Latin America's version of the World Series is off and running from the Dominican Republic as the top teams from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela compete for supremacy.
Two games are taking place on Tuesday after the tournament's opener saw Venezuela beat Puerto Rico and Mexico defeat the hosts.
Here are the results of Tuesday's action:
And here are the updated standings:
There's plenty more baseball to be played over the next three days before the semifinals get underway on Feb. 6. Here is the remaining group-stage schedule:
Mexico (Venados de Mazatlan) 9, Cuba (Ciego de Avila) 3
Sebastian Valle drove in five runs to lift Mexico to a 9-3 victory on Tuesday.
Valle smacked a one-out double in the second inning with the bases loaded to drive in three and give Mexico an early lead to work with.
ESPN Beisbol shows the 25-year-old's double:
Valle drove in another two in the bottom of the seventh with his second double of the game, a shot to center field as Mexico remains perfect at the Caribbean Series.
Cuba was hitting Mexico pitcher Eddie Gamboa well; however it was held scoreless through the first five innings of its debut in the competition. Mexico added two runs in the third and the fourth, including a solo home run from Cyle Hankerd to go up 5-0.
ESPN Deportes has the replay of Hankerd's shot to the left:
In the sixth inning, though, Cuba finally got to Gamboa, plating three runs. Lourdes Gourriel drove in two of them with two outs, which forced Gamboa out of the game.
Mexico was quick to add a run in the bottom of the inning before tacking on another three in the seventh. Former major leaguer Yuniesky Betancourt drove in a run with a double to make it 7-3 before Valle continued his big day.
Toros de Tijuana shows Valle's second double:
Cuba is treading in dangerous territory here. It has to regroup and pull out a win in its second game on Wednesday, or else its tournament hopes will take a grave turn. Its next test is Puerto Rico, who lost to Venezuela in its opener on Monday.
It's the perfect start for Mexico, though, who is now 2-0 and the early leader of the tournament after Tuesday. A win like this against Cuba will only help its confidence moving forward. Mexico has a day off before taking on Puerto Rico on Friday.
Stats courtesy of MLB.com.