The playoff format to determine the winner of the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League was refreshed last year with the introduction of the DSL Cup.
Under the new format, the top 16 DSL teams participate in a two-stage DSL postseason -- with an opening round of pool play -- to determine who claims the Rookie league's crown.
Since it's implementation, the one thing that has not changed is its winner.
DSL Padres Gold defeated DSL Reds, 4-2, in the decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three Finals series at the San Diego Padres DR Complex on Saturday.
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After dropping Game 1 of the Finals series, 9-5, on Thursday, the Padres affiliate came out strong in a 6-4 win in Game 2 on Friday before needing to rally in Game 3 to complete the comeback and seal the DSL Cup crown.
After the Reds affiliate jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning, the Padres Gold club took the lead on RBI knocks from Jeanfranco Fernandez and Yorvin Morla in the sixth. The team tacked on a pair of runs in the eighth that proved to be the difference as Reds outfield prospect Jose Martinez led off the ninth with a home run.
Recently named Rookie-level All-Star Dayquer Alfonzo led the Padres Gold offense all series with at least one hit and one RBI in every game. The 19-year-old backstop -- who posted a .331/.464/.533 slash line with four homers and 49 RBIs over 51 games in the regular season -- went 4-for-14 (.286) with six RBIs and a run scored in the Finals. The native of Venezuela collected a pair of those knocks and drove in the winning run on Saturday.
Here is how this year's DSL Cup pools broke down, with each team's seeding in parentheses:
Pool A: Royals Ventura (1), Giants Black (8), Brewers Gold (9), Mariners (16)
Pool B: Padres Gold (2), Phillies (7), Astros Orange (10), Angels (15)
Pool C: Royals Fortuna (3), Blue Jays Red (6), Tampa Bay (11), Cubs Blue (14)
Pool D: Colorado (4), Reds (5), NYY Yankees (12), Tigers 2 (13)
The winners of each pool -- Giants Black (A), Padres Gold (B), Royals Fortuna (C) and Reds (D) -- advanced to the Championship Bracket of the tournament, which included best-of-three Semifinals series.
Padres Gold and Reds both advanced with sweeps in their respective series.