A standout start by Wilmer Rios and a solo homer from Felix Perez formed the keynotes in Mexico’s 1-0 shutout victory over Colombia Sunday in the 2022 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The win was Mexico’s first after suffering losses in the first two days playing in the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.
Rios tossed 6.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out five batsmen. He was followed on the mound by relievers Enrique Burgos (1.1 IP) and Roberto Osuna (1 IP) as the latter recorded the save with a one-hit ninth, striking out Mauricio Ramirez swinging to end a contest that took just two hours, 37 minutes to play.
The lone run of the ballgame came in the bottom of the second inning when Perez lined a 2-2 Porifirio Lopez pitch to right, as the ball cleared the fence by inches over the head of Colombian rightfielder Harold Ramirez. Neither team bothered the scorekeeper much as a combined nine hits were recorded. Besides Perez’ longball, Mexico received a pair of singles from leadoff batter Jose Juan Aguilar and one-baggers from Esteban Quiroz and Dario Alvarez. Quiroz and Alvarez also stole bases but Perez was the only Mexican batter to go beyond second base. Rios earned the win while Lopez was tagged with the loss for Colombia, who had won their first two games in their third appearance in the Serie del Caribe going into Sunday’s tilt.
Mexico’s opener was a 3-2 tripleheader nightcap loss against the hosts last Friday. The Dominicans were designated the “away” team and opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Hanser Alberto stroked a triple and later came in on a Robinson Cano groundout. The Mexicans evened the score in the bottom of the first after Japhet Amador lined a two-out single to left and plated Joey Meneses. A sharply hit single by Meneses brought in Quiroz to give Mexico a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but that would be the last run they’d record off starter Tyler Alexander and seven relievers. The Dominicans regained the advantage for good in the top of the seventh when Alberto’s Texas Leaguer to center field off reliever Tyler Wilson scored Moises Sierra and a Cano singleoff Samuel Zazueta brought Jose Siri in with the go-ahead run. Quiroz and Amador each singled and doubled for manager Roberto Vizcarra’s side but Mexico left nine runners on base as Brennan Bernardino’s good start (5.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4K) went for naught.
Mexico dropped to 0-2 in the Caribbean Series on Saturday after a 5-0 shutout loss to Venezuela. Starter Manny Barreda gave up three runs in the third as Danry Vasquez doubled in Cade Gotta and Niuman Romero followed by an RBI single from Balbino Fuenmayor scored Vasquez. Barreda was replaced by Alemao Hernandez, who promptly plunked Pablo Sandoval but got the last two outs to end the frame. Venezuela scored once in the fifth when Sandoval scored on a Gabriel Noriega single and got a final run in the sixth when Sandoval homered down the right field line on a full-count pitch from David Gutierrez. Barreda took the loss for Mexico, who had just four hits, including a Fernando Perez double, and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Yohander Mendez tossed five innings of one-hit ball (a first-inning single by Meneses) to earn the win for the Venezuelans.
With two days of first-round tripleheaders left, the unbeaten Dominicans have clinched a berth in Wednesday’s semifinals while winless Puerto Rico will need to win their final two games to even have a shot at the Final Four. Mexico’s 1-2 record has them tied for fourth with Panama going into games against Puerto Rico on Monday and Panama on Tuesday.
CARIBBEAN SERIES FIRST ROUND STANDINGS
Dominican Republic 3-0, Colombia 2-1, Venezuela 2-1, MEXICO 1-2, Panama 1-2, Puerto Rico 0-3.
REMAINING SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES LOCAL)
MONDAY, Jan. 31: Venezuela at Panama (10:30AM), Mexico at Puerto Rico (3:00PM), Dominican Republic at Colombia (8:00PM).
TUESDAY, Feb. 1: Colombia at Puerto Rico (10:30AM), Panama at Mexico (3:00PM), Venezuela at Dominican Republic (8:00PM)
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2: Semifinal A - 3rd place at 2nd place (3:30PM), Semifinal B - 4th place at 1st place (8:00PM).
THURSDAY, Feb. 3: Winner Semifinal A vs. Winner Semifinal B (7:00PM).
JUAN CASTRO TO MANAGE DIABLOS ROJOS IN 2022
The Mexico CIty Red Devils of Mexico have named Juan Gabriel Castro as manager for the upcoming Mexican League season.
In seeking their 17th title in team history, the Diablos are handing the reins to Castro, who appeared in 17 seasons as a player in the Major Leagues during a 21-year career as an infielder and later managed in both the LMB and the Mexican Pacific League He also led the Mexican National Team to a Premier12 tournament qualification for last summer’s Olympic Games before being unceremoniously dumped in favor of Benji Gil weeks before the team was due to fly to Tokyo after criticizing Mexico’s CONADE national sports commission and head Ana Guevara (a political ally of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) for lack of financial or logistical support. Mexico was winless in four games under Gil.
