2026 Caribbean Series
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| City | Zapopan |
| Venue | Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol |
| Dates | 1 – 7 February 2026 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Charros de Jalisco (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Tomateros de Culiacán |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 13 |
| Attendance | 90,415 (6,955 per game) |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Michael Wielansky (Charros de Jalisco) |
The 2026 Caribbean Series was the 68th edition of the Caribbean Series club baseball tournament, scheduled from 1 to 7 February 2026, at the Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.[1]
The tournament features the winners of the respective winter league baseball leagues of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC) four full members; Dominican Republic (LIDOM), Mexico (LMP), Puerto Rico (LBPRC), and Venezuela (LVBP), plus special guest Panama (LPBP).[1]
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Venezuela; however, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Mexico requested after meeting on 15 December 2025, that the CBPC move the tournament from Venezuela due to the ongoing political turmoil in the country.[2] LVBP protested the decision and eventually decided to pull out of the event all together. As a result, their league winner participated in the 2026 Serie de las Américas, played in Venezuela at the same time.[3]
As host and due to Venezuela's departure, Mexico received two spots - the winners (Red) and runners-up (Green) of the 2025–26 Mexican Pacific League season.[1]
Leones del Escogido represented the Dominican Republic as defending champions and were eliminated by the Tomateros de Culiacán in the semi-finals.
In an All-Mexican final, the Charros de Jalisco won their first Caribbean Series title by defeating the Tomateros de Culiacán by a final score of 12–11 in extra innings.
Tournament format
A single round-robin format; each team faces each other once. The four teams with the best records advance to the semi-finals (1st vs. 4th and 2nd vs. 3rd). The two winners will play in the final to decide the tournament champion.
Summary
On 4 February, the game between the Federales de Chiriquí against the Leones del Escogido saw a scoreline of 15–16 in favor of the Leones for a single game record of 31 combined runs. This is the most combined runs scored at the Caribbean Series since the 28 combined runs scored on 6 February 1990, when the Naranjeros de Hermosillo defeated the Senadores de San Juan 20–8 in Miami, Florida.[4]
In the Final, host Charros de Jalisco led the Tomateros de Culiacán by a score of 9–1 after four innings. Culiacán came alive with a six run frame in the top of the fifth to make the game closer at 9–7. After trading runs in the seventh, with one out and one on, Victor Martinez launched a game-tying two-run home run, his second homer of the game. The game would go into extra innings tied at ten. In the top of the 10th, Alí Solís’ sacrifice fly gave the Tomateros their first lead of the night at 11–10. In the bottom of the 10th, Jalisco managed to load the bases with two out, then Tomateros closer Lupe Chávez threw a wild pitch that would tie the game at 11. With a base open, Mateo Gil was walked to load the bases again and against the next hitter, Bligh Madris, Chávez launched another wild pitch which would drive in Michael Wielansky for the winning run.
