The Panamanian team Federales de Chiriqui will try to maintain their undefeated record today when they face Criollos de Caguas, from Puerto Rico, in the fifth qualifying round of the Caribbean Baseball Series being played in Miami.
The duel between the Canaleros (3-0) and the Puerto Ricans (3-1) will close the antepenultimate day of the winter tournament, which for the first time will be hosted by a Major League Baseball stadium.
Before that, Curaçao (1-2) will face Nicaragua (0-3) and Venezuela (2-1) will face Mexico (1-3), while the Dominican Tigres de Licey (2-2) will take a day off.
Federales has accumulated victories over Curacao (7-3), Mexico (4-3) and Nicaragua (6-3), a trio located at the bottom of the order.
The Puerto Rican club had successes against the Pinoleros (5-2), Mexicans (2-0) and Morochos (6-2), while they lost to the Dominicans (2-5).
Sunday’s games included Criollos de Caguas’ 6-2 victory over Tiburones de la Guaira, Chiriqui’s aforementioned win over Nicaragua and Naranjeros de Hermosillo’s first win of the tournament.
The Mexicans defeated Licey 9-1, a victory that saved the winners from definitive elimination, although they still remain out of the qualification zone.
Naranjeros secured the win in the third inning when Aaron Altherr drove in three runs with a double that found the bases loaded and then scored on an infield hit by Bobby Bradley.
That package determined the departure of starter and loser Andy Otero without completing a third of the game, a situation that forced the Dominican bullpen to work harder than expected.
The opposite happened with the Mexican pitching, whose starter Jeff Kinley (6.0 IP, 1CL, 6H, 1K) had a quality outing that was rewarded with the victory.
The Mexicans extended their lead with a home run by shortstop Agustin Murillo in the sixth inning and finished off the final two innings with a pair of runs in each.Panama (3-0) leads the standings followed by Puerto Rico (3-1), Dominican Republic (2-2), Venezuela (2-1), Curacao (1-2), Mexico (1-3) and Nicaragua (0-3).
