Latin America Sports Daily for Saturday, February 7, 2026

In one of the wildest championship games in Caribbean Series history, the hometown Charros de Jalisco erased an enormous deficit to defeat the Tomateros de Culiacán 12–11 at Estadio Panamericano on Saturday night. Charros trailed by eight runs early but clawed back behind a ferocious offensive rally — and held on through a heart-stopping ninth inning in which the Tomateros tied the score before Jalisco reclaimed the lead for good.

This is part of The Rio Times’ comprehensive coverage of sports news across Brazil and Latin America.

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It is the first Caribbean Series championship in Charros history, coming a year after they lost in the final to Escogido. Manager Benji Gil, who won as a player with the Tomateros in 1996 and 2002, earns his first title from the dugout. The victory also ends Mexico’s decade-long title drought — the country’s last crown came in 2016 via Venados de Mazatlán.

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The tournament’s move from Caracas to Guadalajara in mid-December — after Venezuela pulled out amid geopolitical tensions — ended up giving Mexico an extraordinary home advantage. With two Mexican representatives filling the field, an 11th Caribbean Series title for the country was guaranteed before the final even started. But for the Charros, winning it at their own Estadio Panamericano made it personal — redemption for last year’s final loss and the culmination of a dominant winter that included a LAMP championship sweep.

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The 68th Caribbean Series concludes a week-long event that saw a 31-run record game (Escogido 16–15 Chiriquí), strong semifinal performances from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and ultimately a historic all-Mexico final.

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The defending Serie de las Américas champion Águilas Metropolitanas of Panamá kept rolling on Saturday in the round-robin stage. Colombian-born pitcher Luis Escobar dominated his compatriots from Caimanes de Barranquilla, allowing just two hits in six scoreless innings as Panamá won 3–1 to improve to 3-0 atop the standings. A second-inning rally aided by Colombian defensive errors and a fifth-inning RBI by Venezuelan-born Brainer Bonaci provided the margin.

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In the other Saturday games at Estadio Fórum in La Guaira, the Willemstad Cannons of Curaçao earned their first win of the tournament, defeating Nicaragua’s Leones de León behind triples from Hendrik Clementina, Jecksson Flores and Ericksson Leonora. Venezuela’s Navegantes del Magallanes also won, powered by a Rougned Odor grand slam in the first inning against Cuba.

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MLB Network broadcast the official roster reveal for all 20 World Baseball Classic teams on Thursday, and the Latin American squads are loaded. The Dominican Republic brings an outfield of Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez and Fernando Tatís Jr. plus an infield headlined by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado, managed by Albert Pujols. Venezuela counters with Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and a roster that includes several Caribbean Series veterans. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil and Panamá also confirmed their 30-man squads.

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For the first time, all four reigning AL and NL MVP and Cy Young winners — Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani (hitting only), Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal — will compete. Team USA also features a retiring Clayton Kershaw in a farewell appearance. The tournament kicks off March 5 in Tokyo, with pool play also in San Juan, Houston and Miami.

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The first full day of competition at Milan-Cortina delivered fireworks. Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida gave the home crowd its first gold medal, setting an Olympic record of 3:54.28 in the women’s speed skating 3000m — completing her collection of gold, silver and bronze across Olympic careers on her 35th birthday. Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen, 24, upset pre-race favourite and compatriot Marco Odermatt to win men’s downhill gold on his Olympic debut, with Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni (silver) and Dominik Paris (bronze) adding to the host nation’s haul.

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Japan’s Kira Kimura won the men’s snowboard big air with a stunning third-run comeback, Sweden’s Frida Karlsson took the women’s skiathlon, and Norway’s Anna Odine Strøm won women’s ski jumping normal hill. Italy, Japan and Norway each finished Day 1 with 1-1-1 medal hauls.

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Historic Ponte Preta — one of Brazil’s oldest football clubs — became the first team officially relegated from the 2026 Paulistão Série A1 after a 2–0 defeat to Portuguesa at Canindé on Saturday. With just one point accumulated through seven rounds and the bottom-two relegation format in this year’s Champions League-style competition, the Macaca are mathematically eliminated from survival. They will drop to the Série A2 for 2027.

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Saturday’s other Paulistão Round 7 results: league leaders Novorizontino edged São Bernardo 2–1 to stay at the top of the table, while São Paulo beat Primavera 2–1 to boost their quarterfinal hopes from a middling position. Botafogo-SP won 2–0 away at Guarani to continue a solid campaign. The top eight of 16 teams advance to single-leg quarterfinals, with Sunday’s fixtures (Corinthians vs Palmeiras headlining) still to come.

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With rosters now finalized, the Latin American contingent in the 2026 WBC looks formidable. The Dominican Republic — managed by Albert Pujols and playing Pool D in Miami (Mar 6–11) alongside Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua — may have the deepest lineup in the tournament: Soto, Vlad Jr., Tatís, Machado, Marte, Peña and Julio Rodríguez. Their pitching, led by Christopher Sánchez, is the question mark.

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Venezuela, buoyed by Acuña Jr. and Chourio, will face the DR head-to-head in pool play. Mexico plays in Pool A (Houston, Mar 6–11) alongside Japan, South Korea, Australia and Great Britain. Puerto Rico is in Pool B (San Juan), and Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, Nicaragua and Panamá are also in the field. The tournament runs March 5–17, with quarterfinals and finals in Miami and Houston.

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The 68th Caribbean Series played out over seven days at the Charros de Jalisco’s home ground in Guadalajara. Round-robin highlights included a record-setting 31-run game between Escogido and Chiriquí (16–15 DR), Estevan Florial’s multi-homer performance for the Tomateros, and Charros infielder Michael Wielansky’s hot bat throughout the tournament. The semifinal round featured commanding wins for both Mexican sides, and the final will be remembered as one of the great comebacks in Caribbean baseball history.

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