GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The Diablos Rojos del Mexico are nine innings away from history.
A win tonight at Estadio Panamericano in Guadalajara in game four of the 2025 Serie del Rey, would give them their 18th championship in the LMB. A win in game four would give the Reds back-to-back Serie del Rey titles, the first time a team had won consecutive titles in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol since the Saraperos de Saltillo did it in 2009 and 2010, and the fourth time that the Diablos had accomplished the feat.
A win tonight would give the Diablos their third title in their last three appearances in the Serie, joining the 2014 club, which, coincidentally, also won in a sweep, taking the Serie del Rey in four games from the Pericos de Puebla.
If the Most Interesting Man In the World, the pitchman character in American tv commercials for the Mexican beer Dos Equis, was talking about the Diablos of late, he might say, “we don’t always go to the Serie del Rey, but when we do, we win in a sweep.”
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You have to go back to 2011, when the Diablos faced the Tigres de Quintana Roo, their eternal rival with whom they used to share Estadio Seguro Social in Mexico City, to get to their last loss in a Serie del Rey game. For the curious, it was Aug. 26, 2011 at Foro Sol in Mexico City, when the Tigres won game four 13-3 and the series, ironically, in a sweep.
The Diablos’ dominance springs from their pitching, and while they don’t have an ace along the lines of Trevor Bauer this year, they have a bullpen that shortens the game.
“I think the key of today and of all the series is truly the pitching. If we receive five innings… who comes in the sixth? Here comes the seventh. Here comes the eighth. Here comes the ninth. This is the formula,” said Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy in Spanish following game three. “And everything starts with the opener. If the pitcher opens, we give him five innings, and then we are already in a position to use the people that I want to use. And the good thing is that these four guys don’t throw a lot of pitches.”
The four horsemen of the Diablos bullpen that have shut down the Charros this series — Kevin Gowdy, Jimmy Yacabonis, J.C. Mejia, and Tomohiro Anraku — have stifled the opposition throughout the playoffs. They’ve combined to throw 58 1/3 and allowed nine earned runs for a combined ERA of 1.38 through the playoffs, and in 11 innings in the Serie del Rey, they’ve combined to allow no runs on 10 hits and two walks.
Which brings about a question: Can four guys share the Serie del Rey MVP Award? It’d be hard to argue against the Diablos’ bullpen sharing the honor.
Tonight’s Matchup – Efrain Contreras will start for the Diablos Rojos against Eduardo Vera for the Charros. Contreras has seen limited action in the playoffs, making just two appearances and throwing 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and four walks. For manager Benji Gil and Jalisco, Eduardo Vera, who has thrown 11 2/3 innings in three starts, allowing eight runs, seven of them earned, on 10 hits with six walks and seven strikeouts, will get the ball and hope to extend the series another day.
Call Him Mr. 4000 – Robinson Cano’s fifth-inning single in game three was the 4,000th hit of his professional career, which dates back to the 2001 season, when he was an 18-year-old rookie who knocked 37 base hits in 59 games with the Gulf Coast League Yankees and the Staten Island Yankees of the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League. The magic moment came on a 3-2 pitch from the Charros’ Luis Ivan Rodriguez.
Cano’s 4,000 hits includes his totals in the minor leagues, Major League Baseball, playoff games, winter ball, the Caribbean Series, the Baseball Champions League Americas, and the LMB. At age 42, it’s hard to say how much more of Cano baseball fans will get to see, but suffice to say, after 24 professional seasons, he can still produce for teams playing a high level of professional baseball.
Cordoba Crushing It – Allen Cordoba continues to swing a hot bat in the Serie del Rey, where he’s batting .462 with two homers and five RBIs. His solo homer in the fifth extended the Reds’ lead, and his 15 total bases in the series lead the team.
Where to Watch – All LMB games can be streamed live on MLB.tv for a fee. Game four of the Serie del Rey will be streamed live on YouTube via Claro Sports.
2025 Serie del Rey Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
* – If necessary
September 10
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 8, Charros de Jalisco 4
Live Stream on YouTube via Claro Sports
September 11
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 12, Charros de Jalisco 1
Live Stream on YouTube via Claro Sports
September 13
Diablos Rojos del Mexico 7, Charros de Jalisco 2
Live Stream on YouTube via Claro Sports
September 14
7 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Charros de Jalisco – Game 4
Live Stream on YouTube via Claro Sports
September 15
9:30 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Charros de Jalisco – Game 5*
September 17
9 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 6*
September 18
9 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 7*
Photo: Tomohiro Anraku of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico has been stellar in a late relief role during the 2025 LMB playoffs. (Photo courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
