TIJUANA, SULTANES ADVANCE TO LMB NORTH FINALS

Felix Perez, Monterrey Sultanes

It took them six games to do it, but the Tijuana Toros took one step closer to repeating as Mexican League pennant-winners by defeating 2020 champion Monclova in their Northern Division semifinal series. Tijuana clinched their 6-games-to-2 set victory last Friday with a 12-5 pounding of the Acereros at home before 17,193 fans in a jam-packed Estadio Nacional.

The Toros led 5-0 after two innings after Leander Castro’s two-run homer capped a three-run first against Monclova starter Eduardo Vera. Castro then rapped a bases-clearing double off Wilmer Rios, who came on in relief, in the second. Efren Navarro’s three-run roundtripper in the fourth off Ernesto Zaragosa, who took over for Rios, made it an 8-0 contest and TJ’s win was all but assured. 

The Acereros did score three runs in the sixth as 13-year LMB veteran Chris Roberson contributed an RBI single while former Cubs All-Star Addison Russell’s two-out homer in the eighth off Tijuana reliever Sam Dyson accounted for Monclova’s final two runs. Humberto Mejia got the win by pitching five innings of three-run ball while the loss went to Vera.

The Acereros had actually taken a 2-games-to-1 lead last Monday with an 11-7 win thanks to a six-run seventh featuring homers by Chris Carter and Keon Broxton after trailing 5-0 earlier in the tilt. Tijuana then won the next three games, starting with Tuesday’s 15-2 drubbing in Monclova as Junior Lake, Felix Perez and Castro each had three hits and three RBIs. Perez then clubbed two more homers one night later, driving in four runs in a 9-2 Toros win as a third straight sellout crowd of 8,500 looked on at Estadio Monclova, setting up Friday’s series-closing game in TJ.

Monterrey won the first two games of their LMB North semi set with Dos Laredos before dropping a 4-2 contest last Monday as Balbino Fuenmayor’s two run homer in the top of the 13th off Sultanes reliever Miguel Aguilar held up to give the Tecolotes their lone win before 15,062 onlookers at Estadio Monterrey. Tuesday’s starter Cristian Castillo gave Monterrey skipper Roberto Kelly five innings of one-run pitching while Orlando Calixte singled, doubled and scored twice in a 5-1 Sultanes win with 15,395 in the stands at home and Monterrey ended the division semi set on Wednesday with a solid 7-2 triumph with Zoilo Almonte’s RBI double in the second giving the Sultanes a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish. The midweek date and a rain delay dropped attendance to 12,160 but co-owner Jose “Pepe” Maiz had to be happy with the three-game turnout exceeding 42,000 in Mexico’s largest ballpark.

The Sultanes and Toros were scheduled to open the LMB North championship series Monday night at Tijuana in what has become perhaps the most bitter rivalry in the Mexican League over the past few years. Monterrey owner Maiz (a firm believer in relying on homegrown talent) has taken deep exception to Toros owner Alberto Uribe and family paying large amounts of money to import foreign players to the border city, a sentiment the 1957 Little League World Series champion likely harbors towards Monclova’s similarly free-spending owner Gerardo Benavides.

Whatever the front office methodology, Tijuana and Monterrey finished 1-2 in the LMB attendance derby this year and it would surprise nobody if more than 50,000 fans attend the first four games of this series, which marks the sixth time in the Toros’ nine years of existence that they have met the Gray Ghosts in the postseason. Monterrey holds a 3-2 lead in that context but Tijuana’s LMB North title wins in 2016 and 2017 were what touched off the rivalry that transcends the playing field.

DIABLOS BASH PUEBLA, FACE YUCATAN FOR SOUTH TITLE

Julian Leon, Mexico City Diablos Rojos

The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won the Mexican League South Division regular season title in no small part to an offense that produced 7.3 runs per game (highest in the LMB) with a .320 team batting average, which ranked fourth in the circuit as the Red Devils were the only LMB South club among seven who topped the .300 mark. That the capital city congregation’s playoff hopes would sink or swim on the strength of their bats was a foregone conclusion, but Mexico City has put on a postseason fireworks that has been nothing short of awesome.

In sweeping both their first round and division semifinal series, the Diablos outscored Veracruz and Puebla by an aggregate 94-45 score, an average of 11.75 per game. The Aguilas were able to hold Mexico City to 8 and 4 runs over the final two games of their opening round set, but the Pericos allowed 57 runs (14.25 per game) during the Diablos’ broom job in their series. To their credit, Puebla averaged 7.5 runs in their division semi but when your pitchers allow 63 hits (including 13 homers) over four games, you’re not likely going to win many games.

