GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Monday’s action at the 2026 Caribbean Series at Guadalajara’s Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol saw a great pitching performance to start the day, followed by an offensive eruption by the host club in the second contest.
The first game featured the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido defeating Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce, 5-3. The star of the game was Escogido starting pitcher Enny Romero, who threw five scoreless innings to notch the win. The former Rays, Nationals, Pirates and Royals hurler gave up just three hits, with one walk.
On the offensive side, Junior Lake continued his great start to the Caribbean Series, with an RBI single in the first inning and two runs scored. The former Major League outfielder has gone 5-for-7 in his club’s first two games, with four RBIs.
With a 2-0 record in the series, the Dominican squad — which will have an off-day Tuesday — is one win away from clinching a spot in one of Friday’s semifinal contests.
Monday’s second game between Federales de Chiquirí (Panama) and home club Charros de Jalisco (Mexico Red) was a blowout from the start. In the first inning, Charros outfielder Bligh Madris hit a grand slam off former Brewers, Rangers, Nationals and Blue Jays right-hander Paolo Espino to start the fireworks.
That was followed by a seven-run third inning that gave the Mexican Pacific League champions a commanding 11-0 lead, en route to an 11-4 win. Former Braves, Phillies and Giants infielder Johan Camargo hit a two-run homer for the Panamanian club, which was making its debut in the series on Monday.
With the win, the Charros club managed by Benji Gil, Team Mexico’s manager once again for next month’s World Baseball Classic, evened its record in the tournament at 1-1.
Tuesday’s first game will feature a crucial matchup between the Federales and the host nation’s other representative in the tournament, Tomateros de Culiacán, or Mexico Green. Both clubs will start the day with an 0-1 record and will seek to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole in the series, which could jeopardize their chances of qualifying for the semifinal round.
The night game will once again feature the Charros, this time against Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros. The game will be a matchup of 1-1 clubs, with the winner positioning itself to clinch a semifinal spot with one more victory in the round-robin phase.