“I am grateful for coming to this organization,” Castro said at a press conference at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. “Yes, there were several proposals (from other teams) and in the end I came here to the Devils because it is a serious organization and has very good prestige and great principles, which are also in accordance with my principles. I really want to work, we come to add and we will do everything possible to bring the title to Mexico City.”
Castro comes from the Philadelphia Phillies organization, with whom he spent three years under manager Joe Girardi until his contract expired last October. The49-year-old Los Mochis native has been a coach in MLB with the Los Angeles Dodgers for skipper Dave Roberts before leaving that post for an ill-fated front office stint with the Tijuana Toros de Tijuana in 2018, where he was never given a clearly defined role (and was even going to manage the team at one point) before he parted company with the Uribe family and their team on less than amicable terms. He’s also managed winterball teams in Obregon, Mexicali and Hermosillo.
“The main message is 'we want to be champions,” added Castro. “The important thing is that we all work as a team to be able to achieve the goal we want, which is the title. One way of working with the players is to try to make everyone happy, but something that has worked for me and that I have done with the boys is respect: respect towards themselves, towards their teammates, towards baseball.”
With this appointment, work will begin on the construction of the Diablos coaching staff, where candidates will be interviewed while some current coaches will be kept on the staff. Similarly, it was confirmed that Miguel Ojeda, who managed the Diablos to first place in the South Division with a 41-23 record before losing to Yucatan in five games for the LMB South championship series, remains in the organization.
Ojeda was named manager of the team after a front-office purge last year, replacing Sergio Gastelum (who was brought in from Oaxaca to run the team for the canceled 2020 season and let go last spring before ever managing a game in Mexico City). Gastelum was replacing Victor Bojorquez, who managed the Diablos to a 69-49 record and first place in the LMB South in 2019 before losing to Yucatan in four straight in the division finals. The more things change…
MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Houston Jimenez, SS (1974-2000)
Houston Jimenez was a top-notch shortstop in both the Mexican and Mexican Pacific Leagues who spent all or part of four seasons playing major league ball with three teams during a 25-year playing career before embarking on a managerial career that saw him manage seven clubs in twelve seasons.
Alfonso “Houston” Jimenez was born October 30, 1957 in Navojoa, Sonora. Nicknamed as a child after a TV Western character, Jimenez broke into the Mexican League with the Puebla Angeles in 1974, batting .212 in 20 games as a 16-year-old. Despite his low average, he did well enough to be signed by the Chicago Cubs, who assigned the 5’8” 144-pounder to their Class A Key West affiliate in the Florida State League. After hitting just .212 for Key West, Jimenez returned to Puebla in 1976 and went on to play five seasons with the Angeles, topping the .300 mark in 1977 (.303) and 1979 (.305). He signed with Minnesota in 1981 and went on to play in the United States for the next twelve seasons.
Jimenez made his big league debut on June 13, 1983 with the Twins and ended that campaign with a .174 average in 36 games. In 1984, he had his best shot as a major leaguer, batting a career-high .201 in 108 games for the Twins. Jimenez later had cups of coffee with Pittsburgh and Cleveland and posted a career .185 average in 158 MLB games.
Jimenez returned to the Mexican League in 1993 with Campeche and also played for Saltillo, Mexico City and Quintana Roo over seven seasons. He was a much better hitter south of the border, topping .300 two more times in the Nineties (with a career-best .337 for the Saraperos in 1995). In all, Houston had a lifetime average of .282 over 13 Liga seasons, including four .300+ campaigns. Never a power hitter, the 6’1” 185-pounder hit 41 career homers.
Jimenez was an effective hitter over 25 winters in the Mexican Pacific League between 1975 and 2000. He batted .259 with 73 homers, and is third on the MexPac’s all-time list in both runs scored (754) and hits (1339). He is second to Hector Espino with 230 career doubles, and his 209 stolen bases trail only Matias Carrillo.
During the 1999 Liga season, his last full year as a player, Jimenez was manager-shortstop for Saltillo. He hit .299 as the Seraperos finished first in the Northern Division with a 74-45 record before reaching the playoff semifinals. Jimenez has gone on to manage seven teams for all or part of 12 seasons, leading Puebla to the Serie del Rey in 2010 and 2014. His teams posted an aggregate 735-584 mark through his last year as a dugout boss in 2018 with Tabasco.
Houston Jimenez, who turned 74 last October 30, was elected to Mexico’s Salon de la Fama in 2007 and the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment