Friday, July 29, 2011

LIGA REGULAR SEASON OVER, PLAYOFFS OPEN SATURDAY

The Mexican League’s 2011 regular season is in the history books, and first round playoff matchups are set.

The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won the Northern Zone title with the best record in the LMB at 63-40, finishing 6.5 games ahead of 57-37 Reynosa. Monterrey finished with seven straight losses to end up at 54-49 while Puebla took fourth at 53-53. Laguna, Monclova and Saltillo finished out of the playoffs.

In the LMB South, Quintana Roo took first at 62-42, 4.5 games up on 55-45 Campeche. Veracruz was third at 54-49 and Oaxaca copped the fourth and final playoff berth with a 51-51 mark after losing their last five games. Tabasco, Minatitlan and Yucatan finished 5-6-7 as the Leones, a perennial playoff team, turned in the worst record in the circuit at 43-62.

In the division semifinal openers Saturday, Monterrey will open at Reynosa while Mexico City hosts Monterrey in the North; Veracruz travels to Campeche and Oaxaca visits the Tigres in Cancun for the South semis.

For individual honors, Mexico City’s Luis Terrero fell short in his bid for a Triple Crown, but he did win the RBI title with 110. Oaxaca's Barbaro Canizares (pictured), the 2010 International League batting champion, was the top hitter with a .396 average while Jorge Guzman of Veracruz won the home run crown with 39, just ahead of Terrero’s 38.

Among pitchers, Marco Tovar of Reynosa topped the chart with a 3.11 ERA and tied with Campeche’s Francisco Campos, Tabasco’s Leo Gonzalez and the Diablos’ Marco Duarte in wins with 12. Saltillo’s Danny Rodriguez took the strikeout title with 118.

Standings and individual league leaders will be available in the BBM weekly newsletter Sunday. For a free subscription, email BaseballMexico@live.com.

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