The Cardenales de Lara clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2024-25 Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) Round Robin. On January 13, they beat the Tigres de Aragua 17-7 at home at Estadio Antonio Herrera Gutiérrez in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
The winner of the 2024-25 LVBP regular season will play in the 2025 Caribbean Series against the winners of the host nation Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico, Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana, and the Japan Breeze who will appear in the tournament for the first time.
The 2025 Caribbean Series will be played at the El Nido de los Aguilas in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, from January 31 to February 7. All games will be broadcast on ESPN Deportes.
The El Nido de los Águilas is home to the Aguilas de Mexicali of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico.
The LAMP, LVBP, LIDOM, and LBPRC are all part of the Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe (CBPC).
The 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin has four days left, with the last games being played on January 17.
— #NuestroBeisbol ⚾️🇻🇪 (@LVBP_Oficial) December 24, 2024
The Cardenales de Lara is currently in first place of the 2024-25 LVBP with their record at 10-3, the Bravos de Margarita is in second place at 8-5, the Aguilas del Zulia is 5-7 in third place, the Navegantes del Magallanes are 5-8 in fourth place, and the Tigres de Aragua are in last place at 4-9.
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 Leones del Caracas finished sixth and did not qualify for the 2024-25 LVBP Round Robin, with a record of 26-30. The 2024 Caribbean Series champion, Tiburones de La Guaria, ended in seventh place with a record of 26-30. The Caribes de Anzoátegui finished in last place with a record of 22-54.
The Cardenales de Lara offense pounded 16 hits against the Tigres de Aragua pitching staff.
The Cardenales de Lara tallied five runs in the bottom of the first inning, starting with the second baseman laying down a sacrifice bunt to Tigres de Aragua third baseman Leobaldo Pena. Pena made a throwing error to first base that allowed shortstop Ildemaro Vargas and center fielder Gorkys Hernández to score and took the lead at 2-1.
La #JugadaSegura de este encuentro se la lleva Harold Castro, que con toque y en error en tiro del antesalista, anotaron Ildemaro Vargas y Gorkys Hernández las dos primeras carreras de este encuentro 😎
Presentado por @JuegaEnLinea #SomosUno🆑 pic.twitter.com/dfLSLEMWAy
— Cardenales de Lara (@CardenalesDice) January 14, 2025
A few moments later, Danry Vasquez cracked an RBI single to center field, scoring second baseman Harold Castro to extend the lead at 3-1.
Cardenales de Lara catcher Ali Sanchez helped crack the fifth run of the inning with a two-run single to center field, with Vasquez and Hernan Perez coming in to score to make it 5-1.
The Cardenales de Lara scored the final 17 runs on January 13, beginning with Vasquez drilling a ground ball two-run triple with Rangel Ravelo and Yonny Hernandez scoring to extend the lead to 10-2.
The next batter, Perez, rocked a ground ball single to left field, scoring Vasquez to make it 11-2.
A few moments later, Cardenales de Lara center fielder Jeksson Flores smacked a ground ball RBI single, scoring Perez to extend the lead to 10 runs at 12-2.
To round out the top of the lineup, Vargas hit a fly ball single to center field, scoring Sanchez to make it 13-2.
Gorkys Hernandez, shortly after, came up in the second hole and drilled a line drive single to right field, scoring Flores to extend the lead to 14-2. Vargas would advance to third base and Gorkys Hernandez went to second, resulting in the throwing error by Tigres de Aragua right fielder Leobaldo Cabrera.
Castro once again came up to the plate and cranked a two-run double to left field, scoring Vargas and Hernandez to make it 16-2.
The final run of the game for the Cardenales de Lara came off the bat of Yonny Hernandez, when he poked a ground ball single into center field, scoring Castro to capitalize on a 17-2 lead.
Cardenales de Lara relief pitcher Vicente Campos came into the game in the top of the ninth inning and replaced Luis Oviedo. Vincente Campos would get Tigres de Aragua shortstop Elio Campos to fly out to Flores for the final out of the game to win 17-7 and clinch a berth into the 2024-25 LVBP best-of-seven championship series.
Cardenales de Lara starting pitcher Adrian Almeida recorded the win on Monday night after throwing five innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, and three strikeouts, while posting his record to 3-1.
The Cardenales de Lara pitching staff threw nine innings, allowing 12 hits, six earned runs, three walks, and striking out six batters.
Tigres de Aragua starting pitcher Ben Holmes threw 2.2 innings, allowing nine hits, three earned runs, and walking two batters while dropping his record to 1-2.
The Tigres de Aragua pitching staff threw eight innings, allowing 12 earned runs, six walks, and two strikeouts.
The Cardenales de Lara will play at home against the Bravos de Margarita on Tuesday, January 14 at 6 p.m. EST, and the Aguilas del Zulia will play the Navegantes del Magallanes at home at Estadio Luis Aparicio El Grande in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela.
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 schedule of the 2024-25 LVBP best-of-championship series will be announced soon on the league’s website, and social media pages.
2025 Caribbean Series Schedule
All Games Will Be Televised On ESPN Deportes
All Caribbean Series Games Will Be Played At Estadio Nido de los Águilas
Friday, Jan 31
Venezuela vs Dominican Republic – 1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET
Puerto Rico vs Mexico – 8:00 p.m. PT/11:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, February 1
Dominican Republic vs Japan – 12:50 p.m PT/3:50 p.m. ET
Mexico vs Venezuela – 5:50 p.m. PT/8:50 p.m. ET
Sunday, February 2
Japan vs Puerto Rico – 12:50 p.m. PT/3:50 p.m. ET
Dominican Republic vs Mexico – 5:50 p.m. PT/8:50 p.m. ET
Monday, February 3
Venezuela vs Puerto Rico – 12:00 p.m. PT/3:00 p.m. ET
Mexico vs Japan – 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET
Tuesday, February 4
Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic – 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET
Japan vs Venezuela 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, February 5: Semifinals
Semifinal 1: 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET
Semifinal 2: 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, February 6
Third place game: 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
Friday, February 7
Final: 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
