LMB DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN; LISTACH FIRED

    The Mexican League's final four field was set after Mexico City eliminated Veracruz last Monday night and Guadalajara knocked out surprising Aguascalientes one night later, setting up both Division Championship Series. In the LMB North, the top-seed Mariachis are facing second-place Tijuana while the regular season champion Diablos Rojos take on third-seed Yucatan in the LMB South Championship Series.

    The following is a wrap of the first two games of both LCS, in which both underdogs took a pair of road games over the weekend, as well as the clinching games for the respective division semifinals plus the firing of the defending champion's manager:

TIJUANA LEADS GUADALAJARA, 2 GAMES TO 0

Ricky Alvarez, Tijuana Toros

    The LMB North Championship Series began last Friday, when visiting Tijuana held off Guadalajara, 4-3. The Mariachis were nursing a 2-1 leading going into the top of the sixth inning, when Tijuana pushed three runs across the plate as Xavier Carrillo's two-run single provided the go-ahead run and Leandro Castro added an RBI single. LMB batting champion Leo Heras clubbed a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to narrow the Toros' lead to 4-3 but ex-MLBers Oliver Perez, Michael Tonkin and Fernando Rodney pitched shutout ball over the final three innings. Rodney struck out three batters in the ninth for the save as the Mariachis ended the game batting 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Veteran Luis Alfonso Cruz' two singles for Tijuana made him the only player on either side with more than one hit.

    Tijuana made it two wins away from home on Saturday with an 11-9 triumph at Estadio Panamericano. The game was a scoreless tie until Guadalajara scored five runs in the bottom of the third (with Heras contributing a two-run single) and the Mariachis held an 8-5 lead through six innings. The roof caved in for the home team in the top of the seventh, when the Toros scored five runs on four hits (including a two-run single from Efren Navarro) plus four walks to take a 10-8 lead. Each team scored once the rest of the way but Rodney earned his second save in as many nights by pitching the final 1.1 innings, allowing one walk. Ricky Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Toros while Heras and Anthony Garcia went deep for the Mariachis. After Sunday's travel day, Game Three is tonight in Tijuana.

    The Mariachis advanced to the division finals last Tuesday by bopping Aguascalientes, 10-3, at home to clich the series, 4 games to 2. Guadalajara scored five times in the bottom of the second (sending 11 batters to the plate in a half-inning that saw four hits, two walks, an error, a hit bastman and a wild pitch) to chase Rieleros starter Ernesto Zaragosa after Carlos Mendivil's two-run single.

YUCATAN LEADS MEXICO CITY, 2 GAME TO 0

Luis Juarez, Yucatan Leones

    Yucatan is traditionally not a high-scoring team, but they put 13 runs on the scoreboard while winning the first two games of the LMB South title seres in Mexico City. Friday's opener at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu was a 7-6 Leones win, as the visitors scored six third-inning runs to reverse a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead and then held on the rest of the way. Luis Juarez stroked a three-run double in the top of the third as Yucatan starter Yoanner Negrin overcame a shaky first in which he let in three Diablos Rojos runs to toss shutout ball until he was pulled with two out in the sixth. Diablos starter J.C. Ramirez was sent to the showers after failing to record an out in the Leones' third-inning outburst. Alex Liddi hit a solo homer for the winners while Mexico City's Emmanuel Avila wnt 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

    Saturday's Game Two saw the team from Merida pull out another win, this time by a 6-4 count. The contest was tied a 1-1 going into the top of the fifth, when Juarez punched a two-out double off Mexico City reliever Arquimedes Caminero to score Yadir Drake and give the Leones a 2-1 advantage. Walter Ibarra's two-run single in the sixth made it a 4-1 Yucatan lead and the visitors never looked back, although the Diablos did score three more runs the rest of the way. Leones starter Rhadames Liz earned the win by allowing two runs on two hits over 6.2 innings of work, striking out five Diablos. Juarez went 5-for-5 with two ribbies for the night. Avila sliced a pair of doubles for Mexico City, scoring once. Game Three is scheduled for Monday night in Merida's Parque Kukulkan.

    The Diablos punched their ticket to the division championships last Monday by taking a 5-2 win in Veracruz to close their second round series, 4 games to 1. The Aguilas led, 1-0, until Jesus Fabela's two-run single in the top of the fourth gave Mexico City a 2-1 advantage. Juan Carlos Gamboa later hit a solo homer and Luis Sardinas added a two-run homer for the winners as Red Devils starter Hector Hernandez allowed one earned run on three hits over five innings for the win.

    Meanwhile, Pat Listach has been fired as manager of the Monclova Acereros on the heels of their second round playoff loss to Tijuana in five games following a fourth-place regular season finish in the LMB North with a 35-31 record. Listach had led Monclova to the city's lone Mexican League pennant in 2019, posting a Liga-best 75-45 season record before copping the flag by winning three postseason series that all required a seventh game to decide. The Acereros made the standard-issue announcement “thanking” Listach for his “professionalism” and “wishing him the best in his future projects,” comments that accompany every fired Mexican baseball manager on his way to the unemployment line.

GENERALES SOLD TO VENEZUELAN ENTREPRENEUR

Generales owner Carlos Lazo (l)

  The sale of one Mexican League team was approved at an Assembly of Presidents meeting earlier this month while a rumor has surfaced that a pair of current LMB owners are interested in buying another club and moving it to their hometown on the Pacific coast.

    The sale of the Durango Generales by Juan Carlos Martinez to Venezuelan entrepreneur Carlos Lazo was given the owners' stamp of approval at a meeting headed by LMB president Horacio de la Vega and board of directors head Gerardo Benavides, owner of the Monclova Acereros.

    Lazo was born in Venezuela in 1971 but the 49-year-old has lived in Mexico the past 13 years and currently resides in Guadalajara. Holder of a college degree in Economics, Lazo is founder and CEO of 17 different companies, 16 in Mexico and one in Panama. This is not his first venture in sports. Four months ago, Lazo purchased 50 percent of the Queretaro Libertadores of Mexico's National Professional Basketball League (after having sponsored the Jalisco Astros of Guadalajara) and his Upick Sports company became the NHL's first Mexican team sponsor with the Vegas Golden Knights. He is purchasing 100 percent of the Generales franchise.

    Out 27 columnist David Braverman notes that this will be the third time the Generales have changed hands since Virgilio Ruiz moved the team from Carmen following the 2016 season. The Ruiz era in Durango was dogged with financial and operational problems almost from the outset and after two years, the Generales were one of four Liga franchises granted a year off in 2019 to get their house in order. However, Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered the LMB to restore the quartet to active status and the team played on. By then, a group headed by former MLB catcher and current Mexico City manager Miguel Ojeda had bought the team from Ruiz and operated it for the 2018 season before selling out to businessman Alfredo Aramburo.

Estadio Domingo Santana, Durango

    The Generales turned in a 46-72 record and drew 180,250 fans (about 3,000 per game) to Estadio Domingo Santana in 2019 while Aramburo had nothing but trouble with his fellow owners and then-LMB president Javier Salinas, who never fully ratified him as owner. Once he had a chance to own a Mexican Pacific League expansion team in Guasave, as mandated by political ally Lopez Obrador, Aramburo sold his Durango team to Martinez. Despite a first season being canceled due to the pandemic and a last-place finish with attendance dipping to 836 per opening, The El Siglio newspaper says Martinez (who will be running for governor of Durango) gave assurances that incoming owner Lazo will keep the Generales in the capital city. Braverman says that “according to reliable sources,” Martinez had not paid Aramburo the full amount of his purchase price for the team.

