AROUND THE LIGA...

NORTHERN ZONE

Mexico City won both halves in the Northern Zone and finished 70-35. Robert Saucedo batted .348 with 24 homers and a Liga-high 109 RBIs as the Diablos hit .332 as a team. Roberto Ramirez was 13-4 with a .3.45 ERA, and closer Scott Chiasson had 34 saves.

Saltillo was 59-48 in 2009 with a balanced offense that featured six players with 12 or more homers. Nelson Teilon hit .353 with 18 homers and 82 RBIs. Saltillo’s pitching has been marginal, with nobody reaching double-digit win totals. Mario Mendoza, Jr. did win 9 games.

Reynosa finished 58-47, thanks to Marshall McDougall (20 homers with 86 RBIs), Ray Martinez (a .361 batting average over 71 games) and Edgard Clemente (.339 after a midseason trade with Yucatan). Closer Alan Guerrero led the Broncos with 9 wins and 22 saves.

Laguna was 55-51, and feature the Liga’s top hitter, Dionys Cesar, who batted .380 while stealing an LMB-best 40 bases. The Vaqueros were one of eight teams with a .300 or better batting average. Jorge Ibarra led the pitching staff with a 10-1 record

Monclova ended at 57-50, but was a half-point out of fourth. Saul Soto had a great year for the Acereros, batting .370 and leading the Liga with 28 homers. Nerio Rodriguez and Jasiel Acosta each won 11 games, and Rodriguez led the Mexican League with 117 strikeouts.

Monterrey came in sixth in the North at 51-56 to miss the playoffs only two years after winning the pennant. Edgar Quintero was second among Liga batters at .378 and hit 21 homers, but a mediocre pitching staff produced nobody with more than 8 wins.

Chihuahua ended the season with 11 straight losses to finish at 40-67. Jacob Cruz had a good year by batting .359 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs, but ex-Kansas City pitcher Jose Santiago’s 7-11 record was the best among a weak group on the mound.

Nuevo Laredo finished last in both halves to end at 35-71, 35.5 games out of first. The Tecolotes had a sorry offense, hitting .271 and just 42 homers. Enrique Quintanilla’s 2.48 ERA was second in the LMB, but he was only 6-7 record in 20 starts.


SOUTHERN ZONE

Quintana Roo nudged out Yucatan as the LMB South’s top seed at 71-36, mostly due to a pitching staff that led the LMB with a 3.94 ERA. Pablo Ortega was stellar, going 13-5 with a 3.19 ERA. Sergio Contreras batted .346 and Carlos Sievers had 24 homers and 77 RBIs.

Yucatan went 68-38 to finish second. Willie Romero had a .346 average and ageless Luis Arredondo hit .338 and stole 31 bases to become the first player in Liga history with 500 career swipes. Javier Martinez led a solid pitching corps with an 11-4 record and 2.95 ERA.

Puebla was 62-43 and finished third in the South. Serafin Rodriguez hit .358, Rene Reyes added a .355 average (plus 12 homers and 12 steals), vet Willis Otanez hit .349 with 19 homers and 91 RBIs, and Andres Meza led Liga pitchers with 15 wins against two losses.

Campeche came in fourth overall in the Southern Zone at 56-21. Ruben Rivera led Mexican batters with 32 homers to go with 17 steals, a .344 average…and 14 errors in the field. Francisco Campos won 11 games and led the league with a 2.31 ERA.

Veracruz end the year at 51-56. The Aguilas actually had very good pitching, with a team ERA of 4.05 (second in the LMB). Rafael Cruz was solid, going 12-7 and 2.81. The hitting was lackluster, though Timo Perez did bat .323 with 8 homers and 11 steals in 77 games.

Oaxaca had a tough season, ending at 42-63. Carlos Rivera, Raul Lopez and Christian Quintero all hit over .330 and combined for 55 homers and 240 RBIs to anchor a good batting order, but the pitching was awful. Wilton Chavez went 7-9 for a team with a 6.15 ERA.

Tabasco was 39-63 this season, although the Olmecas followed a horrible first half with a 23-26 second half. Pedro Valdes was tenth in batting at .354 with 17 homers, but he had no protection in the lineup. Leonardo Gonzalez was 8-8 and 4.02 for a mediocre pitching staff.

Minatitlan had the worst record in the Liga at 34-73, 37 games behind the Tigres. Only Ricardo Soriano (.309) hit over .300, Frank Diaz led the team with 6 homers in 39 games, and Alexander Francisco (6-8) stood out among pitchers. It was a lost year for the Petroleros.