Where they stand: Dominican Republic, 5-1; Puerto Rico, 4-2; Mexico, 2-4; Venezuela, 1-5. The Dominican Republic wins the Caribbean Series.
Quick summaries:
Puerto Rico 8, Mexico 2. Jesus Feliciano (Mets) and Angel Sanchez (Boston) each had three hits as Puerto Rico stayed alive in the first of yesterday's two games.
Dominican Republic 7, Venezuela 4. The Dominican Republic scored four in the first and never looked back to clinch the Caribbean Series.
More detail on the final day of the Caribbean Series after the jump.
Puerto Rico scored three in the second to take a lead it would never relinquish as it defeated Mexico 8-2. The first two batters of the second were retired, but a single, a double, a triple, and another single quickly produced three runs. Mexico got back into the game in the fourth when Luis Cruz (Milwaukee) hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 3-2. Puerto Rico bounced right back with two in the fifth, and put the game away with three more in the sixth. Jesus Feliciano (Mets), who led Caribbean Series batters with a .481 average, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Angel Sanchez (Boston) also went 3-for-4 including a double, and Armando Rios had two hits and three RBIs. Mario Santiago (Kansas City) pitched five innings to get the win. Pablo Ortega lasted only four innings to take the loss.
The Puerto Rico win pulled them within a half game of the Dominican Republic going into the last game of the series. A win by the Dominican Republic would clinch the title for them; a loss would force a Monday playoff between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
The Dominican Republic proved equal to the challenge. A four-run first, aided by two of the five Venezuela errors, gave the Dominican Republic an early lead as it took a 7-4 victory to win the Caribbean Series. Venezuela scored three in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4, but never got any closer than that. Despite scoring seven runs, the Dominican Republic only had three RBIs, as two runs scored on errors, one on a wild pitch, and one on a balk. Ramon Santiago (Detroit), Kevin Barker, and Fernando Martinez (Mets) each had two hits, with Santiago scoring three times. Cesar Quintero homered and drove in three runs in a losing effort for Venezuela. Raul Valdes pitched five innings to get the win, with Dario Veras notching his series-leading third save. Ramon A. Ramirez (Boston) pitched only one inning in taking the loss.
DR's win does as much for Haiti as LSU's national championship did for Katrina victims.