MEXICO CITY – The Devil was in the wind and the altitude, and the Diablos would not stop giving him his due at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu on Saturday afternoon.
His due this day was batted baseballs, and the combination of altitude and a strong wind blowing out of the ballpark wreaked havoc on the final game of the round robin at the 2026 Baseball Champions League, with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and Cocodrilos de Matanzas combining for 49 runs in a 36-13 Diablos win.
Yes, you read that right. The final score really was 36-13.
Needing to win the game to make Sunday’s championship game, the Diablos offense exploded for 36 runs on 29 hits, hitting six home runs, including back-to-back homers by Ramon Flores and Moises Gutierrez in the third, a three-run homer by Flores in the fourth, another from Jose Marmolejos in the fifth, and a two-run blast by Maikel Franco two batters after Marmolejos’ homer. They sent at least nine batters to the plate in five innings and scored at least one run in every inning but the first.
With the win, the Diablos Rojos finished the round robin 3-1 and advanced to Sunday’s championship game, where they will be the road team in their home park, facing the Kane County Cougars of the American Association, who went through the round robin with a perfect 4-0 record.
Amid all the hits, walks, homers, and runs, 16-year-old Jesus Villalobos made his Diablos debut, filling in for Carlos Sepulveda, who injured a finger fielding a ground ball in Friday night’s win against the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and acquitted himself well.
Andrys Perez, who was on Cuba’s World Baseball Classic roster, hit a solo homer to left to lead off the second for Matanzas. After Luis Sanchez reached on a dropped third strike, he advanced to third on a double by Luis Mateo and scored when Yulieski Remon grounded out to short to give Matanzas a 2-0 lead.
It wouldn’t last.
Matanzas starter Shaiel Cruz de Armas ran into trouble in the second, hitting Maikel Franco with a pitch and then issuing a walk to Rio Ruiz. After inducing a ground out to first from Bryan Gonzalez for the second out of the inning, he walked Gabriel Gutierrez on four pitches, then walked Jesus Villalobos, who was batting ninth, pushing Franco across. Another walk to Ramon Flores sent Ruiz home to tie the game and ended Cruz de Armas’ outing after 1 2/3 innings.
And for the Cocodrilos, it didn’t get much better when Briam Reyes came on. He immediately walked Moises Gutierrez to send Gabriel Gutierrez in and give the Diablos a 3-2 lead, then induced a pop-up near the mound from Jose Marmolejos. Reyes inexplicably attempted to get the pop-up himself, lost it in the breeze, and the ball hit the turf, allowing Villalobos and Flores to score and Marmolejos to get to second.
Jon Singleton, who led off the first marathon inning of the game with a wild 3-4-1 ground out, came to bat again and ripped a double off the right field wall that scored Marmolejos, making it 7-2. Franco followed with a double down the left field line, sending Singleton home. After walking Rio Ruiz, Reyes struck out Gonzalez to end the inning.
In total, the Diablos scored eight runs – six of them coming with two outs – on three hits, six walks, and one hit batsman in an inning that saw them send 13 men to the plate.
With one out in the third and Villalobos on first, Ramon Flores hit a fly ball to center that became a wind-pushed two-run homer, making it 10-2, and then Moises Gutierrez launched a solo homer to right center that landed halfway up the outfield bleachers.
In the fourth, Ramon Flores hit a three-run homer, his second in as many innings and second of the game, a three-run shot that landed in the Diablos bullpen in right field. Gutierrez and Marmolejos each singled, and a ground rule double by Jon Singleton that lodged in the outfield wall scored Gutierrez to make it 15-2.
“Ramón Flores is a very important player for our team. Whenever there’s a moment, I, as manager, when I have the opportunity to put him in, I’m going to put him in because I know he’ll give me a good result,” Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy said in Spanish of his center fielder who went 3-for-6 with five runs scored, six RBIs, and two walks.