    Braverman adds that the Aguascalientes Rieleros may be getting ready for a sale. The Railroaders are owned by the Aguascalientes state government and operated by team president Eustacio Alvarez, a former mayoral candidate for Ciudad Aguascalientes who the columnist says is not a baseball fan but is mainly fulfilling an appointment by former governor Armado Medina. The Railroaders have been for sale several years, but Braverman says he's been told that the current owners of the Yucatan Leones (brothers Erick and Juan Jose Arellano) have presented an offer to buy the team, which they would then move to their hometown of Mazatlan and rename the Marineros.

    Braverman is well-connected in the Mexican baseball community, but this is something that was also rumored when the Arellanos owned the Laguna Vaqueros for the 2016 and 2017 seasons down to the Mazatlan Marineros name. Instead, the team was sold prior to the 2018 campaign. Aguascalientes is no more stable than Laguna was, raising the question of why the brothers would go through a similar set of frustrations a second time?

MLB, CBPC COME TO TERMS FOR WINTERBALL IN 2021-22

Estadio Quisqueya, Santo Domingo

    According to the El Fildeo website, Major League Baseball and the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation have agreed on the terms for the new agreement for the 2021-2022 winter league season.

    According to a report by Enrique Rojas of ESPN, MLB and the CBPC have agreed on the parameters of a new "Winter Leagues Agreement," but the agreement will not be finalized until Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, approves it.

    The winterball agreement is a document that regulates relations between organized baseball in the United States and the various independent Caribbean circuits. The last one expired almost two years ago but was renewed by the parties to cover the 2020-21 season, as they negotiated amid the coranavirus pandemic.

    The winter seasons for leagues in Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela will be played between October and January and the champions of each circuit will face each other in the 64^th edition of the Caribbean Series between January 28 and February 5 next year, scheduled to be held at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.

    However, leagues in both Panama and Colombia, which have participated in recent Caribbean Series as special guests, are not part of the agreement between MLB and the CBPC, although an August 27 story in Santo Domingo's El Diario Nuevo mentioned the two nations as expected entries along with regulars Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and host Dominican Republic.

 

Juan Francisco Puello, CBPC

   Panama was enlisted as emergency host of the 2019 Serie del Caribe on late notice and ended up being the surprise winner after the planned tournament in Venezuela was scrubbed weeks before it was to be held due to political and economic unrest. Colombia was invited late to the 2020 event after Cuba declined to play due to stated visa concerns traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico that year.

    Cuba was subsequently suspended from participating in the Caribbean Series indefinitely by CBPC president Juan Francisco Puello, who cited a desire to see human rights improvements in the communist nation, which returned to the event (which they co-founded in 1949) on a conditional basis in 2014 after an absence of 53 years.

TJ, YUCATAN WIN SETS, BERTHS IN DIVISION FINALS

Tijuana DH Gabriel Gutierrez

    Two of the Mexican League's four Division Semifinal playoff series are in the books and two of the eight participating teams have punched their tickets to their respective Division Championship Series, which will commence later this week.

    Tijuana knocked defending champion Monclova out of a chance for a repeat by defeating the Acereros in five games in their LMB North series while Yucatan eliminated a plucky Tabasco club in the LMB South, also in five games. Aguascalientes and Veracruz stayed alive in their respective series with wins Sunday. After Monday's travel day, Game Sixes will be played Tuesday night in Guadalajara and Mexico City with deciding Game Sevens (if needed) slated for both cities.

    Here's a recap of all Division Semis games through the weekend:

TIJUANA defeats MONCLOVA, 4 games to 1

    Tijuana opened their LMB North semifinal series by doubling up on Monclova, 10-5, last Tuesday at home. Gabriel Gutierrez stroked a two-run homer off Acereros starter Hector Velazquez to key a five-run Toros first inning as Joe van Meter took the win by pitching six innings of two-run ball. TJ followed up with a 4-3 Wednesday triumph with Gutierrez' two-run single in a three-run Toros sixth overcame a 3-1 deficit. Fernando Rodney earned the save b striking out three Steelers batsmen in the ninth.

    The series then shifted to Monclova for the next three games, starting with a 5-4 Toros victory on Friday night. Addison Russell belted two homers for the defending champs but it was Isaac Rodriguez' run on a Leandro Castro sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth that provided the deciding run. Rodney tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to earn another save, striking out Russell swinging to end the game. The Acereros staved off elimination Saturday by topping the Toros, 5-3, with Chris Carter's two-two homer and Russell's single, triple and two RBIs providing Monclova starter Wilmer Rios (5.1IP, 3R) with enough support for the win.

    Tijuana closed out the series Sunday with a 10-3 win that was actually closer than the score indicates as Monclova held a 3-1 lead through six innings before the Toros scored nine times the rest of the game to pull away. Rodriguez had three hits with a run and RBI for the winners while Gutierrez went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Carter and Ricky Rodriguez homered for the Acereros.

GUADALAJARA leads AGUASCALIENTES, 3 games to 2

    LMB North top seed Guadalajara took another step toward in the Division Championship Series by opening their series with a 14-7 home win over Aguascalientes last Tuesday. The Mariachis collected 20 hits off Rieleros pitching and scored in seven straight innings as Niko Vasquez went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and five RBIs on the night while Jesse Castillo was 4-for-4 with a roundtripper. The hit parade continued Wednesday in Guadalajara's 8-7 win as all nine Mariachis batters had at least one safety, but it took an Anthony Garcia double and a walkoff RBI single by Issmael Salas in the ninth to secure the victory. Garcia had belted a two-run homer in the second for the Jalisco squad.

    Aguascalientes hosted the next three games over the weekend, including a 9-6 Guadalajara win on Friday night. Salas and Adrian Gonzalez went deep for the winners but Luis Sardinas' leadoff longball in the top of the seventh proved the game-winner by breaking a 6-6 tie. Michael Wing and Francisco Cordoba both homered for the Railroaders, who delayed being knocked out in four straight games by holding off Guadalajara, 9-7, on Saturday. Henry Rodriguez singled, doubled and drove in two runs for victors while Aldo Florez socked a two-run homer to counteract Gonzalez' game for the Mariachis as El Titan was 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs. The Rieleros won their second game in a row Sunday, scoring six times in the bottom of the first and holding on for a 9-6 victory. Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the sixth, but it was Felix' three-run double that was the key hit in that big first frame.

YUCATAN defeats TABASCO, 4 games to 1

Yucatan RHP Jake Thompson

    After defeating Veracruz in the first round, Tabasco has found things tougher against Yucatan in their Division Semifinal set. The Olmecas got off to a good start at home last Tuesday with a 7-6 win in ten innings. Pinch-hitter Rudy Amador singled in Ronnier Mustelier with the walkoff game-winner as Mustelier finished the contest with three hits. Alex Liddi rapped a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to knot the game up at 6-6. The Leones roared back on Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout. Yoanner Negrin tossed seven frames of three-hit ball and Josh Lueke nailed down the save as Walker Ibarra singled, doubled and scored twice for Yucatan.

