2018 Caribbean Series

The 2018 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the 60th edition of the international competition featuring the champions of the Cuban National Series, Dominican Professional Baseball League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League, and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. It took place from February 2 to 8, 2018 at the Estadio Panamericano in Guadalajara, Mexico. Criollos de Caguas of Puerto Rico won the tournament.

The series was originally set to be hosted in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, but due to the socioeconomic crisis at the time it had to be moved to Mexico for a second consecutive year.^[1]

Stadium

The Estadio Panamericano is located in Zapopan, within the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. It is currently home to the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican Pacific League, who have played there since their entry to the league for the 2014-15 season.

Format

The Preliminary Round consisted of a ten-game round robin, after which the top 4 teams advanced to the Semifinal Round (1st vs. 4th, 2nd vs. 3rd). The winners of the semifinal games then squared off in the Final.

Participating teams

Team	Means of qualification
Alazanes de Granma	Winners of the 2017–18 Cuban National Series
Tomateros de Culiacán	Winners of the 2017–18 Mexican Pacific League
Criollos de Caguas	Winners of the 2017–18 Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League
Águilas Cibaeñas	Winners of the 2017–18 Dominican Professional Baseball League
Caribes de Anzoátegui	Winners of the 2017–18 Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

Preliminary round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alazanes de Granma	4	3	1	18	18	0	.750	—	Advance to knockout stage
2	Caribes de Anzoátegui	4	2	2	32	26	+6	.500	1
3	Criollos de Caguas	4	2	2	25	23	+2	.500	1
4	Águilas Cibaeñas	4	2	2	18	27	−9	.500	1
5	Tomateros de Culiacán (H)	4	1	3	20	19	+1	.250	2	Eliminated

Source: MLB
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2) Head-to-head matches; 3) Team quality balance; 4) Batting average; 5) Drawing of lots.
(H) Hosts

Time zone: Mexican Central Time (UTC–6)

Date	Time	Away	Result	Home	Stadium
February 2	13:00	Caribes de Anzoátegui	4–6	Alazanes de Granma	Estadio Panamericano
February 2	20:00	Criollos de Caguas	7–4	Tomateros de Culiacán	Estadio Panamericano
February 3	14:00	Águilas Cibaeñas	4–15	Caribes de Anzoátegui	Estadio Panamericano
February 3	20:00	Tomateros de Culiacán	4–5	Alazanes de Granma	Estadio Panamericano
February 4	14:00	Águilas Cibaeñas	6–3	Criollos de Caguas	Estadio Panamericano
February 4	20:00	Caribes de Anzoátegui	6–4	Tomateros de Culiacán	Estadio Panamericano
February 5	14:00	Criollos de Caguas	12–7	Caribes de Anzoátegui	Estadio Panamericano
February 5	20:00	Alazanes de Granma	1–7	Águilas Cibaeñas	Estadio Panamericano
February 6	14:00	Alazanes de Granma	6–3	Criollos de Caguas	Estadio Panamericano
February 6	20:00	Tomateros de Culiacán	8–1	Águilas Cibaeñas	Estadio Panamericano

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals					Final
	4	Águilas Cibaeñas	7
	1	Alazanes de Granma	4
						Águilas Cibaeñas		4
						Criollos de Caguas		9
	3	Criollos de Caguas	6
	2	Caribes de Anzoátegui	5

Semi-finals

Date	Time	Away	Result	Home	Stadium
February 7	14:00	Criollos de Caguas	6–5	Caribes de Anzoátegui	Estadio Panamericano
February 7	20:00	Águilas Cibaeñas	7–4	Alazanes de Granma	Estadio Panamericano

Final

February 8, 2018 20:00 at Estadio Panamericano in Guadalajara, Mexico

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Águilas Cibaeñas	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	7	0
Criollos de Caguas	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	3	X	9	9	2