Royals winter league weekly recap

The winter league playoffs are in full swing in the Caribbean Leagues. How did the players with the Kansas City Royals make out? Let’s find out.

In the Dominican Republic, the best-of-nine championship series got underway on Saturday, pitting Gigantes against Estrellas. The two teams had the exact same 10-6 record after round robin play.

Gigantes had a big lead in the round robin playoffs before losing all three games before the championship series (twice to Estrellas). Estrellas has kept on streaking, as they now have a 2-0 Championship Series lead, winning 11-2 and 7-3.

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In the two championship series games for Gigantes,

Moises Sierra

has batted sixth. He played left field on Saturday and right field on Sunday. Sierra has gone 1-for-8 with an RBI and two strikeouts.

Jandel Gustave pitched on Sunday, allowing a run on a hit and a walk over one inning of work. He entered in the third with one man on base and did not allow the run to score. However, Gustave left in the fourth with two men on base and one scored.

The rest of the playoff standings looked like this: Aguilas 7-9 and Toros 5-11.

Angel Franco started all three of Aguilas’ games last week at second base. He batted eighth in all three games. Franco went 2-for-11 with a double, a run scored, an RBI, a stolen base, and five strikeouts.

Francisco Pena caught two of the three games for Aguilas. He went 2-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He hit a solo home run in the sixth on January 13th. Pena did have his only playoff passed ball on January 14th.

Moving on to Puerto Rico, where the best-of-seven Championship Series is set to begin. The final round robin playoff standings look like this: Santurce 8-4, Mayaguez 8-5, Carolina 7-6, and Caguas 2-10.

Mayaguez beat Carolina 1-0 on Sunday for the spot in the Championship Series.

Reymond Fuentes started four games for Santurce last week. In those games, he played centerfield and batted sixth in three of them (eighth in the first game of the week). Fuentes went 6-for-16 with three doubles, a walk, a run scored, and a two out RBI. He did strike out four times. Fuentes also pinch ran on January 12th in the ninth (he scored a run).

To Venezuela, where the round robin playoff format continues. The current standings are as follows: Caribes 9-4, Magallanes 9-4, Zulia 5-8, Aragua 5-8, and La Guaira 4-8.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar joined the winter ball ranks for La Guaira, but it may have been a little too late. He debuted on January 16th, batting third. Esky went 2-for-5 with a two out, three-run home run in the fifth. He also committed a throwing error.

Third baseman Gabriel Noriega batted ninth last week for Zulia in four games. He went 6-for-14 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBIs. He did strike out three times and grounded into a double play. Noriega committed his first playoff error on January 13th.

Balbino Fuenmayor continues to play first base for Caribes and bat cleanup. He played four games last week and went 5-for-12 with a triple and three walks. He hit a two-run home run in the first on January 13th, the same game he committed his first playoff error (he would commit another error on January 15th). Fuenmayor now has 13 playoff RBIs, as he drove in four last week.

Finally to the Australian Baseball League, where Ryan Dale continues to play for last place Melbourne (14-28).

The Aces lost their four-game weekend series at Adelaide, winning just the final game on Sunday. Dale started the first two games for the Aces at third base and batted ninth. He went 1-for-7 with two strikeouts. On Thursday, he committed three errors (two fielding and one throwing). On Friday night, he was thrown out at the plate from the outfield.

Dale entered on defense in the eighth on Saturday (0-for-1) and pinch ran on Sunday in the seventh. He stayed in the game and went 1-for-1 with an RBI in the ninth.

Things got interesting in the ninth of Friday night’s game, as a benches-clearing brawl broke out after a hit batter (via ABL.tv):

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