ZAPOPAN, Mexico – On a hazy second day of the 2026 Caribbean Series, the 2025-26 LIDOM champion, Leones del Escogido won 5-3 over the Liga de Beisbol Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico champion, Cangrejeros de Santurce to advance their record to 2-0 at Estadio Panamericano.
The Leones del Escogido pitching staff, under manager Ramon Santigo, got five scoreless innings of three-hit ball from starter Enny Romero, and relievers Luis Frias, Deury Carrasco, Jefry Yan, Alex Colome, and Jimmy Cordero held the lead. Romero faced 19 batters, while chucking 67 pitches for 40 strikes, and walked just one batter. Romero also had six ground outs and nine fly outs during his outing on Monday to help the Leones win their second game of the 2026 Caribbean Series.
“I just kept working my fastball and commanding the zone with my sinker to the right-handed hitters and I was selective with throwing break pitches to left-handed hitters to utilize movement on the Cangrejeros offense,” Romero said during the postgame press conference.
From the other dugout, Omar Lopez was dazzled.
“Romero did a hell of a job, locating his pitches in certain situations, when he was behind the count, and unfortunately we couldn’t get good results going our way, and hopefully going into tomorrow we can adjust on certain based situations against the Tomateros de Culiacan pitching staff,” Cangrejeros de Santurce manager Omar Lopez said following the game.
The Cangrejeros offense left nine men on base and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the loss.
The Leones del Escogido got their first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning, when Junior Lake smacked an RBI ground ball between third and shortstop into left field, resulting in Gustavo Nunez coming into score for a 1-0 lead.
Lake entered Monday afternoon following a stellar performance Sunday night, when he pounded four hits and earned three RBIs in four at-bats and kept his hot bat alive on the second day of the Caribbean Series.
“Lake was the player of the game yesterday and had key moments for us in game one. He helped us a lot with winning the LIDOM title and to get us here at this point of the season,” Santiago said during pregame on Monday afternoon.
The next batter, first baseman Cristhian Adames, cracked an RBI double into right-center field, scoring Socrates Brito. A few moments later, Aderlin Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, resulting in Lake coming into for a 3-0 lead.
RALLY DE 3 PARA DOMINICANA ??
Con sencillo de Junior Lake, doble de Cristhian Adames y SacFly de Aderlín Rodríguez, RD le puso número a la casa.
1⃣??? 0-3 ??#SerieDelCaribe #Jalisco2026 pic.twitter.com/DNdBA3DjeY
— Serie del Caribe (@beisboldecaribe) February 2, 2026
Cangrejeros de Santurce manager Omar Lopez elected to go to his bullpen before the end of the first inning, calling on reliever Jordan Morales to replace starting pitcher Daryl Thompson.
Thompson worked 2/3 of an inning, allowing three hits, three earned runs, and two walks in Santurce’s second game of the 2026 Caribbean Series.
The Leones del Escogido offense continued to pressure the Cangrejeros pitching staff in the bottom of the second inning, when shortstop Erik González roped an RBI double down the right-field line, scoring Marco Hernández to extend the lead to 4-0.
DOMINICANA TIMBRA UNA MÁS
2⃣???0-4?? pic.twitter.com/fCxWJRJjcy
— Serie del Caribe (@beisboldecaribe) February 2, 2026
Escogido added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Cristhian Adames lined an RBI double off the left-field wall, scoring Junior Lake to make it 5-0.
CONTINÚA ATACANDO LA OFENSIVA DE DOMINICANA
Cristhian Adames pega doble pa'l jardín izquierdo y Junior Lake anota
5⃣? ??0-5?? pic.twitter.com/bMaiZkkHne
— Serie del Caribe (@beisboldecaribe) February 2, 2026
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cangrejeros finally got on the board when third baseman Emmanuel Rivera reached on a fielding error by González with the bases loaded, allowing Yohandy Morales to score and cutting the deficit to 5-1.
A few moments later, second baseman Shed Long Jr. grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that still allowed Nelson Velázquez to score, trimming the lead to 5-2 with Rubén Castro advancing to third.
The next batter, Jack López, hit an RBI ground-ball single into left field, scoring Castro to make it a 5-3 game.
Santiago called on reliever Jimmy Cordero in the top of the ninth inning, and Cordero closed the door by getting Velázquez to line out to third baseman Marco Hernández for the final out of the game, sealing a 5-3 win for Leones del Escogido.
The Cangrejeros de Santurce are currently at .500 at the 2026 Caribbean Series with their record at 1-1 and will play the (0-1) Tomateros de Culiacan on February 3 at 8 p.m. EDT.
The Cangrejeros pitching staff combined to throw eight innings after Thompson’s exit, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, six walks, and striking out 10 batters.
ACORTAN LA DISTANCIA ?
Los de PR aprovecharon la sexta entrada para acercarse en la pizarra ?
6⃣? ??3-5?? pic.twitter.com/xaWOQcwE5l
— Serie del Caribe (@beisboldecaribe) February 2, 2026
The Leones del Escogido will play the Panama ProBeis, Federales de Chiriqui on February 4 at 3 p.m. EST and the Cangrejeros de Santurce will play the Charros de Jalisco on February 3 at 8 p.m. EST.
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 (Tomateros de Culiacán)
MEX-R — Mexico Red (Charros de Jalisco)
PR — Puerto Rico (Cangrejeros de Santurce)
DR — Dominican Republic (Leones del Escogido)
PAN — Panama (Federales de Chiriquí)
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) vs. Federales de Chiriquí (PAN), 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Federales de Chiriquí (PAN) vs. Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G), 3:00 p.m.
Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R) vs. Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR), 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 4
Federales de Chiriquí (PAN) vs. Leones del Escogido (DR), 3:00 p.m.
Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G) vs. Charros de Jalisco (MEX-R), 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 5
Cangrejeros de Santurce (PR) vs. Federales de Chiriquí (PAN), 3:00 p.m.
Leones del Escogido (DR) vs. Tomateros de Culiacán (MEX-G), 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6
Third Place vs. Second Place – Semifinal 1, 3:00 p.m.*
First Place vs. Fourth Place – Semifinal 2, 8:00 p.m.*
Saturday, Feb. 7
Championship Game, 8:00 p.m.
