Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic and won the 2024 Caribbean Series

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The Tiburones de La Guaira, from Venezuela, defeated the Tigres del Licey, from the Dominican Republic, 3-0, and won the title of the 2024 Caribbean Series, which ended this Friday at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, United States.

The Sharks, who achieved revenge for the defeat suffered by Venezuela in front of their fans in the final of the last edition of the tournament when they were represented by the Leones de Caracas, won the first title in their history in the Caribbean classic.

Those led by the experienced Ozzie Guillén gave another conquest to Venezuela, which had not won since 2009 when the Tigres de Aragua won the edition held in Mexicali, Mexico, and added the eighth title as a country in the regional competition.

Ricardo Pinto led the masterful pitching of the La Guaira Sharks.

Venezuelans and Dominicans faced off before a record attendance of 36,677 fans who witnessed the game at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, this being the highest attendance in the history of the Caribbean Series, surpassing the final of the 2023 World Baseball Classic to which 36,098 fans attended.

In game action, Pinto (1-0) left the Dominican lineup unanswered in the 5.2 innings he was on the mound, limiting them to just four hits, walking one and striking out six batters, and striking out his team in a position to achieve victory.

The Dominicans’ first threat came in the same first inning, when with two out, Robinson Canó hit a double off Pinto, who then made Daweel Lugo miss with a strong line drive to left field that Cuban Yasiel Puig took, diving headfirst to finish. the entrance.

At the end of that first inning, the Venezuelans put men on first and second, but Puig grounded out to the shortstop to end the threat.

In the second, the Sharks took men to first and third, but César Valdez, who started for the Dominicans, dominated Alexis Amarista with a ground ball to first.

The Venezuelans broke the ice in the fourth inning, when, with the bases loaded, Alcides Escobar hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Odubel Herrera, who came in to run for Puig, who left the game with a discomfort in one of his legs , scored from third base, to put the Sharks ahead on the scoreboard (1-0).

La Guaira continued its attack at the end of the fifth inning, when Hernán Pérez hit a triple to drag Wilfredo Tovar to the buzzer and then scored on a ground ball to Herrera’s second base, to add two more scores.

The Dominicans wanted to start a rebellion when they loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning, but reliever Jorgan Cavaneiro retired Yadiel Hernández with a ground ball to shortstop, leaving the ambush without scoring runs.

Arnaldo José Hernández threw the ninth without freedoms and the rescue was credited by the Venezuelans.

Valdez (0-1), who was the Most Valuable Player of the last edition, could not establish his dominance on the mound and in four innings he allowed seven hits, walked three and scored three runs, retiring only two batters via strikeout and ended up taking the loss.

In the Sharks’ offense, Pérez and Herrera scored and drove in a run.

For the Tigres, Canó was perfect in the three appearances he had with the wood in the game.