Two Division Series ended on Wednesday night, 7 October 2026, and both were settled by a hitter born in Havana. In the Bronx, Víctor Mesa Jr. broke a 2–2 tie in the sixth inning with a two-run home run, and the Tampa Bay Rays held on to beat the New York Yankees 4–3 and sweep the series 3–0. In Atlanta, Andy Pagés broke a 1–1 tie in the seventh with a two-run single, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Braves 4–1 to take their series 3–1.
Neither hit was a footnote. Each one was the go-ahead blow in a clinching game, and in each case the team never trailed again. What follows is the detail the series wraps leave out: where the two players come from, every Cuban-born line from the four Division Series, and who is left for the League Championship Series.
The two hits
| Game | Hitter | Situation | Result | Pitcher | Score after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALDS Game 3, Rays at Yankees, Yankee Stadium | Víctor Mesa Jr. (Rays) | Top 6th, two out, tied 2–2, Junior Caminero on base | Two-run home run to right-centre, 107.3 mph off the bat, 401 feet | Max Fried | Rays 4–2 (final 4–3) |
| NLDS Game 4, Dodgers at Braves, Truist Park | Andy Pagés (Dodgers) | Top 7th, two out, tied 1–1 | Two-run single to centre, scoring Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman | Robert Suarez | Dodgers 3–1 (final 4–1) |
Mesa Jr.: the first postseason home run of his career
The home run was Mesa Jr.’s first in the postseason, in his first postseason. He finished the series 2-for-10 with a walk, and both of his runs batted in came on the one swing. MLB.com’s account of the game has him backing slowly out of the batter’s box and staring into the Rays’ dugout as the ball left.
Three weeks before the playoffs he was the American League Player of the Week, an award we covered at the time in Víctor Mesa Jr. Is the AL Player of the Week. He finished the regular season at .260/.327/.498 with 14 home runs in 79 games for Tampa Bay (MLB Stats API).
Pagés: from 0-for-7 to the series-winning hit
Pagés went hitless in the first two games of the series, 0-for-7. He then went 4-for-7 in Atlanta, finishing the series 4-for-14 with a walk and the two runs batted in that won it. The turnaround matters because of what came before it. In the 2025 postseason he went 4-for-51, a .078 average (MLB Stats API), and he missed most of September 2026 with a fractured left hand: the Dodgers placed him on the injured list on 22 August and activated him on 21 September (MLB transaction log; MLB.com).
Speaking in Spanish after the game, Pagés told reporters, “I like being in those at-bats” (MLB.com translation). He was a first-time All-Star in 2026 and finished the regular season at .274/.343/.468 with 23 home runs and 85 runs batted in over 134 games.
Where they come from
Both men were born in Havana, which the MLB Stats API records as their birthplace. That record is the standard this site applies before counting anyone as Cuban-born.
Mesa Jr. was born on 8 September 2001. His father, Víctor Mesa, was one of the defining outfielders of the Serie Nacional and later managed Cuba’s national team, so in Cuba the surname needs no introduction. The Miami Marlins signed him and his older brother, Víctor Víctor Mesa, on the same day in October 2018. Miami traded him to Tampa Bay in February 2026, and the full route is in our Player of the Week piece linked above.
Pagés was born on 8 December 2000 and made his major league debut with the Dodgers on 16 April 2024.
Every Cuban-born line from the Division Series
Seven Cuban-born players appeared in the four Division Series. The lines below are totals across every game, compiled from the MLB Stats API box scores. A player counts as Cuban-born only if the API gives Cuba as his birth country.
| Player | Team | Series result | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Víctor Mesa Jr. | Rays | Beat Yankees 3–0 | 3 G, 2-for-10, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB |
| Yandy Díaz | Rays | Beat Yankees 3–0 | 3 G, 3-for-12, 1 BB, 1 R |
| Andy Pagés | Dodgers | Beat Braves 3–1 | 4 G, 4-for-14, 2 RBI, 1 BB |
| Miguel Vargas | White Sox | Lost to Guardians 2–3 | 5 G, 4-for-13, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 9 BB, 4 R |
| Raisel Iglesias | Braves | Lost to Dodgers 1–3 | 3 G, 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 SV |
| Víctor Mederos | Braves | Lost to Dodgers 1–3 | 1 G, 0.1 IP, 2 ER, loss in Game 1 |
| Adrián Morejón | Padres | Lost to Brewers 1–3 | 1 G, 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, loss in Game 1 |
Who is left for the League Championship Series
Updated 11 October 2026. The Cleveland Guardians came back from 0–2 to win the other American League Division Series, beating the White Sox 2–0 in Game 5 at Progressive Field on 10 October (MLB Stats API, game 849831; MLB.com). Miguel Vargas went 0-for-3 with a walk in the deciding game and finished the series 4-for-13 with a home run and nine walks.