    The Leones took the series lead after the set moved to Merida, beginning with a 4-2 win over 12 innings on Friday. Luis Juarez' two-run walkoff homer was the deciding blow off Nicolas Heredia in a game that saw 13 pitching changes for the two team and lasted seven minutes shy of five hours. Yucatan won their third straight on Saturday, 5-1, with a strong outing by starter Jake Thompson. The former Phillies hurler gave up one run on five hits in six innings, striking out seven Tabasco hitters and walking none. Humberto Sosa's three-run bomb of Ignacio Merrujo broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth.

    Yucatan clinched the series with a 3-0 shutout on Sunday. Casey Harman held the Olmecas scoreless through the first seven frames while Lueke picked up another save. Jorge Flores had a pair of hits and drove in a run for the Lions, but the story of the game (and series was) Yucatan's pitching, which allowed just runs over four games after allowing seven in the opener.

MEXICO CITY leads VERACRUZ, 3 games to 1

    Mexico City is seeking their first LMB pennant since 2014 (and the 17th flag in their 82-year history) and they're looking like a good bet to at least reach the Serie del Rey under manager Miguel Ojeda, who was the helmsman for their most recent title team. After finishing first in the LMB South during the regular season and knocking off Quintana Roo in the opening playoff round, the Diablos dispatched lucky loser Veracruz in the first three games of their series. The Red Devils opened the set at home last Tuesday with a 9-3 win behind Jon Singleton's three-run homer and a 3-for-3 night from Carlos Figueroa. Singleton had a game to tell his grandchildren about during Wednesday's 14-9 victory over the Aguilas, belting two homers and a double to drive in five runs and score five times. Paolo Orlando homered for Veracruz while Yasiel Puig had three hits and three RBIs.

    A Friday rainout in Veracruz delayed Game Three until Saturday, when Mexico City blanked the Aguilas, 2-0. Luis Rodriguez (6 innings) combined with three relievers on a six-hitter as Roberto Osuna notched the save. The Diablos opened the scoring in the top of the second when Emmanuel Avila scored from third on a Figueroa fielder's choice grounder and made it 2-0 in the fifth when Jesus Fabela motored in on a Kodai Hamaya wild pitch. Veracruz avoided being swept Sunday by being on the positive end of a 2-0 shutout when Ryan Verdugo (who'd been roughed up in Wednesday's loss) delivered seven entradas of one-hit pitching, the lone Diablos safety off the one-time Royals hurler being a first-inning single by Omar Meza. Alexei Amarista's two-run double contributed to a three-run frame against reliever Sasagi Sanchez that broke open a scoreless tilt after Arturo Lopez had pitched six shutout innings for the Diablos.

MEXICAN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE DIPS FROM 2019 TOTALS 

Estadio Nacional, Tijuana

   Overall attendance in the Mexican League unsurprisingly nosedived in 2021 from the loop's last season in 2019 after the LMB played a shortened schedule this year. After drawing a total of 4,618,162 aficionados through the gates over 945 openings two years ago, the Liga's 18 teams (including two expansion franchises) witnessed 1,446,929 turnstile clicks this summer over 581 openings. That reflects a decline of 3,172,233 (or 68.7 percent) at the gate.

    On the one hand, the drop-off was expected after the circuit opened play late in May and scheduled only 66 games per team after playing a 120-game schedule. Of greater concern, however, is the steep decline in average attendance at LMB games. After averaging 4,886 spectators in 2019, according to figures posted on both the Baseball-Reference and Stats Crew websites, Liga teams averaged just 2,490 ticket-buyers per contest this year (a drop of 2,396 per game, or 49 percent).

    To be fair, the Wuhan virus has created economic chaos across Mexico as well as levels of safety protocols that vary from city to city among the LMB's 18 teams. Regardless of the causes of decline, however, there's no denying that attendance averages of fewer than 1,000 per game in Durango, Oaxaca and Campeche are cause for alarm while five more franchises drew fewer than 2,000 and eleven clubs in all were below 3,000 per game. 

Estadio Nelson Barrera, Campeche

    Those would not be sustainable numbers for a AAA league north of the border and those teams have players whose salaries are subsidized by their Major League Baseball parent clubs. In both of Mexico's professional leagues, all expenses are the responsibility of each individual team and while the winter Mexican Pacific League has historically outdrawn every minor league in North America by a fairly wide margin, the LMB has always had a majority of teams that annually struggle to make ends meet. State subsidies have subsidized a number of Liga teams over the years, but it's hard to imagine the Campeche Piratas being given enough taxpayer pesos to cover shortfalls after drawing only 755 fans per game to Estadio Nelson Barrrera.

    The Tijuana Toros led the Mexican League with 196,471 fans over 33 home games for an average of 5,954, well ahead of second-place Monterrey, who pulled in 4,657 per game for a total of 149,011 despite missing the playoffs. In all, seven teams averaged over 3,000 per game.

2021 MEXICAN LEAGUE ATTENDANCE TOTALS (AVERAGES)
Tijuana 196,471 (5,954), Monterrey 149,011 (4,657), Mexico City 111,188 (3,369), Yucatan 109,895 (3,330), Monclova 109,447 (3,316), Saltillo 108,913 (3,300), Union Laguna 107,319 (3,252), Dos Laredos 85,437 (2,589), Leon 70,869 (2,148), Veracruz 65,900 (1,997), Guadalajara 61,652 (1,868), Puebla 58,175 (2,006), Quintana Roo 53,146 (1,661), Tabasco 51,189 (1,551), Aguascalientes 29,860 (1,066), Durango 27,587 (836), Oaxaca 27,451 (858), Campeche 2,413 (755). TOTAL: 1,446,929 (2,490).

SULTANES TRADE WING TO OBREGON IN MEXPAC DEAL

New Obregon 3B Michael Wing

    As the Mexican League enters the final weeks of its 2021 season, Mexican Pacific League teams have been making deals in preparation for their upcoming 2021-22 schedule. One of the most notable player swaps of the past month saw the Monterrey Sultanes send third baseman Michael Wing to Obregon for right-handed pitcher Nathanael Santiago and infield prospect Juan Mora.

    After playing in the Angels and Padres organizations between 2007 and 2012, the 31-year-old Wing spent four years of independent ball in both the Frontier League and American Association before coming south of the border in 2017 to play with Aguascalientes of the Mexican League. The Pasadena, California native has never hit below .341 for the Rieleros since, belting 60 homers and driving in 255 runs over 267 LMB contests (including a .345 mark with nine homers and 44 ribbies over 50 games this summer). 

    Wing has also played three seasons in the LMP, batting .266 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs in 133 games for Los Mochis, Monterrey and Culiacan (for whom he hit .305 with eight homers in 44 games after being loaned by the Sultanes last winter). In 14 seasons at all levels of minor league ball, Wing has a .296 career average with 133 homers and 676 RBIs over 1,046 games. 

New Monterrey RHP Nathanael Santiago

   Santiago comes to Monterrey on the heels of a 1-0 season with Obregon last winter as a situational reliever, turning in a 3.09 ERA over 11.2 innings in 12 games for the Yaquis. The 31-year-old broke into minor league ball as a 25-year-old spending the 2015 in the Giants organization before debuting with Mexico City of the Mexican League in 2016. In four seasons with the Diablos, Santiago has gone 8-6 with 36 saves and a 3.24 ERA in 149 games. In five winters in the LMP (the last four in Obregon), he has a 5-6 record and a 2.89 ERA in 89 appearances, mostly as a middleman.

