GUADALAJARA, Mexico – On Wednesday at the Caribbean Series, a wild, history-making opener set up a crucial matchup for Thursday, while the second game featured a contest between host country rivals that turned out to be a nail-biter won by the hometown club at Guadalajara’s Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol.
The first game between Panama’s Federales de Chiquirí and the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido — a 16-15 win for the D.R. squad — set a Caribbean Series record with its 31 runs scored, breaking the previous mark set in the 1990 tournament at the Orange Bowl in Miami, where Mexico’s Naranjeros de Hermosillo defeated Puerto Rico’s Senadores de San Juan 20-8.
The Panamanian team managed by José Mayorga — set to skipper the country’s national team in next month’s World Baseball Classic — came back from 5-2 and 12-6 deficits in the game, with an offense sparked by former Major Leaguers Christian Bethancourt (3-for-5, four RBIs) and Johan Camargo (3-for-6, two RBIs). But the Dominican club proved to be too much, as another former big leaguer, Franchy Cordero, led the team’s offense with a 2-for-4 day that included a key two-run homer and four RBIs. Former Red Sox infielder Marco Hernández also chipped in four hits and four runs driven in.
At 3-0 in the tournament, Escogido has clinched a spot in one of the two semifinal games slated for Friday.
In Wednesday’s second game, the tournament’s host club, Charros de Jalisco (Mexico Red), held on for a 4-2 win over Mexico’s other representative, Tomateros de Culiacán (Mexico Green). Culiacán loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth, before Jalisco reliever Matt Foster closed out the win on a flyout by former Yankees prospect Estevan Florial. The Tomateros offense wasted several chances throughout the contest, going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Upon completing their round-robin schedule at 3-1, the Charros have also secured a semifinal berth for Friday.
The final two semifinal berths will be determined on Thursday, the last day of the round-robin schedule. At 0-3 in tournament play, the Federales need a win in their 3 p.m. ET matchup with Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeos de Santurce (1-2) to stay alive.
With a loss, Chiquirí would be eliminated at 0-4 in the round-robin phase. But with a win, the Panamanian club would assure itself of at least a three-way tie in third place, depending on the result of the 8:30 p.m. game between the Tomateros (1-2) and Escogido. If the Federales win the opener, that, combined with a Tomateros victory, would eliminate the Cangrejeros. But with a win by the Panamanian club and a Culiacán loss, a three-way tiebreaker with the 1-3 clubs would be determined by Team Quality Balance (a tiebreaking formula that accounts for runs scored, runs allowed and innings played) to determine the last two semifinalists.
