Miguel Romero took the mound in the semifinal for the Tiburones de La Guaira and for a moment things were turbulent for the right-hander, after two batters the hurler and Venezuela were down 1-0 to the Curaçao Suns. But the native of Guantánamo, Cuba was able to get out of the inning and settle down.
The rest of the way Romero only gave up one more run in 5 ⅓ innings of work to a potent lineup the featured ex-big leaguers Didi Gregorious, Wladimir Balentin, Andrelton Simmons and current MLBer Jonathan Schoop. The Tiburones had to big three-run innings in the fourth and the sixth to seal a 6-2 win over the Dutch Antilles. Romero in his own right watched his ERA ascend to 2.53 on the series and now sports a 2-0 record in the tournament.
Miguel Romero ha tenido una excelente Serie del Caribe. Felicidades pic.twitter.com/6Ere2sdLLW
— International Baseball Agent (@cperez58) February 9, 2024
In other game Matanzas, Cuba native Yadiel Hernández collected two hits in three trips to the plate, knocked in a run and also scored a run to lead Licey to a 4-1 victory over the Federales de Chiriquí. Hernández watched his average rise to .278 on the tournament. With a Dominican victory today he would become the first Cuban to win a Serie del Caribe with a Serie Nacional team and another Caribbean League team.
Both teams face off tonight at 8:30 PM for the title. César Valdez takes the mound for Licey, while for La Guaira Ricardo Pinto will toe the rubber. With a win Licey could become the first back-to-back Caribbean Series champions since Caguas did it in 2017-2018. The Tiburones on the other hand are looking to win their first SDC crown.