Trevor Bauer celebrates a strikeout during game seven of the Serie de Campeonato. (Photo Courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
Down 2-0 after five innings in game seven of the Serie de Campeonato, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico were in an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Of course, in this Serie de Campeonato against the Guerreros de Oaxaca, this isn’t the first time the Diablos have been in dire straits, having come back from a three games to none deficit to tie the series, forcing this game into existence.
And so with a depleted bullpen, manager Lorenzo Bundy handed the ball to Trevor Bauer, the former Cy Young Award winner who started games one and four.
Bauer rose to the moment, throwing four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five while also throwing an immaculate inning in the top of the eighth.
And in the bottom of the ninth, Patrick Mazeika’s bases loaded sac fly sent Jesus Fabela in with the series-winning run, sending the Diablos Rojos back to the Serie del Rey for the first time since 2014 with the 3-2 victory. It was the second straight victory in their last at-bat for the Diablos, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol’s best team in the regular season.
¡A LA DIABLA! pic.twitter.com/CiPcvinzHH
— DiablosRojosMX (@DiablosRojosMX) September 1, 2024
Roberto Ramos got Oaxaca on the board with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth off Diablos starter Brooks Hall, who allowed two runs on six hits in five innings.
After Hall yielded to Bauer, the Diablos tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Ramon Flores hit a two-run homer to left field.
¡HISTÓRICO! ???? por segunda vez en la temporada Bauer hace un inning inmaculado, 9 lanzamientos, 9 strikes ????????????️ @BauerOutage ERES DE OTRO PLANETA ???? pic.twitter.com/3ULQUupuVg
— DiablosRojosMX (@DiablosRojosMX) September 1, 2024
Bauer continued to baffle the Guerreros, who in game one were the first team to pin a loss on Bauer in 2024. In the top of the eighth, he retired Juniel Querecuto, Alexi Amarista, and Yariel Gonzalez, striking each of them out on three pitches, his second immaculate inning of 2024. In all, he needed just 45 pitches to get through the four innings of relief work, throwing 34 strikes.
The Serie del Rey will begin on September 3 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City, with game two the next day. Games three, four and five of the series will be played September 6-8 at Estadio Exxon Mobil Super in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, the home of the Zona Norte champion Sultanes de Monterrey. Games six and seven, if necessary, will be played in Mexico City on September 10-11.
