NEW YORK — The Águilas Cibaeñas completed a dominant sweep of their archrivals, the Tigres del Licey, to claim the inaugural “Titans of the Caribbean” series trophy at Citi Field in Queens. Winning the third game with a 9-6 victory, the Águilas put on an impressive offensive display from the first inning, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the inning.
In the first two games of the series, the Águilas’ pitching dominated the Licey hitters, securing two shutout wins with scores of 3-0. The second game even came within two outs of completing a no-hitter, as seven Eagles pitchers combined to strike out 14 batters.
Despite temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit in New York, Dominican fans turned out in large numbers to support their teams. Total attendance for the three games was 90,900, with the third game on Sunday drawing a record 32,536 fans. This marked the largest attendance for a game between two teams from the Dominican League (LIDOM) in the history of the circuit.
Former Dominican major leaguers, including Hall of Famers David Ortiz and Pedro Martínez, were present at Citi Field over the weekend. The recently retired Nelson Cruz was also recognized before the second game, and former Mets shortstop José Reyes was in attendance as well.
Legendary merenguero Fernando Villalona added to the atmosphere by performing his iconic song “Dominicano soy” during the seventh inning break of all three games.
In a press conference on Sunday, LIDOM President Vitelio Mejía Ortiz expressed satisfaction with the response to the first edition of the event and the support of the Dominican community in New York. He also announced the league’s plans to consider a second edition of the series in 2024, with the possibility of the games counting towards the official results of the LIDOM championship season in the future.
Looking ahead, the Águilas and the Licey are set to meet again on Tuesday at the Cibao Stadium in Santiago. The Águilas will aim to carry the momentum from their series win in New York to break an eight-game losing streak. Fans can catch all LIDOM games live on MLB.TV with the Postseason Package.