The Diablos closed out their dominant series win last Wednesday by throttling the Pericos, 15-5, in Puebla. After a scoreless first inning, Mexico City torched Pericos starter Kurt Heyer and reliever Braulio Torres-Perez for nine runs on nine hits, including Julian Leon’s fourth homer of the series (a two-run bomb off Heyer) and a three-run shot by Juan Carlos Gamboa off Torres-Perez in the fourth. Danny Ortiz, who has hit 94 longballs in 265 games over three seasons in Puebla, captured the spirit of the thing with solo homers off starter William Cuevas in the fourth and reliever Edgar Torres in the sixth but the visitors were up 12-1 when the latter shot came and the outcome of both game and series were no longer in doubt.

After going 1-for-8 over the first two games against the Pericos, veteran slugger Japhet Amador went 7-for-9 (including a homer and a double) with five runs and five RBIs to finish the semis with a .477 average. The hottest bat, however, belonged to Diablos catcher Julian Leon. A 28-year-old former Dodgers and Angels minor leaguer, Leon followed up a decent but unremarkable regular season (.301 with 8 homers in 48 games) and an 0-for-7 performance over two games against Veracruz in the first round with a dominant series against Puebla, batting 10-for-18 (.556) with four homers, 13 RBIs and 6 runs.

It’s unlikely that Leon and the Diablos will match their output against Yucatan in the LMB South divisional finals. Since joining the Liga in 1954, the Leones have built their reputation on pitching and defense. Both were on prominent display in their series-ending 6-0 Game Five win over Quintana Roo last Thursday in Cancun. Starter Henderson Alvarez, a 2014 All-Star with Miami who led the National League with three shutouts that year, tossed a complete game shutout for the Leones, scattering five singles over nine innings, striking out five and walking none while his defense played errorless ball and turned a pair of double plays as he won his second game against the Tigres. Thirteen-year veteran catcher Luis Juarez socked a three-run homer in the top of the first and that was all Alvarez would need.

Alvarez won Game One as well, a 9-1 laugher on August 20 that featured a three-run homer by Art Charles. Game Two on August 21 was more of the same, with another Charles three-run blast keying a 5-4 win. The series shifted to Cancun for the next three games, starting with a homer-filled (8 HRs between the two teams) 11-8 Yucatan win last Tuesday in which the Leones were their own worst enemies, with the visitors batting 5-for-19 with runners in scoring position and leaving 13 runners on base. The Tigres showed some fight with a 6-4 Game Four win last Wednesday as Ramon Bramasco lined a dramatic two-run walkoff homer to right center off reliever Tim Peterson on a 1-2 count with two out for the triumph. A  former University of Washington shortstop, Bramasco hit one regular season homer for the Tigres after hitting no roundtrippers in three collegiate seasons. All three games at Cancun’s refurbished Estadio Beto Avila drew in excess of 9,000 fans, nearing the facility’s listed 9,500-seat capacity.

Like their counterparts to the north, the Diablos and Leones have a long history of facing each other over the past seven decades, albeit without the intensity that marks the Tijuana-Monterrey rivalry. Despite both clubs being in the Mexican League for so long, Mexico City and Yucatan have met only 12 times in the playoffs. Although the Diablos have a 7-5 overall advantage, the Leones have topped Mexico City twice (2019 and 2021) for the LMB South championship. This year’s South Division title set will open Tuesday night in Mexico City.

All division championship series games will be available via streaming. The Tijuana-Monterrey LMB North title set is being carried on various ESPN and Star+ channels while the Mexico City-Yucatan LMB South series can be watched on Fox Sports 2, Claro Sports, TUDN, AYM, ViX+, Azteca Deportes, and Sipse. Both series will be streamed live and on-demand on Jonron.TV, as will next month’s Serie del Rey between the two division champions.

ROBERTO OSUNA NOW PITCHING IN JAPANESE LEAGUES

Roberto Osuna, Chiba Lotte Marines

One pitcher who started the 2022 season strong for Mexico City but is not likely to pitch for the Diablos Rojos during the playoffs is former MLB All-Star closer Roberto Osuna.