    The 21-year-old Mora plays second and third base in the Chicago Cubs system and is currently wearing pitchers out in the rookie Arizona Complex League, batting .395 with a homer and five stolen bases over 18 games for the Cubs' Rookie-level team after spending 2018 and 2019 with Chicago's Dominican Summer League squad. Mora hit .136 for Obregon in nine games last winter.

LMB DIVISION SEMIS SET, TWO SERIES GO SEVEN GAMES

    The Mexican League division semifinals are now set after a pair of seventh and deciding first round playoff games were required to determine the eighth-team lineup. Mexico City, Tabasco and Yucatan all advanced in the LMB South and will be joined by Veracruz as the “lucky” loser because the Aguilas won two games in their series while Quintana Roo and Puebla only won once. Things came down to the wire in the LMB North, where it took a pair of Game Sevens to ensure that Guadalajara, Tijuana and Lucky Loser Aguascalientes to join Monclova in the division semis.

    Here are capsules with details of the past week's games in the six first-round series:

MEXICO CITY def. QUINTANA ROO, 4 games to 1

    Three first-round series ended Thursday night, including Mexico City's Game Five win over Quintana Roo, 8-4. Japhet Amador led the Diablos attack with two homers and six RBIs to close the set with a 4-games-to-1 Mexico City triumph. The Tigres were forced to play their “home” games at Merida's Parque Kukulkan due to ballpark renovations Estadio Beto Avila in Cancun requiring them to play the final weeks of the season on the road.

    Angel Erro's two-run homer in the bottom of the second snapped a Quintana Roo scoreless streak that had reached 19 innings, including shutouts on Tuesday (a 9-0 loss as Amador belted two longballs and drove in four) and Wednesday (a 3-0 defeat in which Arturo Lopez tossed six scoreless innings for the Red Devils and Juan Carlos Gamboa socked a two-run homer in the third).

TABASCO def. PUEBLA, 4 games to 1

    Tabasco also closed out their series in five games with Puebla on Thursday. After splitting two games in Villahermosa, the Olmecas copped three straight road games, starting with a 14-12 slugfest win last Tuesday as former Phillies farmhand Herlis Rodriguez slammed a three-run homer and Roel Santos posted a two-run blast. Jesus Arredondo hit a two-run single and later scored in a five-run fifth inning as the Olmecas went on to top the Pericos, 8-3, one night later.

    The Olmecas clinched the series Thursday, 7-4, as Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with three runs and Ronnier Mustelier's two-run single gave the Olmecas a 7-0 lead in the fourth that the Parakeets couldn't overcome. Manager Pedro Mere's club lacked offense in the regular season but it was their 29 runs in three games that sealed their victory.

MONCLOVA def. SALTILLO, 4 games to 1

    Also on Thursday, defending champion Monclova finished their LMB North series with a 3-1 Game Five thriller over Saltillo as Addison Russell cranked out a two-run homer off Saraperos closer Anthony Carter in the bottom of the tenth to end the contest after Bartolo Colon turned in 5.1 decent entradas for Monclova, allowing one run on five hits.

    The Steelers earlier collected a 6-3 win over Saltillo Tuesday during which Chris Carter slugged a pair of homers of Saraperos starter David Holmberg. Monclova registered another victory Wednesday on a 3-2 score as Dwight Smith's sacrifice fly brought home Erick Aybar with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Carlos Bustamante earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth for the Acereros to set up Thursday's clincher.

YUCATAN def. VERACRUZ, 4 games to 2

    After Friday's travel day, one more series concluded on Saturday. Yucatan returned home after winning two of three in Veracruz to record a 5-1 win over the Aguilas to take their first round set, 4 games to 2, as Jose Aguilar's two-run double gave the Leones a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second that they never relinquished.

    Yucatan had split a pair in Merida prior to winning, 7-6, in Veracruz last Tuesday when Aguilas third baseman Hector Gomez' throwing error in the top of the ninth allowed Walter Ibarra and Yadier Drake to plate the tying and winning runs, respectively. Alex Liddi clubbed two homers and drove in five Wednesday in an 11-3 Yucatan win (Aguila pitchers allowed 11 hits and nine walks); then Liddi, Norberto Obeso and Luis Juarez all homered in the fifth Thursday but Veracuz staved off elimination with a 9-8 triumph as Gomez earned some redemption with a walkoff single that scored Alexei Amarista with the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth. Juarez hit five homers and Liddi went deep four times for the Leones in the series.

GUADALAJARA def. UNION LAGUNA, 4 games to 3

    Both Union Laguna and Tijuana stayed alive with wins Saturday to force Game Sevens in their respective series Sunday. Nick Torres had three hits (including a ninth-inning homer) and scored three runs for the Algodoneros in a wild 13-11 win at Guadalajara. The Cottoneers beat the top-seeded Mariachis twice in three games during the week in Torreon.

    Guadalajara clobbered the hosts, 12-2, last Tuesday as Johnny Davis went 4-for-5 to key a 17-hit Mariachis outburst. Laguna came back with wins on Wednesday and Thursday, starting with a 10-2 clobbering that saw the Algodoneros break open a 4-2 game with six eighth-frame runs as Ciro Norzagaray sliced a two-run, bases-loaded single to cap a two-hit, three-ribbie night. Thursday's game ended with a 5-4 Cottoneers victory with Carlos Rivero's solo homer breaking a 4-all tie and Jenrry Mejia tossing a scoreless ninth for the save (despite needing 20 pitches to do it). Mejia went 1.2 innings Saturday in Guadalajara for his third save of the series. Sunday's game was a 2-2 classic until the bottom of the eighth, when the Mariachis scored five runs, including a three-run homer by Niko Vasquez off Mejia to break it open. Fernando Cruz pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the 7-2 win and end the series.

TIJUANA def. AGUASCALIENTES, 4 games to 3

    Meanwhile, Tijuana held off an upset loss to Aguascalientes Saturday with a 5-4 win in eleven innings at home. Daniel Castro's walkoff single scored pinch-runner Junior Lake with the winning run for the Toros, who got three hits (including a two-run homer) from Leandro Castro during the contest. The Rieleros earlier took two of three midweek games at home and opened a 3-games-to-1 series lead before TJ won the next two. Tuesday's tilt featured a big game from Ags centerfielder Jay Austin (3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs) in a 6-5 win over the Toros. On Wednesday, the Algodoneros built a 5-1 lead and then held on to take a 5-4 triumph behind Marc Flores' two-run homer in the second and Michael Wing's two-run single in the fifth.

    Tijuana avoided elimination with a 5-0 shutout Thursday, with Joe Van Meter starting things off with 6 scoreless innings and Fernando Rodney ending them by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth. Peter O'Brien doubled, tripled and drove in three for the Bulls in the win to send the series back to the border city. After Saturday's win, the Toros closed out the Rieleros Sunday with a 6-4 victory in which Gabriel Gutierrez' two-out double off Daniel Guerrero broke a 4-4 tie by doubling in Isaac Rodriguez while Gutierrez plated an insurance run moments later on Leandro Castro's single. Rodney made things interesting in the top of the ninth by loading the bases before retiring the last two Aguascalientes batters to end the game and series.

    The division semis will open with four games Tuesday night. In the LMB South, Mexico City will open their best-of-7 set with Lucky Loser Veracruz at home and Yucatan will take on Tabasco in Merida. In the LMB North, Tijuana will open their series with Monclova in the border city while Guadalajara is at Estadio Panamericano to host an opener against Aguascalientes, who is the division's Lucky Loser by virtue of finishing a half-game ahead of Union Laguna during the regular season.