That leaves three Cuban-born players among the four teams still playing, on the Division Series active rosters: Pagés with the Dodgers, and Mesa Jr. and Díaz with the Rays. The Brewers and the Guardians had none. The Dodgers open the National League Championship Series in Milwaukee on Sunday, 11 October, a rematch of last year’s NLCS. The Rays host Cleveland in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday, 12 October, with both Cuban-born hitters in the series on Tampa Bay’s side.
Updated 16 October 2026. The Dodgers are out. Milwaukee swept the National League Championship Series 4–0, winning Game 4 6–4 at Dodger Stadium on 15 October (MLB Stats API, game 849810; CBS Sports). Pagés went 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in in the final game, and 3-for-12 with two runs batted in over the series. The Brewers have no Cuban-born player on their active roster, so a Cuban-born hitter reaches the World Series, which opens on 23 October, only if Tampa Bay come back against Cleveland. The Guardians lead the American League Championship Series 2–1 after a 3–2 win in Game 3 on 15 October (game 849818). Through three games Díaz is 3-for-13 with two doubles and Mesa Jr. is 1-for-11 with a walk (MLB Stats API box scores).
Updated 18 October 2026. Tampa Bay levelled the American League Championship Series 2–2 with a 7–3 win in Game 4 at Cleveland on 17 October, a game pushed back a day by rain (MLB Stats API, game 849816; ESPN). Yandy Díaz went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and two runs batted in, and Mesa Jr. went 1-for-4. Through four games Díaz is 5-for-18 with three doubles, a home run and two runs batted in, and Mesa Jr. is 2-for-15 with a walk (MLB Stats API box scores). Game 5 is in Cleveland on 18 October; Games 6 and 7, if needed, are at Tampa Bay on 19 and 20 October. The winner meets Milwaukee in the World Series, which opens on 23 October.
Updated 19 October 2026. Tampa Bay are one win from the World Series. The Rays won Game 5 3–1 at Cleveland on 18 October to lead the American League Championship Series 3–2 (MLB Stats API, game 849817; ESPN). Yandy Díaz went 3-for-5 with a double from the leadoff spot; Mesa Jr. came off the bench and went 0-for-3. Through five games Díaz is 8-for-23 with four doubles, a home run and two runs batted in, and Mesa Jr. is 2-for-18 with a walk (MLB Stats API box scores). Game 6 is at Tampa Bay on 19 October, with Game 7, if needed, there on 20 October.
Updated 20 October 2026. Tampa Bay won the pennant. The Rays beat Cleveland 7–3 in Game 6 at Tropicana Field on 19 October to take the American League Championship Series 4–2 (MLB Stats API, game 849815; ESPN). Yandy Díaz hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, after the Guardians had cut the lead to 5–3, and went 1-for-4; Mesa Jr. went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored the first run. Over the six games Díaz was 9-for-27 with four doubles, two home runs and four runs batted in, and Mesa Jr. 2-for-21 with two walks (MLB Stats API box scores; Baseball-Reference). Both now face Milwaukee in the World Series from 23 October, and they are the only Cuban-born players on either club’s 40-man roster. The World Series is followed in Cubans in the 2026 World Series.
The wider 2026 picture is tracked in Cubans in MLB 2026: The Record Year, and every Cuban-born major leaguer is in The Cuban Major Leaguers Database. Díaz’s regular season ended with an American League hits title, covered in Yandy Díaz Wins the AL Hits Title, and Vargas’s power season in Miguel Vargas’s 31st Home Run.
What we did not print
We have not called this the first time two Cuban-born players delivered series-clinching hits on the same day. It may be true, but we have not checked every postseason series since 1903 against two sources, and a site that sells accuracy does not get to print the flattering version. The same goes for any claim about where Mesa Jr.’s home run ranks among Rays postseason home runs.
Spotted an error in this article? Let us know and we'll correct it.
