Monclova leads LMB North by 3 Games

Josh Lowey turned in six dominant innings to lead the Monclova Acereros to a 7-1 win over the Tijuana Toros Sunday as 14,120 watched at Tijuana's Estadio Gasmart.  Lowey allowed no runs on two hits with nine strikeouts to register his fifth win in six starts.  Denis Phipps doubled and tripled to drive in five runs for Monclova, who now lead the Mexican League's North Division by three games over Monterrey with a 19-7 record, best in the Liga.

Also on Sunday, Willy Taveras hit a bases-loaded triple to key Puebla's 5-4 win over Yucatan while Esteban Quiroz went 3 for 4 with three ribbies to pace Quintana Roo to a 7-1 victory against Oaxaca to create a three-way tie for the LMB South lead between the Pericos, Leones and Tigres (each with 16-10 records).  For their part, Oaxaca parted ways with manager Enrique "Che" Reyes last week after the Guerreros stumbled to an 0-11 record out the gate.  The team's performance has leveled off since then, but their awful start had apparently sealed Reyes' fate.

Monterrey shortstop Walter Ibarra leads the LMB with a .430 batting average, forty points ahead of Diory Hernandez of Aguascalientes.  Hernandez had a strong week and now leads the circuit with 9 homers and 33 RBI's.  Monclova's Jose Amador, Alex Liddi of Quintana Roo and Campeche's Dave Sappelt are tied for second in homers with 7 apiece; Mario Lisson of Saltillo trails Hernandez in RBI's with 29.  Monclova's Lowey tops LMB pitchers with 5 wins and 48 strikeouts with Hector Ambriz heading the ERA table at 0.80.

Monclova will host Monterrey in a three-game series starting Tuesday, while Tabasco is at Puebla, Quintana Roo visits Carmen and Yucatan takes on Campeche in Villahermosa.