(ESPNdeportes.com services)--The first game of the Caribbean World Series in Mazatlan, Mexico was postponed on Tuesday, due to the Aguilas Cibeañas' late departure from the Dominican Republic.
The Aguilas, champions of the Dominican Winter League, were scheduled to open the 12-game, round robin event against the Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico, but were not able to leave Santo Domingo until 3:00pm local time, four hours before gametime (6:00pmET, 4:00pm Mazatlan), according to Bienvenido Rojas of Telemicro television station in the D.R.
"They were scheduled to leave Monday night, but there were too many unregistered guests not directly associated with the team, and not enough room on the charter flight," said Rojas. "Also, several of the travellers had been drinking, and the pilot refused to try to accomodate the team that night," he added.
Marcos Rodríguez, vice-president of the Dominican League, confirmed to Rojas that the game would be made up on Friday at 1:00pm Mazatlan time (3:00pmET).
The Aguilas have a number of Major League players on their roster, including Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez, Jose Lima, Rafael Furcal and Ronnie Belliard.
The team eventually chartered a flight from Santo Domingo to Mazatlán on Tuesday evening. Venezuela and host Mexico played their first game as scheduled.
The Caribbean World Series is played every February between the champions of the Dominican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan and Mexican winter leagues.