Undefeated Mexico to face DR in Caribbean Series final
Mexico, the host country for the 67th Caribbean Series, rolled into its first title game in seven years with a perfect 5-0 record after defeating Puerto Rico, 3-1, in Wednesday night's second semifinal at Estadio Nido de las Águilas in Mexicali, Baja California.
Manager Benji Gil’s Charros de Jalisco will face the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Republic on Friday at 10 p.m. ET for the championship. They previously defeated the Leones 2-0 in a qualifying round shutout on Sunday. The host country will look to win its 10th title, while the D.R. is seeking its 23rd championship. In the third-place game on Thursday, Puerto Rico's Indios de Mayagüez will face Venezuela's Cardenales de Lara, also at 10 p.m.
Charros starter David Reyes (2-0) dominated Puerto Rico’s lineup for the second time in the tournament, earning the win with six scoreless innings, while allowing only three hits and three walks.
The game was decided in the first inning, when the Charros' offense came out swinging with three runs against Puerto Rico’s starter, Ronnie Williams (0-1). After Billy Hamilton once again wreaked havoc on the bases, Rudy Martin Jr. drove him home with a double. Martin and Michael Wielansky, who bunted his way on, then scored on a single by third baseman Mateo Gil.
Mayagüez scored its only run in the top of the seventh inning against reliever Jesús Cruz. Eddie Rosario led off the inning with a triple after Hamilton misplayed a ball in center field and came around to score on a single by Isán Díaz to make it 3-1.
Stephen Nogosek pitched the eighth for Mexico without allowing a run and Trevor Clifton earned his third save of this Caribbean Series with a scoreless ninth inning of his own.
Mexico has outscored its opponents 22-5 in its five games.
In Wednesday's first semifinal, manager Albert Pujols’ Dominican Republic squad scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th in the first extra-inning contest of this Caribbean Series, then made some slick defensive plays in the bottom of the frame to defeat Venezuela, 5-4.
The win for the Dominican squad was a back-and-forth affair that started out as a pitching duel between Leones starter Brooks Hall and his Cardenales counterpart Máximo Castillo, as was the case when these two clubs met in the tournament’s first game last Friday. Hall pitched six scoreless innings on Wednesday, giving up three hits, striking out three and walking one. Castillo kept the Venezuelan club in the game with five innings and two runs allowed, one on a run-scoring double by Robinson Canó and another on a fielder’s choice RBI by Kelvin Gutiérrez.
The Leones took a 3-1 lead to the bottom of the eighth, but the Cardenales tied it with a bases-loaded RBI single by Rangel Ravelo and a sacrifice fly by José Rondón off Dominican Republic reliever Fernando Abad.
With the automatic runner rule in effect in extra innings for the Caribbean Series, the Dominican squad took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th on a Christian Adames sacrifice fly off Venezuela reliever Arnaldo Hernández to drive in Francisco Mejía, who had started the frame at second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. In the bottom of the inning, the Cardenales tied it on a Ravelo single to drive in the automatic runner, Gorkys Hernández, from second.
In the 11th, Sócrates Brito doubled home automatic runner Junior Lake from second to give the Leones a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Henry Blanco’s Venezuelan squad mounted a threat with runners on second and third and no outs against Dominican Republic reliever Jimmy Cordero. But a Francisco Arcia line drive toward the first-base line – which likely would have ended the game as a two-run, walk-off double – was nabbed by first baseman Yamaico Navarro for the inning’s first out. Cordero then struck out Eduardo García and after an intentional walk to Ildemaro Vargas to load the bases, Hernández lined out to end the game.
With Escogido’s win on Wednesday, a team representing the Dominican Republic will be in the tournament’s championship game for the fifth straight year, vying for the country’s first title since 2021 (Águilas Cibaeñas) while also trying to extend the nation’s record of 22 championships in the event.