In Winter League action from the Dominican last night, Starling Marte returned to his Leones del Escogido team and went 1-for-3, with two walks and a solo homer. With his team holding on to a 3-2 edge, he led off the eighth inning with his home run. Marte hadn’t played since December 8th, finishing the DWL regular season with a .304 average and .845 OPS in 28 games. He batted third and played center field. Marte’s team moved to 4-3 in the playoffs with a 5-3 win.
Felix Pie returned to the lineup one day after both he and Alex Valdez were benched. Pie continued his struggles, going 0-for-3, with a walk. He was dropped down to seventh in the batting order. Valdez came in as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and broke a 1-1 tie, with a sacrifice fly. He remained in the game at second base and flew out to left field in his only other AB.
In Venezuela, Darren Ford went 0-for-3, with two walks, two strikeouts and a run scored. He has yet to collect a playoff base hit, going 0-for-4 in the opener on Wednesday night.
In Australian League action from today, Stefan Welch and Quincy Latimore each went deep in Adelaide’s 9-4 victory. Welch was the big bat of the game, driving in a total of four runs. He singled home a run in the first inning, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and then drew a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning. Latimore went 1-for-3, with a solo homer in the fourth inning. Both players were hit by a pitch in a game that included five hit batters, all Adelaide players.
