MAZATLÁN (Neth.) – The results in Panama’s games against Puerto Rico and Mexico against Venezuela, on Thursday on the fifth day of the 2021 Caribbean Series, show one of four semi-finals to be played on Friday at the Teodoro Mariscal Stadium.
In the “matinee” at 11:00 AM local time (1:00 PM ET), Panamanians and Puerto Ricans jump on the playing field. At 3:30 PM (5:30 PM ET), the Dominican Republic will face Colombia, ranked first and eliminated second.
In the evening, at 8:00 PM (22nd ET), Mexico will face off against Venezuela, where the host must win to avoid a headache with the TQB (Team Quality Balance).
Scenario 1Puerto Rico and Venezuela win, which would also force the use of the TQB to define places 3 and 4, and in this scenario, Venezuela must beat Mexico by four races to progress.
Scenario 2Panama and Mexico win, which would force you to use the famous TQB to define places 2, 3 and 4, and depends on the points scored by everyone to determine places in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Panama. Here Panama has to beat the Puerto Ricans by three races to avoid the Dominican Republic in the semi-finals.
Scenario 3: Puerto Rico and Mexico win, the eliminated is Venezuela and the semifinals are Mexico against Puerto Rico and Panama against the Dominican Republic.
Scenario 4: Panama and Venezuela win, Mexico is eliminated and the semi-finals would remain Puerto Rico against Panama and Venezuela against the Dominican Republic.
PANAMA VS PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico comes in with three wins in a row after it eliminated Colombia in the ninth inning on Wednesday with a horse race.
The Puerto Ricans lost the first game and with another win, they would take second place behind the Dominican Republic and avoid them in the semi-finals.
COLOMBIA VS. DOMINICAN
Sol y sombra, the Dominican Republic arrives with nine consecutive wins since 2020, while Colombia arrives with nine consecutive defeats in the same period and with the suitcases ready to return to their country.
The Dominican Republic is trying to end the knockout round 5-0 unbeaten and that would force them to end the tournament unbeaten if they want to win the two-time championship.
Colombia is trying to win the first game in its burgeoning Caribbean Series history and avoid being the fourth team with at least 10 losses in a row.
VENEZUELA VS. MEXICO
The host is risking his life and Tomateros de Culiacán wants to advance to the semi-finals, after becoming the only team to get no further than the knockout round in a series played in Mexico since 2013.
In 2013, Yaquis from Ciudad Obregón won the final in Hermosillo and in 2017 Águilas from Mexicali lost in Culiacán. In 2018, Culiacán was left out of the semifinals in Guadalajara.
Venezuela, for its part, is looking for the victory that will take it to the semi-finals for the second consecutive year, after spending time on the road in 2019.