CARACAS — Mexico and Venezuela went on to command the standings by becoming the only two teams with three victories on Sunday, beating Cuba and the Dominican Republic respectively in the fourth day of the Caribbean Series.
Panama and Colombia, for their part, took a breather by getting their second victory by beating Puerto Rico and Curaçao, respectively.
The Leones de Caracas defeated the Tigres de Licey 3-2 and the Cañeros de Los Mochis defeated the Agricultores de Bayamo 5-4, while the Vaqueros de Montería prevailed 6-5 against Curaçao and the Federales de Chiriquí defeated 3- 2 to the Indians of Mayagüez.
With these results, Venezuela and Mexico improved their balance to 3-1, while the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia and Curaçao are tied 2-2. Puerto Rico and Cuba, meanwhile, barely add one victory in four games.
The tournament is played under the modality of all against all in the first seven dates, where the first four qualify for the semifinals.
The winners of the semifinals, where the first is measured with the fourth in the standings and the second with the third, are awarded the right to play the final on February 10 in the Venezuelan capital.
LIONS 3, TIGERS 2
Under the rule to define tied games from the tenth inning, Kelvin Gutiérrez started the inning on second pad and scored thanks to a wild pitch from reliever Anthony Vizcaya, who fanned out five and issued two tickets in two innings.
Los Leones, in the bottom of the tenth, tied the score 1-1 with a single to center field by José Rondón against reliever Jairo Asencio.
In the eleventh episode, Henry Urrutia again put the Quisqueyans in a 2-1 lead; but in the bottom of that inning, Venezuelan Ali Castillo scored after an error by second baseman Gustavo Núñez, after a fly ball to center by Wilfredo Tovar.
In the twelfth, the hosts left the Dominicans lying on the field with an extra-base hit by Rondón, which drove in the run of Isaías Tejeda, a Dominican starter who defends the colors of Venezuela.
CANE GROWERS 5, FARMERS 4
The Mexican ninth team took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning on Rodolfo Amador’s RBI single and Joey Terdoslavich’s two-run double.
Farmers took advantage of two costly mistakes by
Cañeros and produced in the second section a cluster of five runs, only two of them clean, against the starter Jeffrey Kinley.
Jasson Atondo, meanwhile, commanded the Mexican offense with an RBI single for two of the three runs recorded in the third inning.
The victory was credited to starter Kinley (1-0), who pitched six innings after a rough start and combined with relievers Rafael Córdova, Samuel Zazueta and Jake Sánchez to retire 22 straight batters until Guillermo Áviles’ hit, then with two outs in the ninth. Sánchez recorded his second save in the tournament. He lost reliever Kelbis Rodríguez (0-1).
FEDERALS 3, INDIANS 2
Bryan Torres and Emmanuel Rivera hit bats with a triple and double, respectively, to give the Indians a 2-0 lead over the Federales in the third inning.
The Panamanian team, however, reacted and tied the score at 2-2 with RBIs in the next two innings, the first by Rodolfo Orozco with a double and the second with a solo home run by Jahdiel Santamaría.
In the ninth, with the bases loaded, Iván Herrera drove in the winning run with a single off reliever Carlos Francisco (0-1), who took the loss. The winner was reliever David Richardson (1-0).
JEANS 6, CURACAO 5
The Colombian team opened the scoring in the legs of Gustavo Campero, who doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice after stealing third base. Fabián Petruz increased the lead to 2-0 with a single in the fourth leg.
Sicnorg Loopstok added one hit to the bottom of the quarter and Andrelton Simmons made it 3-2 with a two-run home run in the sixth.
The Curaçao team extended the lead to 4-2 after an error on the throw by shortstop Petruz in the eighth; but Jordan Diaz, a prospect for the Oakland Athletics, tied the score at 4-4 with a two-run hit in the ninth.
The parity was broken in the 13th inning as a consequence of the rule that contemplates starting the inning with a runner on second: The run was pushed in by Pabel Manzanero. Petruz, for his part, added another run with a home run. Subsequently, also under that rule, Curaçao discounted with a ground ball from Simmons.