A nephew of one-time reliever Antonio Osuna, who pitched in 411 games over 11 major league seasons between 1995 and 2005, the younger Osuna had established himself as one of the game’s top closers by averaging 31 saves over a five-year period, gaining an All-Star Game selection in 2014 with Toronto and leading the American League with 38 saves in 2019 for Houston, although a domestic violence charge that was settled out of court hastened his exit from Canada. 

However, the Sinaloa native came down with an elbow injury that erased his 2020 season after just four appearances and the Astros placed him on waivers following the campaign after he turned down Tommy John surgery in favor of a rest-and-rehab approach. After holding a showcase in the Dominican Republic the following March but receiving no offers from an MLB team as a free agent, Osuna then signed with the Diablos Rojos two months later. He spent the rest of the abbreviated 2021 Mexican League season in Mexico City, going 3-0 with 12 saves in 24 appearances and turning in a 1.09 ERA (striking out 27 batters with just three walks in 24.2 innings).

After spending the winter pitching for his hometown Jalisco Charros in the Mexican Pacific League (5-2/11 saves/1.26 ERA in 28 appearances) and making four scoreless outings in the Caribbean Series, Osuna was back in Diablos Rojos togs this season. He got off to a hot start for the Red Devils and was 2-0 with six saves and a 1.35 ERA after his first 12 appearances when he got a call from Japan’s Chiba Lotte Mariners of NPB’s Pacific League and signed a contract with the team on June 11. Terms were not available.

Osuna, who turned 27 in February, has since pitched for both the Marines’ Eastern League affiliate, giving up a pair of runs over three innings in as many relief appearances, but has spent most of the past ten weeks with the big club, where’s he’s been teammates with Mexican National Team member Brandon Laird, former Rangers center fielder Leonys Martin and one-time Marlins infielder Adeiny Hechavarria. 

After 20 games out of the bullpen for the Marines (who are fifth in the Pacific League with a 56-59 record), Osuna is 3-0 with five saves, nine holds and a 0.90 ERA. Continuing to exhibit the pinpoint control he showed in Mexico City, the righty has struck out 23 NPB batters and issued just two walks over 20 innings pitched. The NPB regular season lasts into the first week of October, meaning Osuna’s return to the Diablos Rojos for the playoffs is highly unlikely.

CHARLES IN CHARGE: LEONES SLUG WAY TO 2ND ROUND

Yucatan DH/1B Art Charles

Led by the explosive bat of Art Charles, Yucatan outlasted Puebla, 20-17, last Wednesday to win their Mexican League first round playoff series 4-games-to-2 and advance to the South Division semifinals against Quintana Roo. By winning two games, the Pericos also moved on to face Mexico City in their LMB South semi set.

A former Toronto and Philadelphia farmhand, the 6’6” Charles crashed a pair of homers in the Leones’ deciding-game win, including a three-run bomb during a six-run eighth inning outburst that brought Yucatan back from a 17-14 deficit to the Parakeets in Puebla. The two teams combined for 37 runs on 42 hits as 19 pitchers were used in the 5-hour, 5-minute marathon. Charles ended the series with five homers in six games. 

The Leones’ post-series ride to the Mexico City airport for a flight back to Merida was marred when their bus was attacked and fired upon less than ten miles out of Puebla. Two of their buses’ tires were punctured and destroyed by rocks as the team was chased by a vehicle with at least one occupant firing a gun at them. The National Guard was called and nobody on the bus was hurt. While Mexico is beset nationwide by drug cartels, the attack is believed to have come from some irate Pericos fans.

The Yucatan players and coaches showed no lost nerve by winning the first two games of their next series against rival Quintana Roo at home in Merida. The Lions thumped the Tigres, 9-1, in Saturday’s opener. Charles’ bat sayed hot with a three-run homer in the top of the fifth and a run-scoring single in the sixth. Former Blue Jays and Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez got the win by tossing 5.2 innings of 1-run ball and scattering seven hits. McKenzie Mills took the loss, allowing three runs on two frames.

The Leones needed 12 innings to slip past the Tigres, 5-4, on Sunday. Charles crushed another three-run roundtripper in the bottom of the eighth to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead, but Alexis Wilson’s solo blast in the top of the ninth tied it up as the game went into overtime. Quintana Roo’s Raul De Los Reyes came out from the bullpen in the bottom of the twelfth with two Yucatan runners on and promptly walked Jose Martinez to load the bases and then gave Marco Jaime a free pass to score Norberto Obeso from third to end what was literally a walk-off win for the hosts.  Crowds topping 12,000 attended both contests at Parque Kukulkan. Game Three will be Tuesday night in Cancun.

