Winter League Highlights: Valbuena at it again

(Photo by Stephen Green)

With the Mexican, Dominican and Puerto Rican titles all wrapped up as of the weekend, the Venezuelan championship is the only show in town. The Navegantes del Magallanes grabbed a 6-5 win over the Cardenales on Saturday to tie the best-of-seven series at 2.

On Friday though, Cubs infielder Luis Valbuena was again the story of the game in a 4-2 Lara win. The 27-year-old finished the day 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored to continue his stellar winter.

Though Valbuena was ultimately stranded at second after a double in the bottom of the first, he led off the fourth with another double. After moving to third on a wild pitch, he scored what would prove to be the winning run on a Jose Yepez double.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Valbuena drew a walk to give the Cardenales an insurance run and ultimately seal the win.

Lara hosts Magallanes Monday in a 7:30 p.m. matchup, and the teams head to Magallanes Tuesday for Game 6. The seventh game will be on Wednesday if necessary.