The Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Republic became champions of the Caribbean Series 2021, after beating the Criollos de Caguas of Puerto Rico 4 × 1 in the final played at the Teodoro Mariscal stadium in Mazatlán (northwestern Mexico).
Center fielder Juan Lagares was a key man for the Dominican team in the sixth inning by producing a run and scoring another to take a decisive lead.
The starting pitchers engaged in a very even pitching duel, backed by their defenses. Cesar Valdez opened for the Dominican ninth. Héctor Hernández took the mound for the Puerto Rican team.
The two went unscathed with no runs against until fourth inning. Until then, Valdez struck out three times six for Hernandez.
It was in the top of the fifth inning that Valdez began to wobble.
At that point in the game, the Dominican pitcher received the first hit with a single line from Juan Centeno to center field, then he missed a wild pitch and then allowed another hit by Jarren Durán that drove in 1 × 0 for the Puerto Rican team.
Hernández’s solidity also had cracks at the end of the fifth inning with the solo homer that Johan Camargo connected to left field for the 1 × 1.
Valdez and Hernández left the game after a full five innings each.
The Eagles took off in the sixth inning off reliever Anthony Maldonado. Ramón Torres scored the 2 × 1 driven with a double by Juan Lagares who was responsible for ringing the 3 × 1 with a single by Ronald Guzmán.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Dominican team secured victory with a four-season stick that Ronald Guzmán connected to right field for the 4 × 1.
Luis Castillo was the winning pitcher of this game with a save by José Rafael Díaz, while Anthony Maldonado took the loss.
The Eagles closed their participation in this Caribbean Series with a perfect pace of seven victories and were crowned for the sixth time in the history of the tournament.
Thus, the Dominican Republic was confirmed as the most winning country in the Caribbean Series with its 21st title.
For his part, Félix Fermín increased his record for the most coronations in the Caribbean classic with four.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 C H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 X 4 6 0
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