Meanwhile, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos plated 27 runs in winning their first two games against Puebla, beginning with Saturday’s 10-6 triumph over the Pericos. The Diablos were up 4-3 before a six-run fifth inning essentially put the game away. Catcher Julian Leon, not ordinarily considered one of the team’s big guns, the the most damage by swatting a two-run homer in the third and a three-run clout in the sixth, both off Puebla starter Gabriel Ynoa. While starter Jeffry Nino pitched four innings of two-run ball, reliever David Huff got the win despite allowing a counter in the fifth. Ynoa took the loss by letting in seven runs on eight hits in four-plus innings (serving up Leon’s second homer after walking Roberto Ramos and Juan Carlos Gamboa to start the fifth.

Game Two of the series was a Red Devils’ 17-7 blowout of Puebla as the home team socked five homers, two by Ramos. The former KBO star finished 3-for-5 (adding a double) and drove in five runs). Daniel Mercado and Miguel Guzman went deep for the Pericos but with Mexico City holding a 13-3 lead after four entradas, it was all Diablos. Bernardo Flores’ five innings of 4-run pitching was good enough to be given the win while Puebla starter Braulio Torres-Perez somehow lasted long enough to allow five runs on two hits and three walks in Mexico City’s 7-run first before being yanked with only one out to show for it. Attendance at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helo approached 28,000 for the two contests as the series now shifts to Puebla for Games Three on Tuesday night. 

SULTANES UP 2-0 IN LMB NORTH SEMIS VS. TECOS

Monclova RHP Josh Lowey

The Monterrey Sultanes topped Dos Laredos twice in Nuevo Laredo over the weekend to take the reins in their Northern Division semifinal playoff series. Both games were played at Estadio Nuevo Laredo, a somewhat surprising move because while the 12,000-seat facility is much nicer than the Tecolotes usual Mexican home of aging Parque La Junta, it sits several miles outside the city and fans tend to stay home rather that avoid the risk of running into cartel activity along the way. Attendance was over 5,000 both Friday and Saturday, decent crowds compared to La Junta’s usual turnout but well below the double-figure audiences at the six other second-round matchups played in Merida, Mexico City and Tijuana.

Monterrey doubled up the Tecos, 4-2, in Friday’s Game One after building up a 4-0 lead on RBI singles by Zoilo Almonte in the first inning and Jose Cardona in the third, preceding a homer in the fourth from Ramiro Pena (who scored on Ali Solis’ sacrifice bunt in the sixth. Kennys Vargas and Balbino Fuenmayor put Dos Laredos on the board with ron-scoring singles in the seventh but the Tecos couldn’t come any closer.  Yohander Mendez pitched five shutout innings for the Sultanes to collect the win as Neftali Feliz notched the save. Brandon Brennan was handed the loss after giving up three runs in four frames.

One night later, the Sultanes grounded the Owls, 9-3, behind the solid start from former Atlanta hurler Julio Teheran, who had five 10+ win seasons for the Braves in the 2010’s. Teheran allowed just two safeties in six shutout innings to earn the win. Longtime independent league reliever Nate Antone was converted into a starter with the Tecos this season and while he didn’t pitch badly on Saturday (5 innings, 3 runs), he got no support and was handed a loss in what might’ve been a winning effort on another night. Cardona went 5-for-5 with a double and two runs to pace the Sultanes batters as the series shifted to Monterrey for the next two games.

Defending champion Tijuana and 2020 titleists Monclova have developed a good rivalry over the past few years, so it’s no surprise that their LMB North final four series is tied at a game apiece. The set opened Friday night in Tijuana as 16,001 fans witnessed the visiting Acereros 13-1 throttling of the Toros. Francisco Peguero’s bases-loaded single drove in Bruce Maxwell with the first run of the game in the top of the second and the Steelers built an 8-0 lead before Agustin Murillo’s solo homer in the bottom of the fifth gave Tijuana their only run of the tilt. The Acereros scored runs in six of the nine innings they batted, including a 3-run homer from Noah Perio during a five-run fifth.  Former Pitcher of the Year Josh Lowey, who went 4-0 in five late starts for Monclova, allowed one run on five hits over six innings for the win while another longtime LMB star, Manny Barreda, was shelled for seven runs in 4.1 innings to take the loss for the Toros.

