Winter Leagues: Nats prospect rolling in Venezuela

Venezuelan Winter League

Zulia 7, Aragua 3
Zulia built an early five-run lead and held on at home. Jose Pirela and Ernesto Mejia each homered and drove in two runs for the winning club, and Nationals prospect Sandy Leon raised his average to .354 with three hits, while Freddy Galvis rapped out two. Cesar Valdez pitched seven innings for the win, giving up two runs and striking out seven. Ronny Cedeno and Alex Romero each had two hits for Aragua. Box score

La Guaira 4, Caribes 3
La Guaira scored four runs in the first inning on a grand slam by Alex Cabrera that set a record for the most home runs (21) in league history. La Guaira held on to the slim lead after Caribes had chipped away. Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez pitched six innings of one-run ball for the victory. Eduardo Escobar and Jose Castillo homered for Caribes. Box score

Lara 3, Magallanes 0
Lara received RBI hits from Andrew Lambo, Hernan Iribarren and Gabriel Lino and a gem from starter Roenis Elias, who pitched six innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts. Three relievers logged an inning apiece to preserve the shutout. Box score

Mexican Pacific League

Navojoa 6, Mexicali 1
Navojoa enjoyed the fruits of a tremendous game from right fielder Luis Fonseca to rebound from a one-run deficit and score six unanswered runs for the win. Fonseca went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs, and six Navojoa pitchers combined to hold Mexicali in check. Box score

Obregon 3, Guasave 1
Obregon starter David Reyes set the tone by going seven innings and giving up one run on one hit, and homers by Albino Contreras and Barbaro Canizares accounted for all three of the winning team's runs. Box score

Hermosillo 9, Los Mochis 5
Hermosillo trailed by a run but erupted for five in the bottom of the eighth inning to run away with a win. Jerry Owens went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and Yunesky Sanchez and Heber Gomez added two RBIs apiece for Hermosillo. Box score

Culiacan 6, Mazatlan 1
Culiacan built a quick 5-0 lead after two innings against former big league starter Horacio Ramirez and was on cruise control from there. Sergio Gastelum paced Culiacan's 11-hit attack with three hits, and Ronnier Mustelier went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Box score

Dominican Winter League

Aguilas 3, Toros 0
Aguilas got an RBI apiece from Audry Perez, Keury De La Cruz and Omar Luna, and it was more than enough to take care of Toros because of a patchwork shutout by the Aguilas' staff. Starter Anthony Fernandez went 4 2/3 innings, and relievers Tim Corcoran, Ricardo Gomez and Kelvin Villa kept the zeros coming to ice the win on the road. Box score

Puerto Rican Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente

Mayaguez 3, Ponce 1
Mayaguez built a three-run lead and Ponce couldn't catch up on the road. Mayaguez didn't need any more offense than that provided by shortstop Luis Figueroa, who drove in all three of his team's runs while going 3-for-4 with a double. Mayaguez starter Hiram Burgos (six scoreless innings on two hits) and three relievers made the lead stand up. Reymond Fuentes had two hits for Ponce. Box score

Caguas 3, Carolina 1
Carolina tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning, but Caguas answered in the bottom of the frame, going ahead on Johnny Monell's RBI single and adding an insurance run in the eighth. Five pitchers took the mound for Caguas, with starter Michael Nix giving up one run in 5 1/3 innings. Box score