Mexico, Venezuela to meet in finals of Caribbean Series

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - Yuniesky Betancourt drove in four runs and Hector Daniel Rodriguez threw six strong innings as Mexico's Venados de Mazatlan beat Cuba's Ciego de Avila 7-2 on Saturday to advance to the finals of the Caribbean Series.

Mexico will play Venezuela's Tigres de Aragua for the championship on Sunday, after Venezuela overwhelmed Puerto Rico's Cangrejeros de Santurce 13-3 earlier in the day.

Venezuela was powered by Jose Martinez, who hit a home run and triple, knocking in four runs. Starter Marcus Walden held Puerto Rico to just one run through 5 1/3 innings.

"We are doing this to bring happiness to the people of the Tigers and all Venezuela. We are going for the championship," Martinez said.

Manager Eddie Perez said the offense against Puerto Rico was what he had been hoping to see for days.

"In the first games, we didn't do what we wanted to accomplish offensively," he said. "Today we saw what we are capable of doing."

In the evening game, Rodriguez tamed Cuba's batters and Betancourt had four RBIs on three hits to keep Mexico (5-0) undefeated in the tournament.