MEXICO CITY – The Devil was in the wind and the altitude, and the Diablos would not stop giving him his due at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu on Saturday afternoon.
His due this day was batted baseballs, and the combination of altitude and a strong wind blowing out of the ballpark wreaked havoc on the final game of the round robin at the 2026 Baseball Champions League, with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and Cocodrilos de Matanzas combining for 49 runs in a 36-13 Diablos win.
Yes, you read that right. The final score really was 36-13.
Needing to win the game to make Sunday’s championship game, the Diablos offense exploded for 36 runs on 29 hits, hitting six home runs, including back-to-back homers by Ramon Flores and Moises Gutierrez in the third, a three-run homer by Flores in the fourth, another from Jose Marmolejos in the fifth, and a two-run blast by Maikel Franco two batters after Marmolejos’ homer. They sent at least nine batters to the plate in five innings and scored at least one run in every inning but the first.
With the win, the Diablos Rojos finished the round robin 3-1 and advanced to Sunday’s championship game, where they will be the road team in their home park, facing the Kane County Cougars of the American Association, who went through the round robin with a perfect 4-0 record.
Amid all the hits, walks, homers, and runs, 16-year-old Jesus Villalobos made his Diablos debut, filling in for Carlos Sepulveda, who injured a finger fielding a ground ball in Friday night’s win against the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and acquitted himself well.
Andrys Perez, who was on Cuba’s World Baseball Classic roster, hit a solo homer to left to lead off the second for Matanzas. After Luis Sanchez reached on a dropped third strike, he advanced to third on a double by Luis Mateo and scored when Yulieski Remon grounded out to short to give Matanzas a 2-0 lead.
It wouldn’t last.
Matanzas starter Shaiel Cruz de Armas ran into trouble in the second, hitting Maikel Franco with a pitch and then issuing a walk to Rio Ruiz. After inducing a ground out to first from Bryan Gonzalez for the second out of the inning, he walked Gabriel Gutierrez on four pitches, then walked Jesus Villalobos, who was batting ninth, pushing Franco across. Another walk to Ramon Flores sent Ruiz home to tie the game and ended Cruz de Armas’ outing after 1 2/3 innings.
And for the Cocodrilos, it didn’t get much better when Briam Reyes came on. He immediately walked Moises Gutierrez to send Gabriel Gutierrez in and give the Diablos a 3-2 lead, then induced a pop-up near the mound from Jose Marmolejos. Reyes inexplicably attempted to get the pop-up himself, lost it in the breeze, and the ball hit the turf, allowing Villalobos and Flores to score and Marmolejos to get to second.
Jon Singleton, who led off the first marathon inning of the game with a wild 3-4-1 ground out, came to bat again and ripped a double off the right field wall that scored Marmolejos, making it 7-2. Franco followed with a double down the left field line, sending Singleton home. After walking Rio Ruiz, Reyes struck out Gonzalez to end the inning.
In total, the Diablos scored eight runs – six of them coming with two outs – on three hits, six walks, and one hit batsman in an inning that saw them send 13 men to the plate.
With one out in the third and Villalobos on first, Ramon Flores hit a fly ball to center that became a wind-pushed two-run homer, making it 10-2, and then Moises Gutierrez launched a solo homer to right center that landed halfway up the outfield bleachers.
In the fourth, Ramon Flores hit a three-run homer, his second in as many innings and second of the game, a three-run shot that landed in the Diablos bullpen in right field. Gutierrez and Marmolejos each singled, and a ground rule double by Jon Singleton that lodged in the outfield wall scored Gutierrez to make it 15-2.
“Ramón Flores is a very important player for our team. Whenever there’s a moment, I, as manager, when I have the opportunity to put him in, I’m going to put him in because I know he’ll give me a good result,” Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy said in Spanish of his center fielder who went 3-for-6 with five runs scored, six RBIs, and two walks.
Matanzas got a two-run double from Yasiel Gonzalez in the top of the fifth to cut the Diablos lead to 11 runs, and Jose Norona followed with a two-run homer to left that cut the lead to 15-6.
There was no stopping the Diablos, though, with the wind blowing out and the Matanzas pitchers struggling to get batters out, and in the fifth, they again batted around, sending 12 batters to the plate, getting a three-run homer from Jose Marmolejos and a two-run shot from Maikel Franco, scoring seven more runs on six hits and lengthening the lead to 16 runs.
Had this been a World Baseball Classic game, the early termination rule would have ended the game when the Diablos held a 15-run lead after five full innings. But with no early termination rule at the BCL, the game continued on, slowly meandering toward an inevitable end that was yet hours away.
“I think a game like that for the Champions League isn’t good. It’s not good for, for example, for the Cuban team today. It’s not good for them to be there. It’s difficult for everyone,” Bundy said when asked after the game if he thought the BCL should have an early termination rule. “Of course, our fans enjoyed it a lot, but I believe that a mercy rule is necessary in a moment like this.”
The Cocodrilos got five more runs in the top of the sixth while Diablos reliever Andrew Marrero struggled with his control after coming in with two runners on, throwing a wild pitch to Jose Norona that allowed two runs to score and then walking the first three batters he faced on four pitches each.
If you’ve reached this point in the story and were worried that the Diablos might let that lead slip away, allow World Baseball Network to quell your fears. The Diablos re-established the 16-run lead in the sixth, scoring five more runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 27-11, getting two-run singles from Maikel Franco and Jesus Villalobos and a bases-loaded walk to Gabriel Gutierrez.
After adding two more runs in the seventh, they piled on seven more in the eighth, with a three-run homer from Bryan Gonzalez the final touch.
In that final inning, Villalobos came to bat twice, singling to lead off the frame and making the Diablos final out with a fly out to center.
Minutes after the game ended, he sat silently at the press conference dais while his manager smiled ear-to-ear talking about his performance.
“This kid – my kid, my son here, he has no fear. None,” Bundy said in Spanish of Villalobos, who went 3-for-7 with a walk, three runs scored and four RBIs in the win. “He played like a veteran. Yes or no? You guys saw it. Did you think he looked scared? That was the best part of my night.”
Where to Watch – GameTime, the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s official streaming platform, will stream every game live. A full tournament pass is available for US$12.99, while a Championship Day pass is priced at US$9.99. Daily access for each round-robin day is available for US$7.99.
The 2026 Baseball Champions League will also be broadcast on television. ESPN will broadcast all 11 games in Mexico, while Canal 13 VIVA will carry the games in Nicaragua, Meridiano Televisión will televise the event in Venezuela, and Tele Rebelde will carry the games in Cuba.
2026 Baseball Champions League Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
All games at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, Mexico City
March 24
Dantos de Managua 17, CTBC Brothers 5
Kane County Cougars 14, Diablos Rojos del Mexico 7
March 25
Cocodrilos de Matanzas 9, CTBC Brothers 8
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 10, Dantos de Managua 6
March 26
Kane County Cougars 16, CTBC Brothers 10
Dantos de Managua 16, Cocodrilos de Matanzas 6
March 27
Kane County Cougars 9, Cocodrilos de Matanzas 0
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 12, CTBC Brothers 4
March 28
Kane County Cougars 9, Dantos de Managua 7
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 36, Cocodrilos de Matanzas 13
March 29
4 p.m. – Kane County Cougars vs. Diablos Rojos del Mexico
Photo: Ramon Flores of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico hits the first of his two homers in the Diablos’ 36-13 win over the Cocodrilos de Matanzas in the final round robin game of the 2026 Baseball Champions League in Mexico City. (Photo courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
