Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Julio Mateo allowed only two runs over 6 1/3 innings and Jesús Guzmán drove in a pair of runs to lead Leones del Caracas to a 3-2 victory over Aguilas de Zulia on Sunday in the Venezuelan round robin semifinal.
Mateo, a veteran right-hander, struck out six to earn his first win since he was signed by heavily favored Leones. Cardenales de Lara, who tied for first place with Leones del Caracas, was clobbered by Tiburones de La Guaira 11-1.
José Ascanio notched his fourth save of the winter season. Ramón Ramírez took the loss for Aguilas.
At Barquisimeto, Tiburones (4-4) exploded for 15 hits in a thrashing of league leader Cardenales (5-3), assuming sole possession of third place in the playoffs, followed by Aguilas and Tigres de Aragua.
Dominican League
Juan Francisco and Erick Almonte hit a pair of homers as Gigantes del Cibao eliminated the two-time champion Aguilas Cibaeñas with a 9-3 victory that gave them sole possession of the top spot in the Dominican League round robin playoff.
Reliever Brian Adams (1-0) earned the win as veteran Julian Tavarez was tagged for his first loss in the round robin tournament.
In the other game Sunday, Jose Capellan pitched six solid innings, outlasting right-hander Ramon Ortiz in a 6-1 victory for Toros del Este over Tigres del Licey.
Capellán allowed one run in stopping Licey's four-game winning streak. Ortiz allowed four runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Center fielder Ruddy Yan had a pair of hits and drove in three runs and Ricardo Nanita had three hits that upped his playoff-leading batting average to .473.
After Sunday's action, Gigantes (9-4) took a one-game lead over Tigres (8-5), while Toros' (7-7) championship series hopes remain alive with a third-place finish. Aguilas (2-10) are already out of the race.
Mexican League
Henry Mateo's triple with the bases loaded was the key hit in Algodoneros de Guasave's 7-3 victory over Venados de Mazatlán in the start of the Mexican League playoff series Sunday.
Veteran Francisco Córdova allowed four hits over seven innings to earn the win while Pablo Ortega took the loss.
At Los Mochis, Humberto Cota and Geronimo Gil homered, supporting Jonathan Castellanos' relief effort as Naranjeros de Hermosillo beat the local Cañeros 4-3 in the first game of their playoff series.
Castellanos pitched three hitless innings, with a pair of strikeouts and two walks. Jon Adkins got his first save of the series as Antonio Peña (0-1) was tagged with the loss. Peña allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Puerto Rican League
Leones de Ponce are one win away from advancing to the championship series after a 12 inning, 5-4 thriller over Indios-Tiburones de Mayagüez.
Raúl González's walk-off hit with the bases loaded gave the Leones a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against Mayagüez.
New York Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano was the winning pitcher as Bill Simas (0-2) took his second loss in three games.
In Arecibo, Rich Townsend's base hit brought home the winning run as the Lobos beat Cangrejeros de Santurce in 10 innings. The win gave the Lobos a 2-1 lead in its best-of-seven series.
Edward Buzachero (1-0) took home the win as Federico Báez (0-1) was the losing pitcher. Former St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Bill Pulsipher returned from a groin injury, pitching six scoreless innings.