Tuesday night saw the Puerto Rican Winter League come to an end with Cangrejeros de Santurce taking home the title and advancing to the Caribbean Series with a 5-3 win in a dramatic Game 6.
Mayaguez jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Santurce got a run back in the fifth inning, but trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. That’s when the home team would rally to score four runs to take a 5-3 lead, a lead that they would hold onto over the next inning and go on to celebrate the championship.
Cincinnati Reds first/third baseman Neftali Soto played a role in the victory. Soto racked up two hits in four at-bats. He would single in the first inning but was stranded at second base. In the eighth inning though he got the rally started with a one-out single. He scored the next play when Anthony Garcia doubled him in. As noted above, a rally ensued for four runs that led Santurce to the victory.
Soto and his team will move on to the Caribbean Series, which begins on February 2nd. It will be played in Puerto Rico this year. Only Venezuela has not had its champion crowned. Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic have all finished their playoffs and have their representatives. The countries will usually supplement the league champions for the Caribbean Series with talent from other teams in the league. Mexico has won the last two and three of the last four Caribbean Series, which is a round robin style tournament where one team is eliminated after four games. The final four teams are seeded and play 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 in a one game, winner-takes-all “round” with the winners meeting in the championship game.