A double celebration. The Tigres del Licey not only celebrated their 115th anniversary last night in style, but also overwhelmed their fans with excitement by defeating the Estrellas Orientales 2-0, in the continuation of the winter baseball tournament, at the stadium Quisqueya. Right fielder Pavin Smith ignited the “spark” with a line drive over the right field wall in the second inning that brought the Blues fans out of their seats to make it 1-0. Plus five solid three-hit shutout innings from starting pitcher Steve Moyers (2-0) to score the win. Moyers gave away two walks and struck out four batters in his entire work. With their victory, the Bengals put their record at 13-4 to further consolidate themselves in first place by moving a full game away from their closest pursuers, the Águilas Cibaeñas (13-6). On their side, the Orientals fell for the fourth time in a row to put their record at 8-11. Oscar De La Cruz (0-1) lost by allowing Pavin’s game-winning homer in 3 1/3 innings. Jairo Asencio pitched the ninth scoreless for his fifth save. For the Tigers Hansel Robles also shot blank in the 6th, Arodys Vizcaíno (7th), Nate Pearson (8). For the Stars paraded on the mound, in addition to De La Cruz, Raffi Vizcaíno in the 4th; Jakob Hernández, who conceded the second round of the Licey in the 5th; Dayeison Arias in the 7th, Luis González and Gerson Moreno in the eighth. The Tigers made their other entry in the bottom of the fifth inning against reliever Jakob Hernández, who came in to throw in the episode for Raffi Vizcaíno. Sergio Alcántara negotiated four bad balls. Emilio Bonifacio hit for the pitcher’s grounds moving Alcántara to second base. Alcantara is surprised at third by the pitcher, Bonifacio moving to second from where he scores on a hit to Elly De La Cruz’s center field to make the game 2-0.
the highlights
For the Stars stood out with the bat, José Tena, Gustavo Núñez, Luis Campusano and Elehuris Montero who hit one hit each. For the Tigers, Pavin Smith delivered his decisive home run; Michael De La Cruz hit two hits; Sergio Alcántara blew a triple; Emilio Bonifacio, Ronny Mauricio, Elly De La Cruz and Trenton Brooks had one hit.
Next match
The Tigres receive this Tuesday from 7:15 p.m. to the Toros del Este at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal stadium.