4 squads set for Caribbean semifinals

On the ultimate day of pool play within the Caribbean Series, 4 groups clinched spots within the semifinal spherical, which shall be performed Thursday in Caracas, Venezuela — Mexico (5-2), host membership Venezuela (5-2), the Dominican Republic (4-3) and Colombia (4-3) have superior to inside a sport of the championship contest, which can happen on Friday.

Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s video games:

Panama 10, Cuba 4
Jahdiel Santamaria and Jhonny Santos led Panama’s offense by going a mixed 4-for-7 with 5 RBIs. Each had a single and a double, with Santamaria driving in two and Santos driving in three. Rodrigo Orozco additionally chipped in, going 1-for-5 with two RBIs. Enrique Valdez and Michael Wielansky every had three of Panama’s 15 hits within the contest.

Right-hander Harold Arauz began for Panama and threw six robust innings, giving up one run on 5 hits whereas strolling none and hanging out three to assist Panama end 3-4 within the collection.

Yuniesky Larduet went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI out of the leadoff spot for Cuba, however it wasn’t sufficient to stop Cuba from falling to 1-6 within the match. Box rating >>

Dominican Republic 6, Curaçao 2
Ramon Hernandez delivered the decisive blow on this sport, belting a pinch-hit three-run homer in a four-run seventh inning that put the sport away and improved the D.R. to 4-3 for the match. Emilio Bonifácio went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and an RBI out of the leadoff spot within the win, whereas Robinson Canó added an RBI double.

Left-hander Domingo Robles began for the D.R. and yielded one run on three hits whereas strolling three and fanning two over 5 innings. Williams Jerez pitched two hitless innings in reduction, Fernando Abad tossed a scoreless eighth, and Jairo Asencio picked up the save regardless of surrendering one run on three hits within the ninth.

Sicnarf Loopstok introduced in that run within the ninth with a pinch-hit RBI single for Curaçao, whose solely different run got here on a Sharlon Schoop RBI single within the fourth. The loss eradicated Curaçao from championship rivalry. Box rating >>

Puerto Rico 9, Mexico 3
Puerto Rico handed Mexico simply its second defeat of the collection with a six-run victory fueled by the center of the lineup, however at 4-3 for the match, it was eradicated regardless of having the identical file as Colombia on account of a head-to-head loss earlier within the collection.

Emmanuel Rivera (3-for-5 with a double and an RBI), Vimael Machín (3-for-5 with three RBIs) and Edwin Díaz (1-for-5 with a three-run homer) — not the Mets nearer — delivered the majority of the offense for Puerto Rico, with Roby Enriquez including a single, double and two RBIs as effectively.

Right-hander Alex Sanabia began for Puerto Rico, going 5 innings and giving up three runs on six hits whereas strolling none and hanging out one. Puerto Rico’s bullpen was lights-out from there, with Ricardo Velez (two innings), Carlos Francisco (one) and Ricardo Gomez (one) combining for 4 excellent innings to seal the win.

Mexico scored all three of its runs within the fourth, when Joey Terdoslavich hit a sacrifice fly and Fernando Villegas delivered a two-run single. Box rating >>

Venezuela 7, Colombia 4
Venezuela jumped out to a 5-1 lead within the third inning and by no means appeared again, enhancing to 5-2 whereas dropping Colombia to 4-3. Though by advantage of beating Puerto Rico earlier within the match, Colombia superior to the semifinal spherical.

In the highest of the second inning, it was good to be an Arcia. Oswaldo Arcia led off with a stroll, and after two flyouts, he stole second base. Orlando Arcia then additionally drew a stroll, and that was adopted by a Francisco Arcia RBI double to get Venezuela on the board. The subsequent batter, Ali Castillo, singled in two extra to offer Venezuela a 3-0 lead.

Colombia answered with one run within the second because of an RBI single by Fabian Pertuz.

A bases-loaded stroll and an Orlando Arcia RBI groundout upped Venezuela’s result in 5-1 within the third. In the fifth, Venezuela threatened once more by opening the body with back-to-back walks, however Carlos Rivero hit right into a triple play.

Colombia chipped away, selecting up a run within the backside of the fifth courtesy of Francisco Acuna’s RBI single, and three extra within the sixth to chop the deficit to 1 when Pabel Manzanero delivered a clutch two-out, two-run double.

But Venezuela’s bullpen held the road after starter Jhoulys Chacín gave up three runs on 5 hits with two walks and 4 strikeouts over 5 innings. Miguel Socolovich, Arnaldo Hernandez, Ricardo Rodríguez and Anthony Vizcaya every threw one inning with just one run charged to Socolovich. The Venezuelan reduction corps held Colombia hitless over the ultimate three frames, and José Rondón added some insurance coverage within the prime of the ninth with a two-run single. Box rating >>

Semifinals on Thursday 
Dominican Republic vs. Mexico, 2:30 p.m. ET
Colombia vs. Venezuela, 6:30 p.m. ET