EX-TOROS SKIPPER VIZQUEL NAMED IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT SUIT

Omar Vizquel with Birmingham in 2019

    Things just keep getting tougher for Hall of Fame candidate Omar Vizquel. The former shortstop, who won eleven Gold Gloves and collected 2,877 hits over a 24-year MLB career, was hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States within days of parting company with the Mexican League Tijuana Toros and months after his wife Blanca filed domestic violence charges against him.

    According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, an autistic former batboy for the Class AA Birmingham Barons (who Vizquel managed in 2019) alleged that Vizquel exposed his penis “at least five occasions” in the team's clubhouse. According to the lawsuit, Vizquel came out of a shower naked on August 22, 2019 and handed the man a bar of soap, demanding that he “wash my damn back!” The accuser says he was “humiliated, intimidated and scared of what would happen if he disobeyed” and “complied with Vizquel's request.”

    The man, now 25, did not return to work after the alleged incident and the lawsuit states, “at this point, he was constructively discharged, as no reasonable person would have returned to that work environment after what had happened.” The suit was filed in United States District Court in Alabama. The suit also accuses the Barons and their parent Chicago White Sox organization of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks back payments and damages. No criminal charges have been filed against Vizquel in connection to the batboy’s claims. Neither Vizquel nor his attorney have commented.

    According to Joshua Rhett Miller of the New York Post, the former batboy (who has not been named) also alleges that Vizquel had “targeted” him for sexual harassment because of his disability. The man also claims Vizquel told him in June 2019 that he was homosexual and telling him in the dugout, “I just want you to know that I’m gay” and “I like guys.”

    In contrast, a writer for the TodayIn24 website who simply goes by the name Bonnie is not a Vizquel supporter but talked to two Birmingham players that season: “More jokes are made in clubhouses than anywhere else. And that’s why, since Vizquel doesn’t answer, I called two players who were from the Barons of 2019, the year of the indictment.

    “One of them told me, 'Omar used to make up jokes of many kinds against all of us and we laughed a lot.' And the other: 'I remember that batboy, great boy. We all loved him very much, even Vizquel. And having his back washed has nothing to do with sex.“

    In a statement, the White Sox said: "After first learning of an alleged incident in late August 2019, Chicago conducted an internal investigation that resulted in the termination of the organization's relationship with Vizquel. Because this is active litigation, at this time the White Sox will not comment further regarding the allegations included in this lawsuit.”

Vizquel as an 11-time Gold Glove shortstop

    The 54-year-old Venezuelan had piloted the Barons to a 64-72 record his first year in Birmingham after leading Class A Winston-Salem to a 84-54 mark and the Carolina League playoff semifinals in 2018, earning Manager of the Year honors. Vizquel was hired to manage Tijuana for 2020 but the season was canceled due to the Wuhan virus. This year, he had the Toros in second place in the LMB North with a 32-22 when he was relieved of his duties on July 26.

    Vizquel was accused last year by his wife, Blanca, of multiple cases of physical abuse. He was arrested once but was not charged. Vizquel has denied abusing his wife, who filed for divorce last year. Major League Baseball has acknowledged investigating his personal and professional conduct, although he has not been employed by an MLB organization since the White Sox fired him. The investigation remains open, according to a source.

    Vizquel became eligible for election to the Hall of Fame in 2018 and was named on 37 percent of the BBWA ballots his first year. He rose to 42.8 percent and then 52.6 percent the following two years before dropping to 49.1 percent last winter a month after the domestic abuse allegations surfaced. He has six years' worth of balloting left before his election is handed over to the Veterans Committee.

BUFFALOES SIGN MEXICAN PITCHER VARGAS TO NPB CONTRACT

Vargas with Ibaraki Astro Planets

    Cesar Vargas' excellent adventure in Japan continues. The pitcher from Puebla, who made seven MLB starts for San Diego in 2017, has reached an agreement with the Pacific League's first-place Orix Buffaloes, according to Nikkei Sports.

    It's been an eventful year for the 29-year-old righty, who missed the 2020 Mexican League season after going 8-6 with a 4.34 ERA over 32 games (including 18 starts) for Monterrey in 2019. Vargas spent an eighth Mexican Pacific League season with Hermosillo last winter and was 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in seven starts.

    He began the current Liga season with Monterrey in May and went 1-0 and 2.70 in two starts before heading to Japan to pitch for the Ibaraki Astro Planets of the independent Baseball Challenge League. In eleven outings as a teammate of former LMB and LMP outfielder Dariel Alvarez and new Veracruz Aguilas pitcher Kodai Hamaya, Vargas went 5-2 with a 1.60 ERA. Alvarez was also recently picked up by the SoftBank Hawks and batted 0-for-4 in his first game for the defending Japan Series champions.

    The 6'2” 237-pound Vargas also pitched for Mexico in the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month, making scoreless appearances in losses to host Japan and Israel and retiring all four batters he faced (two on strikeouts).

Pitching for Monterrey in 2019

   Vargas was signed by the New York Yankees as a 17-year-old in 2009 and spent seven summers in the American League club's system, mostly as a reliever. He then spent 2016 and 2017 with the Padres organization, going 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA in seven starts for the parent club. After playing as a Nationals minor leaguer in 2018, Vargas moved back south of the border to play for Monterrey in 2019. During that time, he played eight winters for Hermosillo (including the last six in a row), going 14-9 with a 3.81 ERA for the Naranjeros in 114 appearances, 92 out them out of the bullpen.

    With his initial outing for his new team, Vargas will become the first Mexican-born player to appear in NPB this season after Christian Villanueva played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2020. Heading into the weekend, the Buffaloes (who split their home games between Kobe and Osaka) led the Pacific League with a 43-34 record plus 11 ties, a game-and-a-half ahead of the 42-36-11 Rakuten Golden Eagles.

AGS, LAGUNA WIN LAST NORTH SLOTS; PLAYOFFS OPEN

   After Aguascalientes and Union Laguna emerged from a four-way dogfight for the final two playoff berths in the Mexican League's North Division while Puebla and Quintana Roo pulled away from Leon for the last two slots in the LMB South last week, the 2021 postseason got underway over the weekend.

    With six teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs this year and Guadalajara (46-17) and Mexico City (41-23) winning their divisions in commanding fashion, most of the drama was reserved for the lower seedings in the LMB North. Aguascalientes won seven of their last ten games to finish in fifth place at 30-31, a half-game game ahead of 31-33 Union Laguna. Monterrey had been in eighth most of the season prior to a late charge that made it close before closing in seventh with a 30-33 mark, a half-game behind the Algodoneros to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015. Dos Laredos had been in the hunt before losing six of their last ten to drop below the Sultans into eighth at 30-36.

    Things weren't as tight in the LMB South, where Leon had a puncher's chance to reach the playoffs entering the final three games of the regular season. The Bravos had to win all three of their games while Puebla had to lose all three of theirs to force a one-game play-in. Leon's 8-1 home loss to Aguascalientes and a Puebla doubleheader sweep of Oaxaca last Wednesday served to knock the Bravos (29-37) out of contention. In fact, the Pericos won all three of their games over the Guerreros to finish at 33-33, leapfrogging in to fifth place ahead of 32-33 Quintana Roo (who lost all three to Veracruz to end the regular season).