Tijuana bounced back in Game Two with a 5-4 win on Saturday as another crowd exceeding 16,000 jammed Estadio Nacional in the border city. Monclova held a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth before RBI singles by Efren Navarro and Murillo put the Bulls on top. Closer Fernando Rodney took the ball in the top of the ninth and the former MLB All-Star struck out Peguero, Rudy Amador and Keon Broxton on ten pitches to end the game with a flourish. The contest was a homer orgy during the first three innings, with Felix Perez and Nick Williams going long for TJ while Addison Russell belted a lngball and Alex Mejia homered twice for Monclova. The series shifted to Monclova for the next two games in the Steel Capital.

RENOVATIONS APPROVED FOR NAVOJOA BALLPARK

Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria

One of the major accomplishments for outgoing Mexican Pacific League president Omar Canizales over his 14 years in office was the construction or modernization of ballparks in all ten Mex Pac cities. Although Canizales won’t be sitting behind the big desk when it’s completed, the final renovation was approved under his watch earlier this year when the governor of Sonora appropriated 65 million pesos ($US3.23 million) for upgrading Navojoa’s Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria, home of the Mexican Pacific League Mayos. 

Navojoa mayor Mario Martinez Bojorquez made the initial announcement in January while Sinaloa governor Alfonso Durazo held a press conference to that effect in late May. According to Durazo, work was scheduled to begin in June and be completed in time for the Mayos’ 2022-23 regular season home opener on Thursday, October 13 when the Los Mochis Caneros come to town. 

Estadio Echeverria was first opened on October 7, 1970 and has seated 11,500 spectators since Day One. Dimensions are a cozy 378 feet to straightaway center field, 318 feet down both foul lines. The ballpark is named after a former local pitcher and is owned by the State of Sonora, although it falls under the jurisdiction of the Navojoa city government and is both rented and managed by the Mayos under team owner Victor Cuevas Valenzuela.

Primary funding for the renovation was expected to come from the federal government, which has paid for many such efforts across the country under the presidency of lifelong baseball enthusiast Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. According to Marian Millan of the  La Verdad website in Navojoa, mayor Martinez said federal approval for funding the project was twofold in its objective: “One, that it serves the Navojoa Mayos professional sports team and also that it provides service to the community in the sports and cultural fields.”

Of course, as so often happens, what is said and what is done can be two different things in Mexico. While both announcements came out before the end of May, there was no information immediately found via online searches about the actual progress of renovations to Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria as of August 22.  Guess we’ll all find out on October 13.

TJ SWEEPS RIELEROS IN LMB NORTH FIRST ROUND

Monterrey OF Jose Cardona (r)

It took them a second day to do it, but the defending Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros completed an 11-1 win in Aguascalientes Sunday to complete a four-game sweep over the Rieleros in their first round playoff series, punching a ticket to the LMB North semifinals in the process.

The game was somewhat closer than the final score indicates as Tijuana took a 4-1 lead into the top of the eighth, where they put two more runs on the scoreboard on Leandro Castro’s homer and then put the contest away with five counters in the ninth as Nick Williams and Felix Perez added two-run roundtrippers of their own off Ags closer Ryan Kussmaul. Toros starter Arturo Reyes combined with five relievers on a four-hitter as Carlos Rivero’s solo homer to left off Reyes in the second gave the Railroaders their lone run.

Elsewhere in the LMB North, Dos Laredos defeated Union Laguna in five games while Monterrey did likewise with Monclova. The Tecolotes advanced to the LMB semis with an emphatic 15-2 road win Sunday at venerable Estadio de Revolucion. The Algodoneros actually led 2-1 after five entradas before the visitors posted 14 runs over the next three frames, including a 9-run eighth. Kennys Vargas went 4-for-6 for the borderites, scoring once and driving in four teammates as the Tecos’ 16-hit attack included no extra-base hits. Surprise starter Brandon Brennan, a reliever since 2016, got the win after scattering two runs on nine hits over five innings. Algodoneros reliever Josh Lueke had a nightmarish outing, allowing six runs on three hits and three walks in one-third of the eighth inning.

While Dos Laredos was pummeling Union Laguna, Monterrey needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to top Monclova, 6-5, clinching their 4-1 series win. Keon Broxton homered twice for the Acereros, including a two-run blast in the top of the ninth that pulled the visitors into a 5-5 tie, while longtime Sultanes star Chris Roberson (now playing right and batting eighth for Monclova) socked a solo shot in the fifth. However, the game was won in the bottom of the ninth when speedy Sultanes center fielder Jose Cardona manufactured the winning run the old-fashioned way.

