Winter ball Luis García Jr. shines and leads the Gigantes to victory over the Tigres del Licey

Luis García Jr drove in two runs, Samad Taylor scored three times, and the Gigantes del Cibao defeated the Tigres del Licey four runs to two to break a tie with the capital city team this Saturday afternoon-evening, in the continuation of the 2025-26 fall-winter baseball tournament, dedicated to Juan Marichal and in dispute for the Banreservas Cup.

The Giants scored two runs in the first third of the game, Licey tied in the top of the seventh, but the Cibaeños regained the lead with two runs and took the victory after securing the final outs.

Now the francmacorisanos are at 16-19 and are temporarily alone in fourth place, pending the other results, and Licey drops to fifth.

The Cibao pitching limited the Tigers to three hits.

The Giants opened the scoring with the first run of the game. Samad Taylor reached base on a single to center field and advanced to third on a turning error by pitcher Adonis Medina. A sacrifice fly by Luis García brought him home.

Another high jump, this time by Leury García, to center field, combined with a throwing error by Emilio Bonifacio, led to Taylor scoring the second run for the Cibaeños.

Licey tied the game 2-2 in the seventh inning against Yaqui Rivera. Francisco Mejía’s double advanced Mel Rojas Jr. to third base, and Cal Stevenson’s RBI single brought in the first run for the Blue Jays.

Armando Álvarez fired a sacrifice shot to tie the score 2-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants regained the lead. Luis García singled to center field off Misael Tamárez, and Deyvison de los Santos hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.

For the Tigers: Cristhian Adames went 1-for-4; Mel Rojas Jr. went 0-for-3, with one run scored and one walk; Francisco Mejía went 1-for-3, with one double.

Esteury Ruiz went 1-for-0 with one run scored; Emilio Bonifacio went 3-for-1 with a double and two strikeouts. For the Colts, Samad Taylor went 4-for-3 with three runs scored and a double; Luis García Jr. went 2-for-2 with two walks; Deyvison de los Santos went 1-for-0 with one RBI.

Kelvin Gutiérrez went 3-for-1, with a double and a walk; Carlos Jorge went 4-for-1, with two strikeouts; Melvin Mercedes went 2-for-1, with one run scored.

After Saturday’s games, the Águilas Cibaeñas completed 33 consecutive days at the top of the standings, solidifying their dominance with a 25-10 record. The Toros del Este remain in second place (20-16), who, with two straight wins, are now 5.5 games behind the leader.

The Gigantes del Cibao, riding a three-game winning streak, have a record of 16-19, nine games back. Behind them are the Estrellas Orientales (16-21), who have suffered two consecutive losses and are 10 games behind the Águilas, the same distance as the Tigres del Licey (15-20).

In last place are the Leones del Escogido (15-21), 10.5 games from the top.

This Sunday, the Toros will face the Águilas in Santiago (4:00 pm); the Gigantes will face the Estrellas in San Pedro de Macorís (5:00 pm), while the Escogido will clash with the Licey in Santo Domingo (5:00 pm).