By Leif Skodnick
World Baseball Network
Jan. 9, 2023
With the Caribbean Series less than a month away, teams across the Caribbean are battling in their league’s playoffs, be they best-of-seven series or round robins, to earn a spot representing their nation in Caracas.
Here’s a brief look at what happened in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela over the weekend.
Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico
Naranjeros de Hermosillo Take Series from Venados: After a one-day delay due to cartel violence in the Mexican state of Sinaloa last week, the LAMP playoff series between regular season pennant winner Naranjeros de Hermosillo and Venados de Mazatlan ended with a 3-1 victory in Game Six for Hermosillo behind starter Wilmer Rios, who scattered six hits over 8.1 innings of work, striking out five and walking none. WBN’s Matthew Tallarini has the game story here.
Two Game Sevens Played Tonight: The Sultanes de Monterrey will face Algodoneros de Guasave at 8:30 p.m. local time, while Aguilas de Mexicali will face Yaquis de Obregon at 8:10 p.m. local time. Both games will decide the series.
Sultanes shut out Guasave 3-0 on Sunday, trotting out six pitchers in a bullpen game who combined to scatter six hits over nine scoreless innings.
Aguilas topped Obregon 4-2, getting five quality innings from starter Marcelo Martinez, who allowed just one hit and one run while striking out four and walking none.
Caneros de Mochis won their playoff series four games to one over Mayos de Navajoa on January 6.
LIDOM
With Sunday victories, Estrellas Orientales and Tigres del Licey have begun to pull away in the LIDOM round robin, as they stand tied at 8-6 atop the standings, while both Gigantes de Cibao and Aguilas Cibaenas are both two games back at 6-8. With four games remaining, Estrellas and Tigres need two wins to clinch a spot in the best-of-seven LIDOM championship series.
Below is the remaining schedule in the LIDOM round robin:
Monday, January 9 (Home team in bold)
Aguilas Cibaenas vs. Tigres del Licey, 5 p.m.
Estrellas Orientales vs. Gigantes de Cibao, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, January 11
Gigantes de Cibao vs. Tigres del Licey, 7:15 p.m.
Estrellas Orientales vs. Aguilas Cibaenas, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 12
Tigres del Licey vs. Aguilas Cibaenas, 7:30 p.m.
Gigantes de Cibao vs. Estrellas Orientales, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, January 13
Aguilas Cibaenas vs. Gigantes de Cibao, 7 p.m.
Tigres del Licey vs. Estrellas Orientales, 7:30 p.m.
Liga Profesional de Beisbol Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico)
In Puerto Rico, the semifinal series between Criollos de Caguas and Indios de Mayaguez
Is tied at two games apiece, as is the semifinal series between Cangrejeros de Santurce and Gigantes de Carolina.
The Criollos topped Mayaguez 2-1 on Sunday, while Santurce edged Carolina 2-1 in San Juan. Both series resume Tuesday, when the Indios visit the Criollos and Santurce travels to Carolina. Both games start at 7:10 p.m. Atlantic Time.
A full wrap-up of yesterday’s games in available (in Spanish) from el Nuevo Dia here: https://www.elnuevodia.com/deportes/beisbol/notas/criollos-y-cangrejeros-consiguen-victorias-para-empatar-sus-series-semifinales-del-beisbol-invernal/
Also notable is this story (in Spanish) from Primero Hora on the discovery of the exact location of the first baseball game played in Puerto Rico back in 1898 by baseball historian Jose Colon Delgado.
125 Years Ago, The First Baseball Game Was Played in Puerto Rico: https://www.primerahora.com/deportes/beisbol/notas/un-dia-como-hoy-hace-125-anos-se-jugo-en-puerto-rico-el-primer-partido-de-beisbol-del-que-se-tenga-memoria/
Liga Venezolano de Beisbol Profesional
The Tigres de Aragua lead the LVBP round robin by a whisker with a 3-2 record, while the Navegantes de Magallanes, Tiburones de La Guaira, and Leones del Caracas are a half game back at 3-3. Cardenales de Lara trails the field at 2-3.
Tiburones 5, Navegantes 1: La Guaira scored two runs in each of the first two innings to jump out to an early lead, and held on the rest of the way. Danry Vasquez, batting .474 through in the round robin, went 2-for-3 with a walk for Tiburones, while La Guaira starter Ramon Garcia allowed two hits in six scoreless innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
A full story is available (in Spanish) from the LVBP website: https://www.lvbp.com/gameday.php?game=714183&wrap=t
Leones 7, Cardenales 4: Orlando Arcia (Atlanta Braves) had four RBI as the Leones de Caracas topped Cardenales to improve to 3-3 in the LVBP round robin. Arcia’s brother Oswaldo contributed a solo home run in the sixth inning.
A full story is available (in Spanish) from the LVBP website:https://www.lvbp.com/gameday.php?game=714187&wrap=t