Cardona singled on a bang-bang play via a grounder to Acereros shortstop Addison Russell, stole second, advanced to third on Sebastian Elizalde’s groundout and motored in on a Wirfin Obispo wild pitch to Zoilo Almonte to end the contest. Despite allowing Broxton’s game-tying homer, reliever Neftali Feliz was awarded the win. Although they lost the series, Monclova will stay alive by virtue of the “lucky loser” system, in which the team with the best showing in a first-round losing cause advances to the next round. The Acereros will take on Tijuana in the LMB North semis while the Sultanes face Dos Laredos.

DIABLOS OUST AGUILAS 4-0, REACH LMB SOUTH SEMIS

Mexico City 1B Roberto Ramos

After finishing with an LMB South-best 58-34 record, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos carried their regular season success into the playoffs by bouncing the Veracruz Aguilas out of the postseason in four straight first round games and advancing to the division semifinals.

Mexico City delivered the coup de grace over their ancient rivals, 4-2, Sunday night in front of 6,500 fans in Veracruz. The win was fairly methodical for the Red Devils, who scored single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings and got a solid performance from reliever Francisco Haro, who tossed four innings and allowed one run on four hits to earn the win. 

The Diablos benefitted from a pair of solo homers off the bat of former Rockies farmhand Roberto Ramos, who swatted 38 homers for Korea’s LG Twins in 2020 but was released the following season when he struggled at the plate. Ramos struggled for the Red Sox’ AAA Worcester affiliate this year (a .158 average with 5 homers and 16 RBI in 39 games) but warmed up with Mexico City by batting .272 with 10 homers and 28 ribbies over 26 contests.

In another LMB South first round series, Quintana Roo closed out their series against Tabasco with a 13-4 Game Five win Monday night in Cancun. The Olmecas went up 1-0 in the top of the first when Herlis Rodriguez scored on Francisco Rivera’s sacrifice fly, but the Tigres knotted it up in the bottom of the frame when Olmo Rosario homered to right. Jorge Rivera lined a two-run single to left to give the Tigres a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. 

From that point both teams traded in the fifth and sixth (when Rosario poled his second homer for Quintana Roo), with the Tigres holding a 6-4 head heading into the seventh, when they iced the game and series with a seven-run outburst highlighted by Tito Polo’s grand slam off Tabasco reliever Fernando Salas to end the night’s scoring. Ricky Rodriguez had four hits, missing the cycle by one homer, for the winners while scoring three runs and driving in two. Felipe Arredondo tossed 1.2 perfect innings in relief for the series-clinching win. Both the Tigres and Diablos Rojos are waiting for the third LMB South first round series to conclude so they’ll know who’s next on their respective postseason schedules.

Finally, Game Five of the Puebla-Yucatan series in Merida Monday was scoreless through four innings before Peter O’Brien’s solo homer for the Pericos in the top of the fifth broke the spell and launched a see-saw battle. Art Charles belted a two-run circuit clout in the bottom of the sixth to put Yucatan ahead but the Pericos regained the lead in the seventh on Armando Aguilar’s two-run bomb. Then the Leones took the lead back in the bottom of the eighth, 4-3, on RBI singles by Christhian Adames and Yadir Drake and it was left to Jorge Rondon to hold Puebla scoreless in the top of the ninth for the save as Yucatan took a 3-2 series lead.

Game Six is slated for Wednesday night in Puebla. Game Six is slated for Wednesday night in Puebla. Both teams have qualified for the LMB South semis since both have more wins in this series than either Veracruz (0) or Tabasco (1) earned in their respective sets, meaning the “lucky loser” will emerge from this matchup.

LMP GAMES TELEVISED TO USA BLOCKED BY SKY SPORTS

LMP president Carlos Manrique

The Mexican Pacific League has begun a new era under the presidency of Carlos Manrique, who has replaced Omar Canizales after the latter had served 13 seasons at the helm overseeing tremendous growth in attendance and the building or renovation of all but one of ten LMP ballparks during his reign. By the end of Canizales’ reign, the Mex Pac routinely drew much larger attendance per game than any affiliated minor league north of the border.

 An industrial engineer with over two decades of experience working for large national and international corporations, Manrique had been a general director with the Voit sporting goods manufacturing company for five years prior to replacing Canizales in April. Some things never change no matter who is running the show, however, and Manrique is already facing a challenge involving the availability of MexPac games to TV viewers in the USA.

