The Bravos de Margarita, under manager Jose Moreno beat the Tigres de Aragua 5-2 in the 2024-25 Round Robin on January 15 on the road at Estadio José Pérez Colmenares in Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela, and advanced on to the 2024-25 Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional best-of-seven championship series to face the Caredenales de Lara.
The 2024-25 LVBP regular season winner will play in the 2025 Caribbean Series.
The 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin has two days remaining. The last games will be played on January 17.
The Tigres de Aragua will play at home against the Bravos de Margarita on January 16 at 6 p.m. EST, and the Aguilas del Zulia will play the Cardenales de Lara at 6 p.m. EST at Estadio Luis Aparicio El Grande in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela.
The Bravos de Margarita cracked the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, when catcher Wilson Ramos drilled a ground ball single into center field, scoring second baseman Alexi Amarista to take the lead at 1-0.
The next score of the game did not come until the top of the fifth inning, when Bravos de Margarita first baseman Juan Santana hit an RBI groundout to first base, scoring shortstop Jose Martinez to extend the lead to 2-0.
A few batters later, Ramon Flores lifted a sacrifice fly to Tigres de Aragua center fielder Lorenzo Cedrola, scoring Amarista to make it 3-0.
The Tigres de Aragua did not get on the board until the bottom of the fifth inning when first baseman Yermin Mercedes jacked a solo home run over the right-center field wall to cut the deficit to 3-1.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Tigres de Aragua designated hitter David Rodriguez drove an RBI single into center field, scoring shortstop Alcides Escobar to make it 3-2.
During the top of the ninth, Santana came up to the plate and launched a two-run home run over the left-center field wall, scoring Martinez to extend the lead to 5-2.
Bravos de Margarita relief pitcher Claudio Custodio came into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and replaced relief pitcher Jake Sanchez.
Custodio would get Tigres de Aragua second baseman Elio Campos to ground out to Martinez for the final out of the game alongside his seventh save and clinch a berth into the 2024-25 LVBP best-of-seven championship series for the first time in franchise history.
Elio Campos conecta un rodado al SS y… ¡BRAVOS DE MARGARITA ESTÁ EN LA FINAL! 🤩
LA ISLA VIVIRÁ Y DISFRUTARÁ POR PRIMERA VEZ EN SU HISTORIA DE LA FINAL DE #NUESTROBEISBOL 👏🏻
El sueño del primer campeonato para la franquicia insular está más vivo que nunca 🏆
📹 @bymsport… pic.twitter.com/J0wEG3fGi9
— #NuestroBeisbol ⚾️🇻🇪 (@LVBP_Oficial) January 16, 2025
The Bravos de Margarita first season was in the 2007-08 winter league season.
Tigres de Aragua, starting pitcher dropped his record to 0-3 and threw 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run, two walks, and five strikeouts.
Bravos de Margarita starting pitcher Angel Rodon advanced his record to 3-0 and chucked 5.1 innings, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, one walk, two strikeouts, and one home run.
The Cardenales de Lara finished the 2024-25 LVBP regular season in first place at 33-23, the Bravos de Margarita ended in second place at 31-25, the Aguilas del Zulia finished in third place at 30-26, the Navegantes del Magallanes ended in fourth place at 29-27, the Tigres de Aragua clinched the final spot for the LVBP Round Robin with their record at 27-29.
The Cardenales de Lara are in first place in the 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin with a score of 10-4, while the Bravos de Margarita are in second place with a score of 10-5.
The three LVBP teams eliminated from contention for the best-of-seven championship are the Aguilas del Zulia, which finished third at 6-8, the Navegantes del Magallanes, which finished fourth at 6-9, and the Tigres de Aragua, which finished last at 4-10.
The Leones del Caracas did not qualify for the 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin and ended the season in sixth place, 26-30.
The 2024 Caribbean Series champion, Tiburones de La Guaira, failed to make the 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin after finishing the regular season in seventh place, 26-30, and the Caribes de Anzoategui finished in last place, 22-34.
All 2024-25 LVBP regular season games are on https://www.beisbolplay.com/envivo with a paid subscription until the final out of the best-of-seven championship before the 2025 Caribbean Series.
The Cardenales de Lara have played in the Caribbean Series in 1991, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2019, and 2020 with no championships at the event and have won the LVBP championship title in 1990-91, 1997-98, 2000-01, 2018-19, and the 2019-20 winter league seasons.
The Cardenales de Lara are looking for redemption going into the 2024-25 LVBP championship series after appearing in the best-of-seven series last year and losing to the 2024 Caribbean Series champion Tiburones de La Guaira in five games.
The schedule of the 2024-25 LVBP best-of-championship series will be announced soon on the league’s website, https://lvbp.com/, and social media pages.
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