Lions extend their streak and secure third place

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SANTO DOMINGO.– An aggressive hit by Junior Lake from third base in the tenth inning sealed a dramatic victory for the Leones del Escogido 5-4 over the Toros del Este, leaving them on the field on Friday night and extending their good moment in the final stretch of the regular season.

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The decisive play came after a touch to the pitcher by Socrates Brito, which was handled quickly by pitcher Jarlin Garcia, who made an accurate throw to catcher Tres Barrera. However, Lake managed to slide his left hand over the plate, avoiding the catcher's mitt and unleashing the scarlet celebration. The Lions had reached the tenth inning trailing 4-3. Freudy Batista, as a ghost runner on second, advanced to third with a bunt by Jonathan Guzmán. Lake was hit by a pitch from Michael Ynoa, stole second base and a single by Erik González to left field drove in the tying run, also placing Lake on third. With this victory, the third consecutive and the sixth in the last seven games, the Escogido improves its record to 22-25, remaining in third place in the standings, tied with the Estrellas Orientales and with a game and a half advantage over Tigres del Licey and Gigantes del Cibao (20-26). The victory went to Hansel Marcelino (1-0), who pitched an inning with a strikeout, while the loss went to Michael Ynoa (0-1), who was charged with the two runs of the tenth inning.

Match Development

The Lions took the lead in the first inning against Franklyn Kilomé, when Lake negotiated a walk, advanced to second on a single by González, to third on a fly ball by Brito and scored on a ground ball by Yamaico Navarro to first base. The Toros responded in the third inning against Grant Gavin, tying the game with a double by Gilberto Celestino and taking the lead with a run-scoring single by Luis Liberato. In the fifth inning, the Reds loaded the bases with no outs against Anderson Bidó, who was relieved by Jimmy Yacabonis. Brito hit a run-scoring single to tie the game and, subsequently, a ground ball for a double play by Navarro allowed the run that put the score at 3-2 in favor of Escogido. The Bulls tied the game again in the seventh inning with a solo home run by Jeimer Candelario to left field against Génesis Cabrera.

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For the Leones, Socrates Brito went 1-for-4 with two RBIs; Junior Lake went 0-for-3, with a walk and three runs scored; Erik Gonzalez, 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Jonathan Guzman, 1-for-3 with one run scored. For the Toros, Jeimer Candelario went 1-4 with a home run, a run scored, and an RBI, while Luis Liberato went 1-4 with two RBIs. The Lions will travel this Saturday to San Francisco de Macorís, where they will face the Gigantes del Cibao at 5:00 in the afternoon, in another key duel for the classification.