Septima Entrada writer Irving Furlong reports that while Manrique wants to take viewership of the league to an international level, the agreement that the league has with SKY Sports at this time blocks the LMP from sending its signal to the United States. One of the first points that Manrique touched on in a recent presentation was precisely to internationalize the circuit and take it to the country with perhaps the greatest presence of Mexican people outside the nation’s borders: the USA. 

"The United States market is very important,” said Manrique during his presentation. ”The Hispanic market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the United States and quality content is demanded to serve and reach that market. We are going to find a way to get there first through the media.” 

However, the agreement signed at the beginning of 2020 with the satellite television platform blocks the LMP from accessing the United States by having the live and exclusive broadcast of all their games. "We want to talk with SKY," said Manrique. “We are going to sit down and see what options we have and look for a better scheme that is convenient for all parties and see how we can reach other markets as quickly as possible.” 

For the 2022-23 season, the Mex Pac will begin the third of its four-year contract with SKY Sports, a UK-based television system that at the time boasted a presence in the Dominican Republic and Panama (countries with long histories in baseball) but far from the 37 million Mexicans living in various parts of the United States, according to the US Census Bureau in 2017. 

Under current agreements, Manrique and the LMP office will instead continue to seek to position themselves in the center of Mexico, placing special emphasis on Mexico City.

LMB REGULAR SEASON ENDS: TJ, DIABLOS TOP SEEDS

Mexico City OF Julian Ornelas

The Mexican League’s 2022 regular season came to a close Sunday as defending champion Tijuana finished one game ahead of Dos Laredos (59-27) to finish in first place in the Northern Division with an Liga-best 62-28 record. The Mexico City Diablos Rojos similarly outlasted Tabasco in the LMB South at 50-34, three games up on the 47-37 Olmecas. 

Those four teams will be joined by eight more in the postseason, beginning with three games Tuesday night involving the six qualifying LMB North teams. The six LMB South playoff teams will open their respective first round series Wednesday night. Monterrey (51-39) will be in Monclova (54-31) for an 8:35ET contest Tuesday, Dos Laredos hosts Union Laguna (48-40) at the same time and Tijuana welcomes Aguascalientes (42-46) at 10:35ET.

On Wednesday, the LMB South first round begins as Mexico City will host ancient rival Veracruz (41-48), the Quintana Roo Tigres (44-48) play Tabasco in Macuspana and Yucatan (46-43) will be at Puebla (48-39). The LMB will use the “lucky loser” system employed for decades during the Mexican Pacific League’s winterball season, in which all three series winners advance to their division semifinals along with the team that fared the best in losing their opening round matchup.

The Toros closed out their 90-game schedule Sunday with a 13-4 drubbing of Laguna on the road at Torreon’s historic Estadio Revolucion. Felix Perez cracked a pair of homers while starter Arturo Reyes tossed five innings and allowed just one run on an Alan Cordoba RBI single in the bottom of the first that gave the Algodoneros a 1-0 lead. 

The Toros roared back with six runs in the second, keyed by a 2-run Junior Lake double off Laguna reliever Josh Lueke, who allowed all six counters on five hits, one walk and an error by Cordoba at third base. The Bulls lead stretched to 9-1 in the top of the seventh as the defending champs never looked back. The Tijuana win rendered Dos Laredos’ 4-1 win over Aguascalientes in Nuevo Laredo moot. The Tecolotes got homers from Kennys Vargas and Arturo Rodriguez in support of a great start from Gabino Avalos (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R) in 100-degree heat at Parque La Junta. 

Meanwhile, Mexico City doubled up, 14-7, on little sister Oaxaca Sunday in front of 11,509 fans at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in the nation’s capital. The Guerreros jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first but the Diablos came back with big innings of five runs in the third, four in the fourth and five more in the seventh to wear down the Oaxaca pitchers. Leadoff hitter Julian Ornelas had a banner day for the Red Devils, going 4-for-6 with four RBIs, including a pair of two-run homers. Moises Gutierrez, Alejandro Gonzalez and Emmanuel Avila combined for nine of Mexico City’s 18 hits, scoring eight runs and driving in two more. Bryan Araiza crushed a three-run homer for the Guerreros in the fourth while former Diablos center fielder Carlos Figueroa was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs for Oaxaca.

