes Friday off, and hosts los Caribes de Angoategui on Saturday for a 5:30 PM AST game.

Boxscore
Log
Tigres de Aragua

Evidently the Tigres Development League was crown champion of the 2007 tournament, defeating los Leones developmental team by sweeping the best of three series. Twins catching prospect Wilson Ramos had a home run in the second game of the series. Ramos' power was stressed as being vital to the team in securing the championship. Tigres

I was looking for some kind of playoff schedule for the Venezuelan Winter League Championship, but evidently the other three teams who will be participating in the round robin style tournament have yet to be determined.