GUADALAJARA, México (AP) — Reliever Guadalupe Chavez threw a couple of wild pitches with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Jalisco Charros defeated the Culiacan Tomateros 12-11 on Saturday to win the Caribbean Series championship for the first time in their history.
The Charros, who lost last year's final against the Escogido Leones from the Dominican Republic, led 9-1 after four innings. But the Tomateros rallied and tied it at 10 to send the game into extra innings when they took a 11-10 lead. But Jalisco loaded the bases and Chavez's erratic throws gave them the win.
The Charros' victory gave Mexico its first Caribbean Series title since 2016, when the Mazatlan Venados won.
The Caribbean Series was set to be played in Venezuela, but political turmoil forced organizers to move it to Guadalajara.
Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico had decided not to attend the tournament in Venezuela due to tensions between that country and the United States.
Mexico played with two teams in the tournament after the Venezuelans declined to play this year.
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Mexico Red players celebrate after beating Mexico Green during the Caribbean Series baseball championship game in Guadalajara, Mexico, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexico Red players celebrate after beating Mexico Green during the Caribbean Series baseball championship game in Guadalajara, Mexico, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexico Red players celebrate after beating Mexico Green during the Caribbean Series baseball championship game in Guadalajara, Mexico, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
BANGKOK (AP) — Voters in Thailand went to the polls Sunday in an early general election seen as a three-way race among competing visions of progressive, populist and old-fashioned patronage politics.
The battle for support from 53 million registered voters comes against a backdrop of slow economic growth and heightened nationalist sentiment. While more than 50 parties are contesting the polls, only three — the People’s Party, Bhumjaithai, and Pheu Thai — have the nationwide organization and popularity to gain a winning mandate.
A simple majority of the 500 elected lawmakers selects the next prime minister.
Local polls consistently project that no single party will gain a majority, necessitating the formation of a coalition government.
Although the progressive People’s Party is seen as favored to win a plurality, its reformist politics aren't shared by its leading rivals, which may freeze it out by joining forces to form a government.
The People’s Party, led by Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, is the successor to the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the House of Representatives in 2023, but was blocked from forming a government by conservative lawmakers and then forced to dissolve.
"Today, Thai people can decide the future of our own country,” Natthaphong told reporters after casting his ballot in Bangkok soon after the polls opened at 8 a.m. "I think we will get the mandate from the people, and we promised the people that we will form the people’s government to bring policies that benefit all, not a few in the country.”
His party's platform continues to promise sweeping reforms of the military, police and judiciary, appealing to youth and urban voters. Legal constraints have led it to set aside demands for reform of a law that metes out harsh penalties for criticism of the monarchy, while putting new emphasis on economic issues.
Softening its politics risks weakening its core support, already at risk because the last election had positioned it squarely as the alternative to nine previous years of military-led government, a situation it can't fruitfully exploit this time.
At the same time, with the army's reputation burnished by the surge of patriotism that emerged during last year's border clashes with Cambodia, its positions critical of the military can be a political liability, said Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based think tank.
The Bhumjaithai Party, headed by incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is seen as the main defender and preferred choice of the royalist-military establishment.
Anutin has been prime minister only since last September, after serving in the Cabinet of his immediate predecessor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was forced out of office for an ethics violation regarding mishandling relations with Cambodia. He dissolved parliament in December to call a new election after he was threatened with a no-confidence vote.
Subsequent border clashes with Cambodia allowed Anutin to recast himself as a wartime leader after his popularity initially slipped because of floods and financial scandals. His campaign focuses on national security and economic stimulus.
Bhumjaithai, seen as the likeliest party to form the next government, benefits from an electoral strategy employing old-style patronage politics and a machine skilled at grassroots organizing in the vote-rich northeast.
The Pheu Thai Party, the latest political vehicle for billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, trades on populist policies spearheaded by the Thai Rak Thai party that he founded and which held power from 2001 until 2006, when it was ousted by a military coup.
Thaksin-backed parties staged repeated electoral comebacks, only to be ousted by conservative-leaning courts and state watchdog agencies. It softened its politics enough by the 2023 election to be returned to power after being judged by the previously hostile royalist-military establishment as an acceptable alternative to the more progressive Move Forward party.
The conservative court system rounded on it anyway — ousting two of its prime ministers over two years and ordering Thaksin imprisoned on old charges. The party now campaigns on economic revival and populist pledges like cash handouts, nominating Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, as its lead candidate for prime minister.
"I’m excited, because I think today will be another busy day for the country’s democracy,” Yodchanan told reporters after voting.
Sunday’s voting includes a referendum asking voters whether Thailand should replace its 2017 military-drafted constitution.
The vote isn't on a proposed draft, but rather to decide whether to authorize parliament to begin a formal drafting process, which would require many further steps before coming to fruition.
Pro-democracy groups view a new charter as a critical step toward reducing the influence of unelected institutions such as the military and judiciary, while conservatives warn that it could cause instability.
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers and volunteers seal a ballot box at voting station before starting of Thailand's general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers prepare for the general election at a voting station in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers and election volunteers prepare for the general election at a voting station in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Voters look at candidates listed on a display board before entering a voting station for the general election in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Police officers and volunteers prepare at a voting station for the general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Volunteers check equipment and prepare ballot boxes for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A volunteer checks ballots for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Police officers and Volunteers check ballots for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
