Tony Pena Jr. Gets win, Fabio Castro Pitches Brilliantly in Loss

10/27/09 Game-
It was a really good game last night in Santiago. The Gigantes lost 4-3 in 10 innings.

Tony Pena Jr. got his first win in Dominican Winter League after pitching a scoreless 10th inning for the home side. He is known as TJ. He is the son of former big league catcher Tony Pena and was in AA and AAA with the Royals affiliates last year.

Dario Veras had a chance to close it in the 9th and add to his career save total (he is close to setting the career saves record, see previous post). He got two outs quickly, then got MattCarson to foul a ball off directly behind home plate. Strangely, Mark Wagner whiffed on the foul ball. The very next pitch Matt Carson hit a home run to tie the game.

Mark Wagner catching in 2008, by Justin D. Henry on Flickr

The Aguilas won the game in the 10th after moving some runners around and getting a ground ball, with which Juan Carlos Perez beat out a throw at the plate.

The Gigantes squandered a brilliant performance by Fabio Castro. He pitched 7 innings of 1 hit ball and did not allow a run. This guy is good. In 3 games he has 3 no decisions, 16 innings pitched, and a 1.69 ERA. He started 25 games for the Blue Jays AAA team last year (Las Vegas 51s), and put up modest numbers.