Tigres rally falls short

Photo courtesy of los Tigres de Aragua

Aragua 2 at Caracas 3

W: J. Norrito (2-1, 2.14); L: C. Bailey (1-3, 4.18); SV: V. Garate (1)
HR: None.

A change of scenery did not seem to help los Tigres much, as they fell to los Leones del Caracas, 3-2 Sunday afternoon.

Caracas took an early lead off Aragua starter Cory Bailey (Chicago Cubs) when Carlos Mendez (Atlanta) doubled to start off the second inning. Mario Lisson's (Kansas City) ground out moved him to 3rd. Former Minnesota Twin Henry Blanco (Chicago Cubs) would take a walk and Cesar A. Quintero (Houston) would be called out on strikes. Gregorio Petit (Oakland) then singled out to right to score Mendez, while Blanco moved to 3rd. Carl Loadenthal's (Atlanta) single brought Blanco over the plate for the 2 run lead.

It would stay that way through 7th inning, with the Tigres being limited to 5 hits. Rosman Garcia (Baltimore) would replace Bailey on the mound for los Tigers, and allowed a single to Blanco to start off. Blanco would be caught stealing through. Quintero and Petit would both single and a throwing error by former Miracle Luis Rodrigez (San Diego) put a runner on 3rd. Loadenthal would ground out, but it brought Quintero across the plate. Jason Karnuth (Detroit) would be brought into the game for Aragua and would walk Roger Cedeno (F/A) before getting Alex Prieto (F/A) to line out to end the inning.

The Tigres staged a rally in the 9th, when Mike Aviles (Kanasas City) singled and Alex Romero (Arizona) walked. Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) would ground into a force out that stopped Romero, but Aviles would stay safe on 3rd. Ruben Salazar's (F/A) single moved Maza to 2nd, loading the bases. Willie Romero (F/A) would ground out, but Aviles would come home on the play. Alex Nunez (F/A), batting for Raul Chavez (NY Yankees), would be hit by a pitch. Jose Martinez (St Louis) coming into the game as a pinch hitter for Jesus Feliciano (NY Mets) would reach on a force attempt, and Maza would be plated by the play. Unfortuantely the rally failed with Rodriguez flew out to end the inning.

Minnesota's Frank Mata pitched .1 inning for the Tigres, the only active Minnesota player to appear in the contest.

The Tigers take Monday off, and start the new week feline against los Cardenales de Lara on Tuesday at 7:30 PM AST. Aragua finishes the week with 2 wins and 4 losses, and is in 5th place in the league, 5.5 games behind the Division leading Caribes.

Former Miracle Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) was named the Tigres player of the week, while Kyle Middleton (Houston) earned pitcher of the week honors.

Minnesota Twins Minor League Player of the Year Brian Buscher left the team for the United States due to "last minute personal problems." The press release from Aragua seemed to think that Buscher will be the Twins 3rd baseman in 2008.

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