Ramón Hernández hit a solo home run after two outs in the first part of the ninth inning to give the Tigres del Licey a 2-1 win over the Estrellas Orientales in a reassigned game held Saturday night at the Tetelo Vargas stadium .
With their victory, the Blues raise their record to 12-3, consolidate their first place, extend their streak to five wins and increase their record to 7-1 as visitors.
Esmil Rogers was the starting pitcher for Licey. In five innings, he allowed three hits, one home run, one earned run with three walks and four strikeouts. He was followed by Arodys Vizcaíno (6), Nate Pearson (7), Jean Carlos Mejía (8) and Jairo Asencio (9).
Domingo Robles started for the All-Stars with 3.2 innings, two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. He was followed on the mound by Dayeison Arias (4), Aaron Leasher (5), Ronel Blanco (7), Jakob Hernández (8) and Rafael Dolis (9).
Mejia (2-0) was the winning pitcher, Dolis (0-1), who gave up Hernandez’s shot and charged the backhand and Asencio earned his fourth save of the season.
Hernández stood out offensively with a home run and a single, while Emilio Bonifacio and Dawel Lugo had two hits each.
Rodolfo Durán homered for the All-Stars, José Tena, Erick Mejía, Luis Campusano and Gustavo Núñez singled.
The races
The Stars broke the ice when Rodolfo Durán led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a home run over the right-field fence off a pitch from Esmil Rogers.
El Licey tied in the eighth after two outs against Jakob Hernández with an infield single by Emilio Bonifacio, who advanced to second on a wild pitch, to third for stolen base and scored on an error on a throw by catcher Durán.
Next match
The Tigres return to action this Sunday when they travel to Santiago de los Caballeros to face the Águilas Cibaeñas starting at 4 in the afternoon.