XALAPA ONE WIN AWAY FROM LIV PENNANT

Francisco Cordova (pictured) turned in a strong pitching performance Sunday as the Xalapa Chileros tripped the Los Tuxtlas Brujos, 7-1, to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in their best-of-7 Veracruz Winter League championship Series. Cordova tossed seven shutout innings for the Chileros, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out five Brujos batters as Xalapa tries to prevent Los Tuxtlas from winning a third straight pennant.

Xalapa opened the scoring in the first when Jesus Romo scored on an Edgar Quintero single. The Chileros got what was to be the deciding run one inning later when Valentin Gamez launched a solo homer over the left field fence to make it 2-0. The home team would eventually stretch their lead to 7-0 before the Brujos’ Pedro Iturbe stroked a homer to right in the ninth inning to avert the shutout.

The two teams had split the first two games in Xalapa prior to Sunday’s contest. The series now shifts back to San Andres Tuxtla for Game Six on Tuesday night at 7:00 local time.