MEXICALI, Mexico – Utilizing speed on the basepaths, Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco put three runs on the board before a single one of their batters had been retired.
Behind a stellar start from David Reyes, they held on to beat Puerto Rico’s Indios de Mayaguez 3-1 on Wednesday night and clinch a berth in the Caribbean Series final Friday, where they will face the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido for all the marbles.
Speedster Billy Hamilton led off the bottom of the first for Mexico with a walk and then immediately stole second, and Rudy Martin Jr. doubled to score Hamilton. Michael Wielansky followed with a single to get Martin to third, then stole second base. Mateo Gil singled to score Martin and Wielansky, and Mexico had a 3-0 lead with no outs in the bottom of the inning.
Back out to the mound came David Reyes, who retired the side in order in the first, and Puerto Rico’s Danny Ortiz led off the inning with a single. David MacKinnon drew a walk, but then Eddie Rosairo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, advancing Ortiz to third. After walking Isan Diaz, Onix Vega grounded out to second base to end the threat.
Reyes faced the minimum in three of the next four innings, surrendering a single to Shed Long Jr. in the third, only to benefit again from a double play. Reyes faced four batters in the fourth, giving up a single to Isan Diaz, who was stranded at first. A walk to Raul Castro started off the top of the the sixth, but Castro was immediately caught stealing, and Emmanuel Rivera and Anthony Garcia both flew out to end the inning.
That was the end of the night for Reyes, who posted his second quality start, defined as six innings pitched with fewer than three runs allowed, at this Caribbean Series, allowing three hits, three walks, and striking out two.
His success in this series, in which he has pitched 13 innings, allowing just one run on seven hits, and that of Mexico’s pitching staff at least partially stems from heightened mental focus.
“I focused a little more on the mental part. I think we learned to control ourselves on the mound and that is what has led us to success lately. And we have not stopped. I think we keep working day by day, day by day. We start to mentalize very well what we are going to do during the game,” Reyes said in Spanish following the game. “I think that has helped me a lot and has reflected a lot in my last games, as the other players have said.”
Jesus Cruz came on for the seventh, striking out Ortiz and MacKinnon before Eddie Rosario tripled to deep center field, the ball just getting past the outstretched glove of a leaping Billy Hamilton, who fell injured to the warning track. After a delay that saw Hamilton leave the game to be replaced by Jose Cardona, a single from Isan Diaz drove in Rosario to cut the lead to 3-1.
Hamilton “commented in the previous inning that he had gotten a little dizzy. We tried to give him some water, and they gave him some cold water to see if he felt better. He said that he never wanted to leave the games,” Charros manager Benji Gil said in Spanish following the game.
Cruz turned the ball over to Stephen Nogosek, who allowed a walk in the eighth, and then on came Trevor Clifton for the ninth. Clifton fanned Ortiz with a 94.2 mph sinker up in the zone, then got David MacKinnon to fly out to right. With a 2-2 count, Isan Diaz hit a foul pop near the first base on-deck circle that was pulled in by Mexico catcher Carlos Mendevil for the final out.
It was another masterful pitching performance for Mexico’s staff in a ballpark that can be difficult to pitch in due to an expansive outfield and dense air.
“Pitching is super important to any time you’re trying to win a championship, right? Especially in a tournament where you don’t get to face the same team more than twice,” Gil said in English. “Pitching is, at least it’s been the recipe for our success. I think we allowed two runs against Japan, one run in the other games, and one [game] was a shutout, I gotta say, I don’t care what it is, through five games to allow five runs? It’s pretty awesome.”
Friday’s game will be the first time a team from the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico has played for a Caribbean Series title on home soil since 2016,
They’ll be the home team and face the Dominican Republic in Friday’s championship game at 10 p.m. EST, while Puerto Rico will be the visiting team and face Venezuela’s Cardenales de Lara in Thursday’s third place game at 10 p.m. EST. Every game of the 2025 Caribbean Series is televised in English on MLB Network and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.
Photo: Rudy Martin Jr., left, and Michael Wielansky scored on Mateo Gil’s single to give Mexico a 3-0 lead in the first inning. (Photo Courtesy of the CPBC)
