D’BACKS HOLD OFF ROCKIES IN HERMOSILLO EXHIBITION GAME

The Arizona Diamondbacks snuck past the Colorado Rockies, 8-7, Sunday afternoon in a Major League Baseball preseason game played in Hermosillo’s 13,000-seat Estadio Hector Espino. Attendance at the contest was not announced.

Hermosillo fans saw a number of native sons involved in the contest, including Arizona starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez (pictured). Lopez, who was 3-1 in five starts for the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies last year, was touched for two runs on five hits over three innings. Other Mexican players in the contest included Arizona pitcher Leo Rosales and Rockies players Erubiel Durazo, Miguel Duarte (an Hermosillo native) and Jorge de la Rosa.

Mexican baseball legend Vinny Castilla, who works in the Rockies front office while still actively playing winters for Hermosillo in the Mexican Pacific League, served as an honorary first base coach for Colorado. Rockies manager Jim Tracy spent time playing winterball in Hermosillo in the 1980s, and was warmly received by fans at the game.

Diamondbacks team president Derrick Hall said of the game in Hermosillo, “This is very important to me and important to us…We have developed a good relationship with Sonora and the city of Hermosillo over the years, and we cherish that.”