Caribbean Series: Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido Top Venezuela’s Cardenales de Lara 5-4 in 11, Secure Championship Berth

MEXICALI, Mexico – Brooks Hall gave the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido a chance to win in the Serie del Caribe semifinal against Venezuela’s Cardenales de Lara on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for Hall and the Leones, the bullpen coughed up a two-run lead, and the Cardenales tied the game at 3-3, and then the teams traded punches in the 10th before the Dominican Republic scored in the top of the 11th and managed to hold off Venezuela in the bottom half to secure the island’s sixth consecutive berth in the Caribbean Series final with a 5-4 win.

“First of all, thank God for the tremendous opportunity. I hope that without a doubt, the conclusion of this meeting will be a great one, especially after a difficult night. But as you just said, only one step at a time. We have not yet achieved our objective,” Leones manager Albert Pujols said in Spanish following the game.

The Leones del Escogido got on the board in the top of the first inning when Robinson Cano lofted a double down the left field line, scoring Socrates Brito to a 1-0 lead. 

In the top of the third, the Leones got another when Kelvin Gutierrez grounded into a fielder’s choice and Venezuela shortstop Eduardo Garcia shoveled a the glove flip to second baseman Ildemaro Vargas and Junior Lake came into score to extend the lead to 2-0. Socrates Brito slid into second base and was called out, and the call was confirmed by video review.

Cardenales de Lara manager Henry Blanco went to his bullpen in the top of the sixth, bringing on Anthony Vizcaya to replace starter Max Castillo, who threw five innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, and notched four strikeouts.

“I thought we pitched very well in the series, all five games,” Cardenales manager Henry Blanco said. “Having Max, he gave us a chance to win the game, but it wasn’t enough… but I think we did a good job in the Caribbean Series.”

An inning later, Hall came out of the game, having thrown six innings, allowing three hits, no earned runs, one walk, and notching three strikeouts, and it was against the Leones bullpen that the Cardenales began pecking away at the lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Hernan Perez laid down a safety squeeze bunt back to Dominican pitcher Jesus Colome. Colome attempted to cut down Rangel Ravelo at the plate, and catcher Ali Sanchez missed the tag, and Venezuela cutting the lead to one.

The two-run Dominican lead was restored in the top of the eighth when Brito lifted a sacrifice fly to left fielder Jose Rondon. Rondon camped under the ball and rifled it to Sanchez, but Gustavo Nunez came in to score ahead of the tag and made it 3-1.  

But then came the bottom of the eighth, and the Cardenales de Lara edged their way back in the game when Ravelo cracked an RBI line drive single to center field, scoring Vargas to make it 3-2. The next batter, Rondon, lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Gorkys Hernandez to tie the game up at 3-3. Amarista tagged up from second base and was thrown out at third from center fielder Luis Liberato for the second out of the inning during Rondon’s sacrifice fly. 

In the 10th inning, Cristhian Adames hit a sac fly that scored Francisco Mejia, who started the inning on second base, to give the Leones a 4-3 lead, but the Cardenales answered in the bottom half when Rangel Ravelo ripped a single to the left field corner, scoring Gorkys Hernandez from second to tie the game at four.

Leading off the 11th, Socrates Brito took the second pitch he saw the other way, knocking it into the left field corner for a double that scored Junior Lake, who started the inning on second. With Brito halfway home, the Cardenales issued an intentional walk to Robinson Cano, and then Cardenales reliever Alex Scherff got Yamaico Navarro to ground out to second base, advancing the runners. Francisco Mejia then drew an intentional walk to load the bases and bring up Luis Liberato, who fanned on four pitches to end the inning with the Leones holding a 5-4 lead.

Punching back in the bottom of the inning with Jimmy Cordero on the mound, Hernan Perez reached on a bunt that advanced Danry Vasquez to third, giving the Cardenales runners at the corners with no outs, and then stole second base. After Eduardo Garcia struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, the Leones issued a free pass to Ildemaro Vargas to load the bases with two outs. Gorkys Hernandez hit a weak pop-out to shortstop Gustavo Nunez to end the game.

“We had it there, I think it was three times, and well, we couldn’t meet the expectations of the fans, we couldn’t do the important thing that everyone is longing for,” Cardenales manager Henry Blanco said. “But it was a great game, a great game, and credit to them for being better than us.”

The Dominican Republic advances to Friday’s championship game, which will be played at 10 p.m. EST and televised live in English on MLB Network and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. They’ll play the winner of the second semifinal, between Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco (4-0) and Puerto Rico’s Indios de Mayaguez (2-2).