ZAPOPAN, Mexico – Short of a no-hitter, a perfect game, a complete game, or some other record setting performance, it’s hard to get a better outing from a starting pitcher than the effort Luis Miranda gave the Charros de Jalisco at the Caribbean Series Tuesday night.
Miranda threw six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out five, leading the Charros to a 3-0 win over Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce as Jalisco improved to 2-1 and all but assured themselves a place in Friday’s semifinals.
“I thought he was going to have an excellent start. Doing what he did in front of a great team in a stadium like this is to be admired and applaud him, right?” Benji Gil asked rhetorically of the assembled media following the game. “The truth is that you also have to give some credit to to Santiago Chavez, who called a tremendous game with great pitches. But in the end, no matter how much we want to give him, he asks for the pitches and the guys have to execute them. And Miranda and the rest of the bullpen did a spectacular job.”
Miranda, a former Atlanta Braves farmhand appearing in his second Caribbean Series for Mexico, was staked to a lead before he threw a pitch. Billy Hamilton led off the game for the Charros and hit what would normally be a single, but used his speed to take second when Santurce center fielder Jack Lopez lollygagged the ball back in to the infield. Running on contact, Hamilton was almost to third base when Santurce shortstop Anthony Velazquez picked up Michael Wielansky’s grounder and made an abysmal throw to first that went to the wall in foul territory, allowing Hamilton to score and Wielansky to get to second.
With a 1-0 lead in his pocket, Miranda retired the side in order through the first two innings, and Santurce’s only base runner through the first four innings came in the top of the third when Jack Lopez singled.
In the third, Julian Ornelas hit a one-out single and advanced to second when Santurce starter Ed Rivera balked, then scored when Wielansky ripped a double into the left field corner to give the Charros a 2-0 lead.
Santurce got a runner into scoring position in the fifth when Emmanuel Rivera walked and advanced to second on a single by Juan Centeno, but Miranda promptly induced a 6-4-3 double play from Jack Lopez to end the inning.
A leadoff double by Ornelas in the bottom of the fifth followed by a single by Wielansky, got Ornelas home for the second time, extending the Charros lead and earning his second RBI of the night.
And with another run behind him, Miranda continued to roll in the sixth, striking out Andrew Velazquez and Ruben Castro looking and getting Gabriel Cancel to ground out to short to retire the side in order again.
On came Gerardo Reyes for Mexico for the seventh, and he allowed a single to Nelson Velazquez, who was still 270 feet from home plate at the end of the inning. Former Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Foster, the reliever of the year in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico this year, walked Centeno to start the eighth, but then sandwiched strikeouts of Jack Lopez and Ruben Castro around a pop-out by Andrew Velazquez to hang another zero on the scoreboard.
In the ninth, Charros manager Benji Gil went to Trevor Clifton, who recorded three saves for Mexico at last year’s Caribbean Series and 12 more during the regular season, and following a leadoff single by Gabriel Cancel, Clifton retired the next three batters to earn his first save of the series.
With the loss, the Cangrejeros fell to 1-2 and will have a day off Wednesday to rest their bullpen after using six or more relievers in each of their first three games before facing Panama’s Federales de Chiriqui on Thursday afternoon.
The Charros will face the Tomateros de Culiacan, who they swept in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico championship series, tomorrow evening.
For Benji Gil, though, perhaps the next game means a little more. He played 13 winter seasons with the Tomateros, winning six LAMP championships and two Caribbean Series as a player and later won four LAMP championships as manager.
“I have great affection for the organization and of course, for all the moments together and the fans,” Gil said. “But in the end, when it’s time to play, I see it as any other rival. It’s a team, it’s a rival, that’s all it is. It’s a rival and we focus on that rival.”
2026 Caribbean Series Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
* – If either or both Mexico teams advance to the semifinals, they will play the late game regardless of seeding.
MEX-G – Mexico Green
MEX-R – Mexico Red
PR – Puerto Rico
DR – Dominican Republic
PAN – Panama
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR) 5, Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G) 4
Leones del Escogido (DR) 5, Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R) 4
Monday, Feb. 2
Leones del Escogido (DR) 5, Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR) 3
Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R) 11, Federales de Chiriquí (PAN) 4
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Tomateros de Culiacan (MEX-G) 2, Federales de Chiriqui (PAN) 1
Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R) 3, Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR) 0
Wednesday, Feb. 4
3 p.m. – Federales de Chiriquí (PAN) vs. Leones del Escogido (DR)
8 p.m. – Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G) vs. Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R)
Thursday, Feb. 5
3 p.m. – Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR) vs. Federales de Chiriquí (PAN)
8 p.m. – Leones del Escogido (DR) vs. Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G)
Friday, Feb. 6
3 p.m. – Third Place vs. Second Place – Semifinal 1*
8 p.m. – First Place vs. Fourth Place – Semifinal 2*
Saturday, Feb. 7
8 p.m. – Championship Game
Photo: Luis Miranda threw six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out five, leading the Charros to a 3-0 win over Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce. (Photo courtesy of the CBPC)