    With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the playoffs got underway Saturday with six games. In the LMB North, Guadalajara thumped Laguna, 13-4, as Adrian Gonzalez socked a two-run homer and scored three times for the Mariachis. Aguascalientes surprised Tijuana, 6-1, at El Nido behind Henry Rodriguez' two homers and seven innings of one-run pitching by Rieleros' starter Erick Leal. Monclova held on to take a 5-4 victory in Saltillo as Addison Russell's two-run homer and RBI double helped overcome a shaky Bartolo Colon start (5IP/3R/9H/2E).

Yucatan Leones vet slugger Luis Juarez

    In Saturday's LMB South first round games, visiting Quintana Roo walloped Mexico City, 12-2, as all nine Tigres batters had at least one hit, including Alex Robles' two-run double during QRoo's 10-run second inning. Yucatan's uncharacteristic power display (five homers, two by Luis Juarez) keyed a 15-2 swamping of Veracruz in Merida. Puebla's Miguel Guzman scored from third on an eighth-inning Derrick Loop wild pitch to give the Pericos an eventual 2-1 win over Tabasco.

    Sunday's action saw five of the six series tied up at one game each as the previous night's losers came back with wins. Guadalajara topped Laguna again, 7-3, as Christian Ibarra and Johnny Davis belted sixth-inning homers off Cottoneers starter Rafael Pineda. Venerable slugger Luis Alfonso Cruz had three hits (including a homer and double) and scored three runs as Tijuana bounced back with an 8-4 win over Aguascalientes. Saltillo knotted things with Monclova with a 4-2 win with Henry Urrutia's two-run bomb in the eighth breaking a 2-all tie. Yasiel Puig's two-run homer capped a four-run first as Veracruz went on to cop an 8-3 win in Puebla. Mexico City rebounded with a 7-5 triumph over Quintana Roo, thanks in part to Julian Leon's two-run roundtripper. Juan Pablo Oramas tossed six innings of one-run ball as Tabasco beat Puebla, 3-1, to level their set.

    Monday will be a travel day for all series with six Game Threes scheduled for Tuesday night at ballparks for the lower seeds.

HERAS (.401) TAKES BAT TITLE; 8-0 NAKAMURA COPS WINS CROWN

2021 LMB batting champion Leo Heras

   Baja California product Leo Heras finished 2021with a .401 average to become the 16th native son to be awarded a Mexican League batting championship. The Guadalajara outfielder went 63-for-157 to become the first Mexican to cop a batting title since Tijuana's Isaac Rodriguez in the Spring 2018 season. Heras played 46 of the Mariachis' 65 games, or 70.8 percent. Mariachis teammate Niko Vasquez, a Californian played 59 games and finished second at .387 while Cuban Henry Urrutia of Saltillo came in third at .385 over 56 contests.

    Saltillo slugger Rainel Rosario won his second home run title by crashing 20 to edge out Leon's Xavier Batista's 19. Rosario, a Dominican who led the LMB in 2017 with 26 HRs, becomes the second Sarapero batsman to win more than one homer crown (Andres Mora did it three times). Rosario also led the league with 41 extra-base hits and 174 total bases.

    Another Dominican, Leandro Castro, finished with 72 runs batted in over 64 contests for Tijuana to lead in that category. Batista and Mexico City's massive Japhet Amador tied for second with 57 RBIs, well behind Castro (who had a great season in batting .378 for the Toros while leading the loop with 93 hits, including 20 doubles and 14 homers.

    Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez stole 21 bases to finish first in that category, just beating out the 20 of Tabasco outfielder Herlis Rodriguez. A first baseman from Colombia, Rodriguez beat his previous personal best of 14 swipes to become the first Tigres player to lead the Liga in steals since Luis Polonia's 48 in 1997.

    Other LMB batting leaders included Guadalajara's Beau Amaral with 65 runs, Veracruz' Jesus Valdez stroked 30 doubles, Durango outfielder Tito Polo legged out 7 triples, Mexico City's Jon Singleton had a .503 on-base percentage and 1.196 OPS over 46 games and Puebla rookie David Olmedo-Barrera's .694 slugging percentage ranked first.

Tijuana's Fernando Rodney won saves title

    Japanese import Masaru Nakamura capped a great Mexican League debut by finishing with an 8-0 record over nine starts, good enough to lead the LMB in both wins and won-lost percentage. Nakamura also finished fourth with a 3.25 ERA, striking out 46 batters on 52.2 innings of work after compiling a 15-17 ledger over all or part of nine NPB seasons.

    Tabasco starter Luis Escobar joins fellow Cartagena product Reynaldo Rodriguez of the Tigres in leading the LMB in an individual category. Escobar's 2.54 mark makes him the fifth Olmecas hurler to win an ERA title, joining former Red Sox pitcher Mike Nagy (1978) and becoming the first Tabasco player to do so since Jean Jesus Alvarez in 1999.

    Two pitchers tied for the strikeouts championship with 69 apiece, with Dos Laredos' Jackson Stephens and Puebla's Jose Valdez sharing the award. Stephens (a former Cincinnati Reds starter) got his K's in 65 innings while walking just 16 while Valdez needed 72 innings, walking 32 opponents in the process.

    Former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney capped a successful first year in Mexico by winning the saves title, securing 16 salvados in 19 chances. Rodney won all three of his decisions and had a 1.80 ERA in 28 appearances. Tabasco' Fernando Salas finally allowed his first earned run in 21 outings to finish with an 0.42 ERA, going 12-for-12 in saves.

    Other LMB pitching leaders included Yucatan's Jake Thompson with a 1.07 WHIP, fellow Leones hurler Radhames Liz had two complete games, Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth and and Aguilas moundmate David Reyes tossed the year's only two shutouts (Unsworth's was a no-hitter), Rafael Pineda of Laguna was tops with 77 innings pitched, Monterrey middleman Norman Elenes led with 38 games pitched and Derrick Loop of Tabasco had 12 holds.

BRAVERMAN: MANY RESPONSIBLE FOR OLYMPIC COLLAPSE

Out 27 columnist David Braverman

    While many Mexican baseball fans have been vocal with their outrage and disgust over their country's 0-for-3 performance at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, it appears that few journalists and broadcasters have joined the chorus. Not so with syndicated columnist David Braverman, whose “Out 27” is one of the most widely read commentaries in Mexico.
 
   Braverman's column last Friday outlined what he believes were the causes of Mexico's collapse during their first foray into Olympic baseball. In this edited Google Translate version of that column, titled “Ostrich of Baseball,” he shares his observations:

    With the great Olympic failure of the Mexican baseball team still fresh in the minds of the fans and the protagonists back with their different teams in the LMB and other leagues, a very small sector of the Mexican baseball press continues to question what the hell happened but even more so, what the main responsible parties will face.

    Give opinions, point out, criticize, always with arguments: that is the true work of the journalist who boasts of being one. The rest is the least and Mexican baseball is full of characters who call themselves journalists or reporters, but whose criteria do not go beyond "looking good" with whom they agree. The same thing happens with narrators and commentators. I deeply respect their admirable work and there are very good ones, but their work will never be journalistic and much less critical when they put on the shirt of the team for which they work. They are part of the promotion and, I repeat, very respectable.

    The poor results in Tokyo were simply the chronicle of a death foretold. Removing those who achieved the Olympic qualification, paying attention to tantrums and stubbornness of those who feel like owners of the bats and balls because they were major leaguers or simply allowing that ridiculous occurrence of publishing a photo of several selectees with the uniform of their winter team are clear samples that it was never understood that they were going to an Olympic Games and the importance of what that represented.