Participating teams
| Country | Team | Manager | Means of qualification | Caribbean Series Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominican Republic | Leones del Escogido | Ramón Santiago | Winners of the Dominican Professional Baseball League (2025–26 LIDOM) | 5 (1988, 1990, 2010, 2012, 2025) |
| Mexico (Red) | Charros de Jalisco | Benji Gil | Winners of the Mexican Pacific League (2025–26 LMP) | 0 |
| Mexico (Green) | Tomateros de Culiacán | Lorenzo Bundy | Runners-up of the Mexican Pacific League (2025–26 LMP) | 2 (1996, 2002) |
| Panama | Federales de Chiriquí | José Mayorga | Winners of the Panamanian Professional Baseball League (2023–24 LPBP) | 0 |
| Puerto Rico | Cangrejeros de Santurce | Omar López | Winners of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (2025–26 LBPRC) | 5 (1951, 1953, 1955, 1993, 2000) |
Round Robin
Standings
- As of 5 February 2026[5]
| Team | GP | W | L | PCT. | GB | RS | RA | DIFF. | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leones del Escogido | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | – | 33 | 32 | +1 | Qualified to Semi-finals |
| Charros de Jalisco (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | – | 22 | 11 | +11 | |
| Cangrejeros de Santurce | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 16 | 15 | +1 | |
| Tomateros de Culiacán | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 18 | 17 | +1 | |
| Federales de Chiriquí | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 3 | 23 | 37 | -14 |
(H) Host
Schedule
| Game | Date | Time | Away | Result | Home | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 February | 13:00 | Tomateros de Culiacán | 4–5 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol |
8,744 |
| 2 | 19:30 | Leones del Escogido | 5–4 | Charros de Jalisco | 8,835 | ||
| 3 | 2 February | 14:00 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 3–5 | Leones del Escogido | 4,568 | |
| 4 | 19:00 | Charros de Jalisco | 11–4 | Federales de Chiriquí | 6,939 | ||
| 5 | 3 February | 14:00 | Federales de Chiriquí | 1–2 | Tomateros de Culiacán | 4,106 | |
| 6 | 19:00 | Charros de Jalisco | 3–0 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 7,779 | ||
| 7 | 4 February | 14:00 | Federales de Chiriquí | 15–16 | Leones del Escogido | 3,595 | |
| 8 | 19:00 | Tomateros de Culiacán | 2–4 | Charros de Jalisco | 8,357 | ||
| 9 | 5 February | 14:00 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 8–3 | Federales de Chiriquí | 3,580 | |
| 10 | 19:00 | Leones del Escogido | 7–10 | Tomateros de Culiacán | 7,622 |
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 6 February 2026 | ||||||
4 Tomateros de Culiacán | 9 | |||||
| 7 February 2026 | ||||||
1 Leones del Escogido | 4 | |||||
4 Tomateros de Culiacán | 11 | |||||
| 6 February 2026 | ||||||
2 Charros de Jalisco | 12 | |||||
3 Cangrejeros de Santurce | 6 | |||||
2 Charros de Jalisco | 8 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Game | Date | Time | Away | Result | Home | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 6 February | 14:00 | Tomateros de Culiacán | 9–4 | Leones del Escogido | Estadio Panamericano de Béisbol | 4,764 |
| 12 | 19:00 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 6–8 | Charros de Jalisco | 9,759 |
Final
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomateros de Culiacán | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Charros de Jalisco | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Cesar Gomez LP: Guadalupe Chavez Ayala Home runs: TC: Víctor Mendoza, 2 CJ: Bligh Madris Attendance: 11,767 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Statistics
- As of 6 February 2026[6]
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Broadcasting
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dominican Republic | ||
| Mexico | ||
| Panama | ||
| Puerto Rico | WAPA Deportes | [7] |
| United States | MLB Network/MLB.tv (English) ESPN Deportes/ESPN+/Disney+ (Spanish) |
[8] [9] |
See also
References
- ^ a b c "2026 Caribbean Series in Mexico". seriedelcaribe.net. 18 December 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ "Political turmoil causes the Caribbean Series to move from Venezuela". seriedelcaribe.net. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ "2026 Serie de Las Americas Will Move to Venezuela, Play Opposite Caribbean Series". World Baseball Network. 25 December 2025. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
- ^ "31 combined runs outburst sets new single game record" (in Spanish). seriedelcaribe.net. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- ^ "Standings". seriedelcaribe.net. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
- ^ "League leaders". seriedelcaribe.net. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- ^ "Jalisco 2026: Itinerario de la Serie del Caribe por Wapa Deportes" (in Spanish). WAPA.tv. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
- ^ "2026 Caribbean Series in English on MLB Network". MLB.com. 28 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
- ^ "Serie del Caribe 2026 in Spanish on ESPN Deportes/ESPN+/Disney+" (in Spanish). ESPN.com. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
External links
- Official website (Spanish)