MEXICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: July 26, 2010

CRAMER, TIGRES FINISH 2-0 THREE-HITTER TO TIE SERIES

Bobby Cramer picked up Monday where Arturo Barradas had left things on Sunday as Quintana Roo completed a 2-0 suspended-game shutout over Oaxaca in their Mexican League Zona Hidalgo first round series. A crowd of 3,410 in Cancun’s Parque Beto Avila looked on as the Tigres evened the best-of-7 series at two games apiece.

Cramer took Barradas’ place on the mound Monday after the latter retired all 12 Oaxaca batters he faced Sunday before the scoreless tie was suspended by rain after four innings. Cramer went on to throw 4.2 innings of three-hit shutout ball before closer Scott Chiasson came in with two out in the top of the ninth and fanned the Guerreros’ Christian Quintero to end the game.

The Tigres did all their scoring in the fifth inning when a Sergio Contreras double drove in Alex Sanchez with the game’s first run. Contreras later came in to score from third base when Oaxaca pitcher Francisco Rosario plunked Albino Contreras with the bases loaded. Albino Contreras was ejected along with Guerreros third baseman Victor Martinez at the conclusion of the seventh inning after Contreras tapped a ground ball to Martinez, who tagged Iker Franco at third for the second out of the frame before throwing to first to retire Contreras and complete the inning-ending double play.

Cramer got the win for Quintana Roo while Rosario suffered the defeat in relief of starter Rolando Valdez, who (like Barradas) tossed four shutout innings Sunday while allowing three hits.

Game Five in the series is scheduled for Tuesday night in Cancun. The series will move back to Oaxaca for Game Six on Thursday.

MEZA WINS FOR SECOND TIME AS PUEBLA TAKES 3-2 SERIES LEAD AGAINST YUCATAN

Like the Tigres-Oaxaca game to the east in Cancun, the Puebla-Yucatan playoff tilt in Merida was delayed for an hour and a half, but the Pericos stuck with it and held on for a 3-2 win over the Leones to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in their LMB South semifinal series in front of 4,566 fans at Parque Kukulkan.

Puebla took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Omar De La Torre. The Pericos added one run to the margin in the second when Cesar Tapia doubled and later scored on a groundout, and made it a 3-0 contest in the fifth after Serafin Rodriguez scored from third on a fielder’s choice.

Yucatan ruined Andres Meza’s shutout bid in the sixth when Fernando Valenzuela, Jr. doubled in Oswaldo Morejon from second. Valenzuela went on to score on a Said Gutierrez single. With two out in the sixth at that point, Meza was replaced by Victor Jacome, who combined with two other relievers to limit the Pericos to no runs on one hit the rest of the way.

Meza took the win for Puebla to go to 2-0 in the playoffs, while Yucatan starter Wilton Chavez fell to 0-2 after allowing three runs on eight hits over four frames for Yucatan.

The series will shift to Puebla for Game Six on Wednesday night.