With a swing of the bat, Junior Lake moved the Toros de Tijuana closer to the 2026 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol championship.

In the top of the ninth with the game tied 5-5, Lake sent the first pitch he saw from Tabasco's Francis Peguero over the left field wall. Stellar stopper Brett de Geus finished off the 6-5 win for Tijuana, giving the Toros a 3-2 series lead as the series goes back to Tijuana for Game 6 on Tuesday.

The homer by Lake capped a back-and-forth game where to Toros squandered an early 4-0 lead, only to come from behind and gore the Olmecas with a pair of late homers.

A single by Hernan Perez in the first scored Gilberto Celestino for a 1-0 Toros lead.

In the top of the second, Wilmer Flores hit a one-out solo homer to make it 2-0, and Junior Lake stole home for a 3-0 lead.

Perez continued to produce for the Toros, doubling home Isaac Rodriguez in the top of the third for a 4-0 lead.

But then the Olmecas mounted a comeback. Jasson Atondo got Tabasco on the board in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer.

With the bases loaded in the fourth, Seth Beer and Oscar Gonzalez scored on Calvin Estrada's grounder back to the mound to tie the game at four apiece.

Marco Hernandez got the go-ahead run home in the fifth with a bunt, scoring Carlos Arellano from third to give Tabasco a 5-4 lead.

But in the eighth, it was Hernan Perez again doing damage to the Olmecas' championship hopes, hitting his third homer of the playoffs to tie the game at five apiece.

And then, with two outs in the top of the ninth, up came Junior Lake.

The save for de Geus, who worked a perfect ninth inning using just eight pitches, was his sixth in seven opportunities during the playoffs.

Game 6 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 10:35 p.m., with Jeremy Rhoades starting for Tabasco against Adonis Medina for Tijuana.

Where to Watch – All Liga Mexicana de Beisbol games are streamed live with a subscription on LMB TV, and a season subscription is on sale for MX$799 (about US$46) until April 30. Select games are streamed live on the YouTube page for Latin American network Claro Sports.

2026 Serie del Rey Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
* - if necessary

Sept. 8
Olmecas de Tabasco 7, Toros de Tijuana 1 - Game 1

Sept. 9
Toros de Tijuana 13, Olmecas de Tabasco 2 - Game 2

Sept. 11
Toros de Tijuana 2, Olmecas de Tabasco 0 - Game 3

Sept. 12
Olmecas de Tabasco 9, Toros de Tijuana 1 - Game 4

Sept. 13
Toros de Tijuana 6, Olmecas de Tabasco 5 - Game 5

Sept. 15
10:35 p.m. - Olmecas de Tabasco at Toros de Tijuana - Game 6

Sept. 16
10:35 p.m. - Olmecas de Tabasco at Toros de Tijuana - Game 7*