2005 Caribbean Series

The 2005 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the thirtieth-fifth edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held in Mazatlán, México from February 1 to February 6. The series featured four teams from Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Venados de Mazatlán of the Mexican Pacific League won the series and were managed by Juan José Pacho. The Most Valuable Player was Francisco Campos, a pitcher with the Venados de Mazatlán.

The pre-tourney favorites, the Águilas Cibaeñas, of the Dominican League, missed their first game when their flight from Santo Domingo was overbooked and got canceled. They then came in and lost their first two games, but won two in a row to remain in the race. They faced off with the Venados de Mazatlán, coming in at 4-1, with two more wins needed to force a tie-breaker. Juan Peña allowed a leadoff single to Trenidad Hubbard, a walk to Vinny Castilla and a 2-run double to Derrick White to put Mexico up 2-0 in the first. Erubiel Durazo hit a 2-run homer in the 5th for insurance. Through 8, Francisco Campos had allowed only 3 hits (none out of the infield) and had fanned 11, but he put on Luis Polonia and Miguel Tejada to start the 9th. The Dominicans closed the gap to 4-3 on hits from Matt Cepicky and Ronnie Belliard but closer Luis Ayala got a double play grounder and another out to end the game.

Mazatlán became just the fifth Mexican Pacific League team to take the tournament. Campos (2-0, 23 K, 3 BB, 6 H in 16 IP, 1.13) was the clear ace, but Jorge Campillo (1-0, 0 ER in 8) and Pablo Ortega (1-0, 1.13) pitched well also. Miguel Flores (.423, .538 SLG, 6 R) led the offense, whil Hubbard (.280, .400 SLG, 8 R), White (.273, .545, 2 HR, 7 RBI), Castilla (7 RBI) and Jonny Gomes (2 HR) and Durazo (.250, .400 SLG) chipped in as well.

For the disappointing Águilas club, Belliard (.417, .625 SLG) and Alberto Castillo (.389, .667 SLG) led the way while perennial Series stars Miguel Tejada (.261, 0 HR) and Rafael Furcal (.250) did not put on great shows. Doug Linton (1-0, 0.00, 8 K in 7 IP) and Miguel Batista (1-0, 2.45) led their staff.

The Venezuelan Tigres de Aragua were led offensively by Alex Romero (.350, .550 SLG) and Rene Reyes (.308, .500 SLG) and on the mound by Jomsir Romero (1 ER in 10 1/3 IP).

For the last-place Indios de Mayagüez, pitching was in short supply. Alex Cintron (.500) had the best average of the tournament while Julius Matos (.400, .600 SLG) also produced well offensively.

Final Standings[edit]

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Venados de Mazatlán	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	5	1	0.833	Juan José Pacho
Águilas Cibaeñas	DOM Dominican League	6	3	3	0.500	Félix Fermin
Tigres de Aragua	VEN Venezuelan League	6	3	3	0.500	Buddy Bailey
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	6	1	5	0.167	Mako Oliveras