SANTIAGO. – Travis Lakins Jr. pitched five solid innings of just three hits and Yamaico Navarro hit his ninth home run in Round Robin games, to lead the Leones del Esído to a resounding 12-2 victory on Saturday over the Águilas Cibaeñas in the first game of the LIDOM semifinal round, held at the Cibao Stadium.
Navarro was placed among the historic Round Robin hitters, tying with figures such as Matt Cepicky, Víctor Díaz, Pedro Feliz, Ronnie Belliard, Julián Yan and Guillermo García.
Lakins Jr. (W, 1-0) dominated the Cibaeño offense during the first five innings, allowing one earned run, with two walks and four strikeouts.
The loss went to Jorge Taveras (P, 0-1), who allowed four runs – three earned – in just 1.1 innings.
For the Lions, Junior Lake stood out, 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks; Yamaico Navarro, 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs; Raimel Tapia, 2-for-5 with three runs scored and two stolen bases; Jorge Mateo, 2-for-3 with two steals and two runs scored; and José Marmolejos, 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
For the Águilas, Jonathan Clase went 1-for-1 with a double and an RBI; Cristhian Adames went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk; while Steward Berroa contributed a double and a run scored.
Bulls overwhelm Giants
In the other semifinal of the Dominican League, Bryan De La Cruz had four hits, including two doubles, Gilberto Celestino and Jeimer Candelario drove in two and the bullpen excelled to lead the Toros del Este’s 11-3 victory over the Gigantes del Cibao at the Francisco Micheli Stadium.
The victory represents the first for the Toros in this stage of the Round Robin, equaling the Lions as the winning teams on the first date, while for the Giants the first defeat, like the Águilas who fell in Santiago.
The victory went to the bullfighting reliever Anderson Severino, while the defeat went to the giant starter Shane Greene after allowing six runs and four hits without throwing out in the match.
For the Bulls, Bryan De La Cruz 5-4, two doubles, two RBIs, one scored; Gilberto Celestino 3-1, double, two RBIs, two runs scored, one walk; Yairo Muñoz 3-2, double, scored two; Jeimer Candelario 4-1, two RBIs; Eloy Jiménez 4-1, one RBI, one scored; Luis Liberato 3-1, two runs scored, one RBI; Tres Barrera 4-1, double, drove one, scored another; and Troy Johnston went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his season debut.
For the Giants, Johan Rojas 2-for-4, home run, two RBIs, one scored; Marco Hernández 3-2, and Ismael Munguía 5-2, with one scored.