    Of course, everyone involved is to blame. The players disappointed Mexico and only a couple responded on the diamond. The majority created a fiasco ending as the worst offense of the tournament and one of the two worst pitching staffs. In baseball, the statistics don't lie. Managers and coaches never studied their rivals and thought they were going to face poor teams like the Oaxaca Guerreros or the Durango Generales. They were very wrong.

    But for that failure to occur on the field of play there were those who orchestrated it and not just now, but long ago. It was during the management of Javier Salinas, the worst president that the Mexican League has had in its history, when the FEMEBE that Enrique Mayorga inherited after the death of Lieutenant Alonso Pérez handed him the management of the Mexican team.

    Salinas, an illiterate baseball player but a good seller of mirrors, stuck his nose in until he reached the president of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation, Riccardo Fraccari, with that unsuccessful attempt by the hesitant called Baseball 5 and other “business”. From then on, there were characters in the LMB who played the tambourine of the relationship with Fraccari at their convenience as well as the management of the team. You can not forget that "Chabelo Tour" of 2019 for two games in Japan and Salinas taking his entire entourage for a walk, of course, in exchange for loyalty.

    The subject had been inherited since his arrival by the current president of the summer circuit, Horacio de la Vega, a chess expert with total ignorance of baseball and a former Olympian who knows the strict doping controls in the event that brings together more than 200 countries every four years. It was precisely the doping that presented problems in assembling the team, especially if we take into account that currently in the LMB the controls are hesitant and the positive tests are paid with financial fines, not with punishments to the player. So imagine the result of the mixture that gives us a total ignorance of baseball with the risk that the players will test positive for Olympic doping.

    With the endorsement of the inoperative baseball federation and the hidden but direct supervision of Edgar González's PROBEIS, the LMB (through its president and sports director Gabriel Medina) removed the manager who had obtained the Olympic berth, Juan Gabriel Castro, to bring in Benjamín Gil and from there form the team fulfilling the whims such as Adrián González, who clearly agreed to play in Mariachis with the condition of going to the Olympic Games. The result? Tremendous disappointment.

    Those responsible for the worst failure of Mexican baseball internationally have names and from my point of view, they have been clearly named in this column, which ends with the following questions:

    Why do some of the members of the Mexican team find it so hard to call failure to failure?

    Finishing in last place being a country with professional baseball all year...isn't that failure?

    Who orders and who executes decisions for the Mexican baseball team?

    Will LMB, FEMEBE and PROBEIS sleep soundly?

    Will those responsible stand up and resign?

    Knowing Mexican baseball for decades and its current reality, the answer to the last question is a resounding NO. It will be the fable of The Ostrich of Baseball.

MEXICO BLASTED BY ISRAEL, 12-5; KO'D FROM OLYMPICS

Isaac Rodriguez against Dominicans

    The Mexican Olympic baseball team lost to Israel by a 12-5 count Sunday in Yokohama to be eliminated from their first appearance in the Summer Games after losing all three contests they played. The Verdes Grande had dropped a 1-0 knucklebiter to the Dominican Republic and a 7-4 decision to host Japan last week to finish 0-2 in Group A.

    In Sunday's loss, Israel took a 6-0 lead and never looked back in winning their first Olympic game after turning in an 0-2 record in Group B. Mexico starter Manny Barreda gave up six runs on four hits and three walks over two-plus innings to take the loss. The ex-Yankees prospect was trailing 1-0 after two innings before the roof caved in top of the the third, when he walked Israel's first two batters before giving up a three-run homer to former MLBer Danny Valencia, who drilled a fastball ten rows deep into the Yokohama Baseball Stadium's left-field seats. Barreda allowed two more baserunners without recording an out before being yanked for reliever Sasagi Sanchez, who then gave up a two-run Nick Rickles single to make it a 6-0 game.

    To their credit, the Mexicans fought back to make it a one-run game by scoring four times in the bottom of the third. Braves farmhand Ryan Goins doubled to deep left to plate Jonathan Jones with Mexico's first run and then came in when Israel starter Jonathan Zeid uncorked a wild pitch during a walk to Isaac Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored on a Sebastian Elizalde double to left and then Elizalde crossed the plate when Joey Meneses singled to shallow left to narrow the deficit to 6-4. Adrian Gonzalez singled in Meneses in the bottom of the sixth to close to gap to 6-5, but a horrible top of the seventh put the game out of reach.

    In that fateful frame, Israel sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on as many hits, keyed by consecutive two-run singles from Mitch Glasser and Zach Penprase, a pair of longtime indyball players. Former MLB hurler Oliver Perez allowed all six runs, although the first two were charged to fellow Mexican reliever Fernando Salas. Israel allowed one Gonzalez double over the last three frames to cement the win.

    Mexico dropped their first game last Friday, 1-0, to the Dominican Republic. Starter Angel Sanchez (5 IP) and four relievers combined to limit the Mexicans to four singles and three walks while Mexican starter Teddy Stankiewicz battled admirably through 4.2 innings, striking out five Dominicans but allowing the game's lone run when ex-MLBer Melky Cabrera single in Charlie Valerio in the bottom of the fifth. Diamondbacks minor leaguer Luis Castillo turned in a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

    The Verdes Grande's best chance came in the top of the sixth when Isaac Rodriguez laid down a bunt single, advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Valerio while Elizalde was up and then tried to score on a Meneses single to left but was cut down at the plate by a throw from Jose Bautista.

    Things were a little less dramatic one day later, when Japan bopped Mexico by a 7-4 score on Saturday. Mexico actually took a 1-0 lead against the host team in the bottom of the first when Meneses singled up the middle off Masato Morishita to score Rodriguez from second. Japan came back to tie it in the second and go ahead in the third with single runs against Mexican starter Juan Pablo Oramas. Eduardo Arredondo relieved Oramas in the fourth and gave up a pair of singles to set up a three-run homer by Tetsuto Yamada to bring Japan's lead up to 5-1.

Joey Meneses hit .500 with HR for Mexico

    Mexico got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Elizalde scored from third on a Gonzalez double-play grounder to second, but Japan scored singletons in the seventh and eighth to stretch their advantage to 7-2. Meneses crashed a two-run homer off reliever Kaima Taira in the bottom of the eighth, making it a 7-4 game, but Mexico could get no closer before running out of outs.

    All in all, it was a disappointing Olympic baseball debut for Mexico, who was outscored 20-9 over three games. Meneses turned in the top plate performance, going 6-for-12 with a homer and four RBIs, but Gonzalez (.273) was the only other hitter above .250 as the team combined for a .202 batting average. The pitching was little better, although Stankiewicz (1.93) and Oramas (3.00) did fairly well while relievers Sanchez, Carlos Bustamante, Daniel Duarte and Cesar Vargas allowed no earned runs but Barreda and three relievers all had ERAs at 13.50 or above as Mexico finished with a 6.23 team ERA.

    Mexico manager Benji Gil was circumspect in the aftermath of what most baseball observers in the country consider a disastrous performance. “Not even in my worst nightmare did I think this would be the result,” said the former MLB infielder, who was brought in after Juan Castro was unceremoniously fired despite having led the team to the country's-ever Olympic baseball appearance by qualifying in the 2019 Premier12 tournament. Gil pointed to a pitching collapse after allowing just one run against the Dominican Republic.

