The Cardenales de Lara, champions of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, defeated Indios de Mayagüez of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente of Puerto Rico 10-5 in the third game for each of the teams in the Caribbean Series based in Mexicali. Cuban Rangel Ravelo was the star of the game for the team in their first victory of the tournament.
Ravelo had three hits in four trips to the plate with two runs batted in, two scored and a walk in the Cardinals’ 10-run outburst at Nido de las Aguilas Stadium in the border town. The native of Havana has had an excellent year with the redbirds hitting .282 with five homers and 31 RBIs.
In the eighth inning Ravelo knocked in two runs via a bases loaded single to bring Gorkys Hernández and Alexi Amarista to the plate to make the score 7-5. These were the first RBIs for the Antillean in this edition of the Serie del Caribe and now upped his average to .333 in the tournament. Now Ravelo has four hits in 12 at-bats. This was the first victory for the Venezuelans in the Caribbean Series after losing to the Leones del Escogido and the Charros de Jalisco to open the competition.
Lara will play tomorrow against Japan to close the qualifying stage. The winning pitcher of this Monday’s game was Antony Vizcaya who worked the sixth inning where he did not allow a run, but did surrender a hit. By beating Japan they would be securing a place in the semifinal stage. The Cardenales last played in the 2020 Serie del Caribe where they reached the Final and they lost to the Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League.