The Caribbean Series semifinals are set. What to know about the four teams that advanced
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And then there were four.
After a week of round-robin games, the semifinals of the Caribbean Series being held at Miami’s loanDepot park is set.
The four teams advancing from the field of seven: Venezuela, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Curacao.
The semifinals will be held on Thursday, with Game 1 between the Dominican Republic and Panama starting at 3 p.m. and Game 2 between Curacao and Venezuela at 8 p.m. The winners will play for the Serie Del Caribe championship at 8 p.m. Friday. The losers will play at 3 p.m. Friday in a third-place game. Both games Thursday will be televised in English on Bally Sports Sun. The games on Friday will be on Bally Sports Florida. All four games are also broadcast in Spanish on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.
Here’s what you need to know about each of the four teams that has advanced.
Venezuela
The Tiburones de la Guaira won the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League title for the first time in 38 years to punch its ticket into the Caribbean Series, and the roster during the season included the likes of Yasiel Puig, Harold Ramirez, Alcides Esocbar and Miguel Rojas as well as Ronald Acuna Jr. for a few games.
Puig and Escobar remained on the roster for the Caribbean Series, and the team added former big-leaguers Wilson Ramos, Jhoulys Chacin, Odubel Herrera and Silvino Bracho for the tournament.
Venezuela went 5-1 in the round-robin portion of the tournament, capped by Angel Padron throwing the second no-hitter in Caribbean Series history in its 9-0 win over Nicaragua on Wednesday. The team’s only loss was a 6-2 defeat to Puerto Rico.
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Tiburones had four players hit at least .368 with an OPS above .950 over the opening six games: Alexi Amarista (.474 average, three RBI, three runs), Escobar (.412 average, one double, one home run, two RBI, four runs), Hernan Perez (.381 average, two doubles, four RBI, two runs) and Wilfredo Tovar (.368 average, two doubles, two RBI, three runs).
Puig, who hit .418 with 10 home runs during 25 winter-ball games with Tiburones, had just one hit in the Caribbean Series — a solo home run in Venezuela’s tournament-opening win against the Dominican Republic — before logging two (a a sixth-inning single and eighth-inning double) on Wednesday against Nicaragua.
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Tiburones is managed by Ozzie Guillen, who was the third base coach on the Marlins’ 2003 World Series team and managed the Marlins in 2012).
Panama
Panama’s Federales de Chiriqui has been one of the surprise stories of the Caribbean Series, going a near-perfect 5-1 in round-robin play including key wins over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to claim its spot in the semifinals. It’s only loss was a one-run defeat to Venezuela (5-4 on Tuesday)
Federales de Chiriqui outscored its opponents 33-22 in round robin play, with Ivan Herrera (.400 average, two home runs, eight RBI), Allen Cordoba (.346 average, one home run, five RBI, five runs scored), Joshwan Wright (.385 average, three RBI, two runs scored) and Jhonny Santos (.333 average, two home runs, four RBI, seven runs scored) doing the heavy lifting on offense.
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New Marlins catcher Christian Bethancourt, who has split time between catching and first base during the tournament, hit .261 (6 for 23) with two doubles and a go-ahead home run in the win over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey won the Caribbean Series last year and has won the tournament 12 times overall but barely snuck into the semifinal field after going 3-3 during round robin play.
The Tigres posted wins over Nicaragua (5-4), Puerto Rico (5-2) and Curacao (2-0) but lost to Venezuela (3-1), Mexico (9-1) and Panama (3-1).
38-year-old Emilio Bonifacio, who spent four seasons with the Marlins from 2009-2012, hit .400 over the six games with a team-high six runs scored, two triples and two stolen bases. 41-year-old Robinson Cano hit .333 with one home run, one double, five RBI and two runs scored. Dawel Lugo hit a team-best .455.
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On the mound, Raul Valdez shined with a 0.96 ERA (one earned run in 9 1/3 innings) and 10 strikeouts in two starts, while Jairo Asencio logged saves in all three of their wins.
Curacao
The Curacao Suns clinched their spot in the semifinals with a gutsy 2-0 win over Puerto Rico on Wednesday to go 3-3.
All three of Curacao’s wins came against teams that were eliminated in the round-robin portion, also beating Nicaragua 6-3 and Mexico 6-5.
Its three losses: 7-3 to Panama, 4-2 to Venezuela and 2-0 to the Dominican Republic.
The Suns have their share of MLB talent on their roster, including Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop, Andrelton Simmons, Didi Gregorius and Roger Bernadina. Wladimir Balentien, who hit 60 home runs in Japan back in 2013, is also on the Curacao Roster.
Balentien hit .391 and swatted a pair of home runs during the round-robin phase. Bernadina hit .350. Profar hit .286. Schoop and Gregorious combined for seven RBI.
On the pitching side, Marlins prospect Cody Mincey started two of Curacao’s six games, earning a no-decision in the win over Mexico after giving up two runs in 4 1/3 innings and getting the loss in the Dominican Republic game despite giving up just one run over 6 1/3 innings.
