Previewing tonight's Caribbean Series title game (8 ET)

MIAMI – The Caribbean Series championship game between Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic) and Tiburones de la Guaira (Venezuela) on Friday at loanDepot Park (8 p.m. ET) is a study in contrasts.

The Licey club has won the most Caribbean Series titles in the tournament’s history, 11 – including last year at Venezuela – while the Tiburones have yet to do so and are playing in their first edition of the event since 1986. As a nation, the Dominican Republic has 22 championships to its name, also a record, while Venezuela has seven and has not won since 2009, when Tigres de Aragua took the crown in Mexicali, Mexico.

In the dugout, the Tigres are led by manager Gilbert Gómez, 31, a Minor League skipper in the Mets' organization recently promoted to High-A Brooklyn. The Tiburones are managed by none other than Ozzie Guillén, the former White Sox and Marlins skipper who won a World Series at the helm of the South Siders in 2005.

“I think everyone on the club knows what our responsibility is, being the defending champions of the Caribbean,” Gómez said.

The Tigres also reached the Caribbean Series final in a different manner from the Tiburones. On Tuesday, the Dominican squad was on the brink of being eliminated from the tournament in the qualifying stage, before veteran left-hander Raúl Valdés and a deep Licey bullpen shut out a Cura?ao club stacked with Major League veterans such as Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop and Didi Gregorius. The Dominican Republic would finish the first round with a 3-3 record.

The Venezuelan team, on the other hand, had few pitfalls on its way to a 5-1 record and first-place finish in the qualifying stage, leading the tournament in team ERA with 2.17 – including a no-hitter by ?ngel Padrón, only the second in the event’s history – and in team batting average with .299. They defeated the Cura?ao club, 6-2, on Thursday to set the stage for Friday’s matchup with the Dominican Republic.

“From Day 1, I said that there wasn’t an easy team here,” Guillén said. “Obviously, you have to beat the best. The Dominican Republic, with its history in the Caribbean Series, always shows up.”

On Friday, Gómez will start right-hander César Valdez, one of Licey’s signature pitchers of the last decade. Valdez could have started Thursday’s semifinal game vs. Panama on four days’ rest, but Gómez opted to go with Cameron Gann, who threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-1 victory for Licey. Jonathan Aro, Fernando Abad, Neftalí Féliz, J.C. Ramírez and Jairo Ascencio covered the last 4 2/3 frames to secure the victory. For Friday’s championship game, Gómez says that “everyone will be ready” in the bullpen once again.

In Valdez’s first start in this year’s Caribbean Series, against Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico) on Saturday, the veteran threw five innings of six-hit, two-run ball to get the win in a 5-2 Licey victory.

On the offensive side, the Tigres will look to veterans Dawel Lugo (.455/.478/.545 in the qualifying round), Emilio Bonifácio (.400/.423/.560) and Robinson Canó (.333/.346/.524, one home run) to spearhead their attack.

For the Tiburones, Guillén will send Ricardo Pinto to the mound on just three days’ rest. But the Tiburones also have a deep well of arms in their bullpen, with Silvino Bracho, Anthony Vizcaya, Jorgan Cavanerio and closer Arnaldo Hernández shortening the game in Venezuela’s five wins so far. In his first start in the series, Pinto pitched five innings against Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Mexico), giving up six hits and one run, with eight strikeouts and two walks.

The Venezuelan squad, which has outscored its opponents 35-16 in its first seven games of the tournament, has received contributions from familiar names such as Wilson Ramos (.320), Alcides Escobar (.368, a home run, 1.034 OPS) and Alexi Amarista (.391, .835 OPS), as well as Ramón Flores (.346, .933 OPS) and Wilfredo Tovar (.348, .922 OPS).

“My focus is to win the title not only for Venezuela, but for all of us as well, the players,” Guillén said. “We want to bring the trophy home, because our country needs this kind of happiness.”

In Friday afternoon’s third place game between Federales de Chiriquí (Panama) and Cura?ao Suns (Cura?ao), the Panamanian squad prevailed 5-4.