Red Sox, Rays finish inaugural Dominican Series (MLB Network, MLB.TV)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- The exploits of Pedro Martínez and David Ortiz made the Red Sox one of the most popular Major League Baseball teams of the 21st century in the Dominican Republic. This weekend, the duo that was part of breaking the 86-year championship drought in Boston 20 years ago returned to Santo Domingo as part of the Dominican Republic Series, which featured two Spring Training games between the Red Sox and the Rays at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.

Martínez and Ortiz threw out the first pitches before the first game on Saturday, which the Red Sox won, 4-0. Sunday's game is at 1:05 p.m. ET on MLB.TV and MLB Network.

“I think it's going to be marvelous," said right-hander Brayan Bello, who was signed to a six-year extension by the Red Sox on Thursday. “Those two guys, everybody loves them."

Martínez was part of the 2004 championship club, the first World Series winner for the Red Sox since 1918. And Ortiz, also a key piece on that team, would go on to help Boston win two more titles, in ‘07 and ‘13.

For the Red Sox, who will also be represented in the Dominican Republic by third-baseman Rafael Devers and infielder Pablo Reyes, this is their second Spring Training series in Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal -- named after the country’s first Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. In 2000, with Martínez at the height of his powers, the Red Sox played a two-game set here against the Houston Astros.

For the Rays, however, this is their first time playing in the Dominican Republic.

“I think it's something I'm going to really take advantage of," said Tampa Bay infielder Junior Caminero, a Dominican native and the club’s No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. “Everyone's going to be there. My family's going to be there. My girlfriend will be there. A lot of my friends and family will be there. That's something I'm really going to take pride in.”

The fanfare surrounding the Dominican Republic Series, the first leg of the 2024 MLB World Tour, will be part of the attraction. Among the notable local names taking part in pregame ceremonies and the singing of the Dominican national anthem will be Natti Natasha, Manny Cruz and Zacarías Ferreira, as well as the Coral Mixta Domínico-Americana and El Alfa. And on Saturday morning, MLB held a Play Ball event, featuring the local game of “vitilla”, a popular version of stickball played with broomsticks as bats, and for balls, the tops of large plastic water bottles -- an object easily thrown as a breaking ball, which, legend has it, has helped some Dominican hitters as youngsters hit curveballs while developing into professional hitters.

MLB teams suiting up in the Dominican date back to 1936, when the Reds did a Spring Training tour of the Caribbean, including the D.R., to play against local clubs. The Brooklyn Dodgers followed suit in ‘48 to play against a team of local stars, as did the Pirates in ‘67.

A decade later, the Dodgers played Spring Training contests against the Mets in 1977, a series remembered here for Manny Mota’s home run off future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. They were followed the next spring in the Dominican Republic by the Cardinals and Phillies.

More recent history of Major League Spring Training games in the Dominican includes the two-game series between the Expos and the Mets in 1999. The biggest attractions were Montreal’s manager, local legend Felipe Alou, and future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, a budding superstar at the time.

One year later, the Red Sox and Martínez -- another future Hall of Famer -- played a two-game set against an Astros club that featured Moisés Alou and José Lima.

“We’re taking this very seriously,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who has visited the Dominican on numerous occasions. “It’s a good thing for us, too. Kind of like a change of pace, moving from here [in Fort Myers] and going over there for a few days and taking care of what we have to do on the field, but at the same time kind of resetting in the middle of Spring Training and having some fun over there.”

In addition to Martínez and Ortiz as retired Red Sox legends -- as well as Devers, Bello and Reyes for the Red Sox -- Dominican-born players to watch for the Rays will be Caminero, Amed Rosario and Jose Siri, who is very excited to return to play in his home nation.

“I’m very proud MLB is bringing a couple of games, especially us going down there for the first time,” Siri said. “Family and friends are going to be there. I’m going to enjoy it. We’re going to have fun, and it’s going to be a great trip.”