Isan Díaz clubbed a pair of homers as the Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico defeated the Cardenales de Lara of Venezuela 7-4 to take third place in the 67th Caribbean Series, played at Nido de los Águilas Stadium in Mexicali, Mexico, on Thursday night.
After losing their respective semifinals on Wednesday — Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to Mexico — the Cardenales wrapped up the tournament with a 2-4 record, while the Indios bowed out with a 3-3 finish.
Díaz set the tone early for Puerto Rico, launching his first home run of the night, a two-run shot to right field in the second inning to score center fielder Eddie Rosario, who had opened the frame with a walk.
The Indios, managed by Wil Cordero, extended their lead with a four-run fourth inning led by Díaz's second dinger, this time with the bases empty. Designated hitter Anthony García drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and third baseman Emmanuel Rivera drove in two more with a double to chase Venezuela's starter, Jimmy Endersby (0-1), from the game.
Henry Blanco's squad got on the board in the top of the fourth when Hernán Pérez scored Danry Vásquez with a single to make it 6-1. However, Puerto Rico answered with one more run in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of an RBI single by catcher Onix Vega that scored Rosario.
The Cardenales refused to go down quietly, rallying for three runs in the ninth against reliever Justin Yeager, who struggled through two-thirds of an inning. Dereck Rodríguez entered the game to get the last out and secure the win for Mayagüez.
Puerto Rico starter Luis Leroy Cruz pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run, struck out four and walked two. Ricardo Vélez (1-1) earned the win in relief after a scoreless, one-hit 1 1/3-inning effort.
The Cardenales won the first meeting between the two teams in the round-robin phase on Monday, erasing a 5-1 deficit with nine unanswered runs from the fourth inning onward en route to a 10-5 victory.
The Caribbean Series finale is set for Friday night at 10 p.m. ET, when the Charros de Jalisco of Mexico will take on Albert Pujols' Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Republic.