    “Normally in all these competitions, Mexico always has tremendous pitching,” said Gil. “We compete with that and that is why we are known in baseball. In the last two games, we did battle...not all of them, but as a team we did battle. Allowing 19 runs in 18 innings is something that has never been seen for a Mexican team.”

    Now it has.

SECOND-PLACE TOROS FIRE VIZQUEL AS LMB PLAYOFFS APPROACH

Omar Vizquel tossing BP as TJ skipper

    With the Mexican League playoffs just days away, two teams have made decisions regarding the men managing them. The Tijuana Toros demoted Hall of Fame candidate Omar Vizquel for “personal reasons” last Monday after the team suffered a three-game weekend sweep to Monterrey at home. The Toros were 32-22 at the time and in second place in the LMB North with nine games left in the regular season. There is speculation that Vizquel stepped down due to pressure from Major League Baseball because of an unresolved domestic violence case filed by the wife of the former shortstop, but the team owners (the Uribe family) are rather capricious even by LMB standards and have cut loose a dozen managers despite six consecutive playoff appearances and a 2017 pennant.

    The Tijuana front office issued a statement claiming "the decision that resolves the labor agreement was generated by mutual agreement and is adopted from the highest responsibility between the board of directors and the Venezuelan helmsman." Vizquel will be reassigned to other duties with the Toros while longtime Mexican baseball figure Homar Rojas (who was fired earlier this year as Monterrey's helmsman) becomes the 13th manager in Tijuana since the Toros debuted in 2014 while Bronswell Patrick moves from pitching coach to bench coach. Tijuana won five of their first six games under Rojas, who is managing his sixth LMB team since 2005.

    In Merida, the Yucatan Leones announced a new skipper to replace Geronimo Gil, who was fired on June 22 with a 14-11 record. Salon de la Fama member Chico Rodriguez led Yucatan to a 13-14 mark as interim manager until the Leones named Luis Matos as dugout boss on July 21. Matos spent seven years as an MLB outfielder before playing for Yucatan between 2008 and 2012. He managed Caguas to two Puerto Rican League pennants and Caribbean Series titles in 2017 and 2018 during a four-year stint with the Criollos. Matos split his first eight games at the helm of the Leones going into Sunday's contest with Campeche.

    The expansion Veracruz Aguilas still have Leo Rodriguez III as manager, but they brought in some experienced help last week by hiring former Mazatlan Venados leader Juan Jose Pacho as bench coach. Pacho was fired by the Mexican Pacific League team last winter, allegedly because he made public appearances supporting a political candidate opposed by Venados ownership. The Salon de la Fama shortstop's presence certainly hasn't harmed veteran slugger Jesus “Cacao” Valdez, who swatted a pair of three-run homers and drove in nine runs in an 18-6 blowout in Oaxaca last Thursday as Veracruz clinched a playoff berth.

    Just three games remain in the regular season and most playoff slots have been secured. In the LMB North, Guadalajara has clinched first place while Tijuana, Monclova and Saltillo have also punched their tickets. Aguascalientes is fifth after winning seven of ten games and close to reaching the postseason but Union Laguna, Dos Laredos and Monterrey are in a fairly tight battle for the sixth and final berth. Mexico City has clinched the top of the LMB South while Tabasco has won nine of ten outings to secure a playoff slot. Yucatan, Veracruz and Quintana Roo are also locks, meaning sixth-place Puebla needs one win or one Leon loss for the final postseason berth.

Luis Escobar has starred for Tabasco

    Guadalajara's Leo Heras is batting .415 after 43 games, good enough to top the batting race on the LMB website, ahead of Saltillo's Henry Urrutia (.391) and Tito Polo (.390) of Durango. Leon's Xavier Batista has pulled ahead of Rainel Rosario of Saltillo in the home run derby, 19 to 18, while Tijuana's Leandro Castro's 68 RBIs will likely be enough to hold off Japhet Amador's 57 for Mexico City to take that crown. In stolen bases, Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez has 21 while Herlis Rodriguez of Tabasco is one behind at 20.

    Among pitchers, Masaru Nakamura of Guadalajara still has a perfect 8-0 record to lead the Liga in wins, one ahead of five other hurlers. Former Pirates righty Luis Escobar heads the ERA list as the Colombian shows a 2.60 mark after 11 starts, comfortably ahead of Laguna's Rafael Pineda (3.21). There's a battle for strikeout supremacy between Aguascalientes' Erik Leal (66), Puebla's Jose Valdez (66) and Mexico City's Hector Hernandez (65) while another three pitchers have 60-plus K's. Fernando Rodney of Tijuana is tops in saves with 15, one more than Guadalajara's Fernando Cruz.

    Just nine midweek series remain before the regular season closes. The most important may be a crossover set when Aguascalientes visits Leon, with the Rieleros trying to fight off three teams for one of two unsettled LMB North berth and the Bravos needed to win all three games to even have a chance to qualify in the LMB South.

JUAN VENE: JALISCO CHARROS HEADED FOR SALE, NAME CHANGE

    Now in his 90's, Juan Vene has covered Mexican baseball for years and his column “En la Pelota” is carried by 37 newspapers and websites. In a recent column, the Florida-based Vene states that a sale of the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros to the owners of the Guadalajara Mariachis is pending, as is a change of the team nickname. Puro Beisbol reports that sources from the State of Jalisco confirm the transaction and that the LMP will approve the deal.

    The following is a lightly-edited Google translation of Vene's column:

    The Jalisco Charros, whose name is owned by Armando Navarro, are about to end. The next team for the Guadalajara winters would be called the Jalisco Caballos and owned by José Luis González Íñigo and Carlos Valenzuela Gómez, who also own the Mexican League's Guadalajara franchise.

    "Both González and Valenzuela, co-owners of the Mariachis, are very good people," said a fellow journalist from Guadalajara.

    Navarro had contributed the name of Charros to be a partner of Salvador Quirarte, who invested the necessary money. The two got into a fight under accusations of mismanagement of the team's money. And there is no way to reconcile them.

    Quirarte does not respond to calls and Navarro's cell phone number always get the “beep-beep-beep” busy signal.

    Meanwhile, the Zapopan stadium, in the beautiful metropolitan area of Guadalajara, is owned by the Government of the State of Jalisco. And the governor, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, is a Guadalajara leader who only wants peace and good baseball.

    Alfaro Ramírez likes the name “Jalisco Caballos” and is willing to provide all the necessary support to those who dedicate themselves to organizing the best show for Jalisco and not to fight for two or three pesos of old paper.

    Navarro has accused Quirarte of mishandling the team's money, so I try to contact him to see if he informs me how his partner did something wrong. But I already told you it's a case of “beep-beep-beep” every time I call him.

Name change likely for Estadio Charros, too

    Beautiful Guadalajara and its surroundings are home to hundreds of thousands of frenzied baseball fans, who have always supported it.

    However, there is a kind of gypsy curse on the ball in that sector of the world. The original Charros played in an uncomfortable stadium, built for student baseball and located on the outskirts of the city.

    It was not comfortable to go there. The Charros had to disappear in 1995.

    They returned in 2014, with great enthusiasm to a full stadium in the modern house of Zapopan, until peace ended in 2021. That is why, possibly, the 2021-2022 season will be that of the burial of the Charros and the birth of the Caballos.

    The figure of the caballo (or “horse”) is emblematic in Jalisco, especially for what these beautiful animals mean in the life of the charros.

    It will be a new life for baseball in Jalisco, absolutely better than Navarro and Quirarte pulling their hair out for two or three pesos of old paper.