MLB.com

By Doug Miller / MLB.com

Luis Carlos Garcia of Mexico, right, is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Dominican Republic. (AP)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- It wasn't exactly the display of raw power the home team is accustomed to, but the Dominicans figured out a way to win their first game of the 2004 Caribbean Series.

Tied in the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday night in Estadio Quisqueya, the heavily favored Licey Tigers of Santo Domingo won the game, 6-5, over the Culiacan Tomato Growers of Mexico on a truly bizarre play started by Atlanta Braves All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal.

Furcal entered the game as a pinch-hitter, drew a walk from Culiacan pitcher Edgar Gonzalez and then took second on a Ronnie Belliard groundout.

But Furcal didn't stop running once the putout was made at first, and he bolted for third, causing Culiacan first baseman Mario Valdez to throw to third, which Valdez did wildly for an error.

Once again, Furcal didn't stop -- that is, until he fell down about three feet from home plate.

Still, Culiacan couldn't capitalize when third baseman Oscar Robles made a bad throw to home, allowing Furcal to stand up and touch the plate with the winning run.

The Dominicans jumped to a 1-0 record in the six-day round-robin tournament. They are tied for first place with Venezuela's Aragua Tigers, who beat Puerto Rico's Ponce Lions, 7-6, in 10 innings in the day's first game.

Each team plays each other twice over the course of six days, and the team with the best record at the end wins. The Dominicans beat Puerto Rico for the title last year.

Furcal said the odd scamper around the bases was indicative of his style.

"I play that way all the time," Furcal said. "I try to take the extra base. And tonight we won because they made errors. It doesn't matter how you win. You just have to win."

It didn't look like they would early on.

Mexico's starter, Oliver Perez, quieted the crowd and the Licey lineup with no hits and four strikeouts through the first three frames. Mexico took a 1-0 first-inning lead courtesy of a Jose Macias triple and a Benji Gil RBI fielder's choice.

But then Perez met the big-league portion of the batting order -- and trouble.

Luis Castillo, the All-Star second baseman for the Florida Marlins, singled to lead off the inning, then advanced to second when Culiacan shortstop Gil booted New York Mets outfielder Timo Perez's ground ball for an error.

New Baltimore Orioles acquisition Miguel Tejada struck out, but Boston Red Sox basher David Ortiz didn't, crushing an RBI double to the base of the wall in center field to tie the game at 1-1.

Perez then suffered from command problems, walking Izzy Alcantara to load the bases before issuing a run-scoring free pass to Henry Rodriguez that made it 2-1.

Former big-leaguer Jose Offerman quickly upped the Licey lead to 5-1 with a three-RBI double into the gap in left center field.

Mexico clawed back into it with a Luis Garcia solo homer off Dominican starter Rafael Soriano in the fifth that made it 5-2, and Soriano didn't last much longer.

The Seattle Mariners prospect left after 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out five.

Mexico continued to scrap, tying the game with a three-run top of the seventh inning.

Reliever Guillermo Mota might have been lights-out for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the regular season, but Culiacan didn't seem to be intimidated.

Derrick White tripled and Valdez singled him in, making it 5-3, and two batters later, Valdez scored when pinch-hitter Miguel Ojeda doubled off Joe Horgan. Mexico then tied the game with a Darrell Sherman RBI single.

Mexico's effort impressed Licey manager Manny Acta.

"They scored three runs off our bullpen, and that's not easy to do," Acta said. "It shows that winning the title here is a tough task."

One that Mexico might be up to, according to Garcia.

"This is good for us because it shows we can come back against the best team in the tournament," Garcia said.

"It shows we can challenge for the title."

Venezuela beats Puerto Rico: Thanks to the heroics of center fielder Robert Perez, Venezuela's Aragua Tigers won a see-saw battle in the first game of the Caribbean Series on Sunday evening.

Venezuela beat Puerto Rico's Ponce Lions, 7-6, on a bases-loaded single by Perez in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Venezuela's Luis Ordaz led off the bottom of the 10th with a single off reliever Justin Lehr, which was followed by an Alex Cabrera double and Miguel Cabrera intentional walk that loaded the bases for Perez's game-winning hit. Perez hit the first homer of the Series, a two-run blast that barely cleared the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving Venezuela a 5-3 lead.

But that lead unraveled in the eighth inning when Jose Molina singled and Raul Nieves blooped an RBI double off Francisco Rodriguez to make it 5-4, and Rodriguez then threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score.

Luis Lopez gave Puerto Rico a short-lived 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth with a monster solo shot off Francisco Butto, but Venezuela came right back in the bottom of the frame to tie it when pinch-hitter Luis Rodriguez singled in Perez.

"This is a big win," Venezuela manager Buddy Bailey said.

"If we're going to have any chance to win this series, we're going to have to win four or maybe five games. Baseball is a lot of percentages."

Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.