Tabasco topped Puebla, 9-6, Sunday to edge out the Pericos by one-and-a half games for second place in the LMB South. Puebla had built a 5-1 lead, thanks in part to Peter O’Brien’s two-run homer in the top of the second, but the Olmecas took the lead with six runs in the sixth frame as both Edwin Garcia and Herlis Rodriguez stroked two-run doubles to stake reliever Francisco Moreno a 7-6 lead. Maikel Serrano’s two-run homer to left made it a three-run Tabasco advantage and the Olmecas held on for the win as 4,750 looked on at Estadio Angel Toledo Meza in Macuspana, their temporary home while Villahermosa’s Parque Centenario 27 de Febrero undergoes a major facelift 34 miles away.

ROSARIO WINS HR, RBI TITLES; MENDEZ (7-0) COPS ERA CROWN

Saltillo OF Rainel Rosario

Although Saltillo slugger Rainel Rosario fell short in his bid for the Mexican League Triple Crown after contending in all three categories, the 33-year-old Dominican outfielder still tied for the home run crown, won the RBI title and finished tenth in the batting race. He was one of the few bright spots in a disappointing season for the Saraperos, who finished five games behind Aguascalientes for the sixth and final LMB North playoff slot.

Rosario, a former Cardinals farmhand who spent 2014 and 2105 in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp, tied Tijuana’s Felix Perez for the lead in homers with 38 each (a good total for a 90-day schedule). Rosario and Perez were 1-2 in the RBI race, ending the campaign with 116 and 109 ribbies, respectively. 

Rosario also finished seventh in the batting race as his Saltillo teammate, Cuban-born first baseman Henry Urrutia, won the batting title with a .420 average, ahead of Durango’s Alberth Martinez (.416) and Tabasco’s Roel Santo (.411). A second Durango player, Alfredo Lopez, rounded out the quartet of .400 hitters with a .404 average of his own. Urrutia, who hit .350 over five years for La Tunas in the Cuban National Series before defecting in 2010, has never hit below .361 in four years playing in the Mexican League.

Quintana Roo outfielder Tito Polo led the circuit with 35 stolen bases in 44 attempts, one more swipe than Cade Gotta of Dos Laredos. Longtime Yokohama outfielder Tomo Otosaka made a successful conversion to Mexico after eight years in NPB by batting .367 and finishing third with 26 steals while splitting the season with Leon and Saltillo. The Saraperos hit .316 as a team with 154 homers, but their collective 7.67 ERA doomed them to their seventh-place finish at 38-52.

Saltillo was hardly the only LMB team with pitching woes. Batting averages were a combined .304 league-wide as 10 of 18 teams finished at .300 or better (with Durango topping the list at .341). Conversely, Mexican League pitchers allowed 6.11 earned runs per game, with Leon bringing up the rear at 8.62. Even so, there were some solid individual performers among all the mound carnage in 2022. Monterrey starter Yohander Mendez, a Texas Rangers hurler between 2016-19, was awarded the ERA title after turning in a sparkling 2.78 mark over 15 starts and 74.1 innings en route to a 7-0 record for the Sultanes. 

Longtime Tijuana starter Carlos Hernandez, working out of the bullpen this summer, was one of eight pitchers with eight wins at 8-0, but the wins title was shared at nine apiece by Veracruz reliever Luis Marquez (9-1) and Monclova starter Wilmer Rios (9-4), the latter tossing a pair of shutouts and three complete games (both best in the Liga). Marquez had an excellent year with a 2.38 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 53 innings for the Aguilas. Just three starters finished with 100 or more strikeouts in the shortened schedule: Quintana Roo’s Pedro Fernandez (103), Tijuana veteran Manny Barreda (102) and another vet, Erick Leal of Aguascalients (100).

The saves crown went to Monterrey closer Neftali Perez, who was the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year for the Texas Rangers and selected to that year’s MLB All-Star Game. Perez, in his first Mexican League season after spending all or part of 10 campaigns in the big leagues, finished with 24 saves to beat another former MLBer, Tijuana’s Fernando Rodney, by two salvados.

TOROS WIN ATTENDANCE DERBY; LMB DRAWS 3.56 MILLION

Estadio Nacional, Tijuana

It’s become commonplace for the Tijuana Toros to finish at or near the top of the Mexican League attendance tables and 2022 was no exception. While the Uribe family has sometimes made what could charitably called capricious decisions in running their franchise in the border city, there’s no question that they’ve made the right moves in bringing fans into Estadio Nacional consistently over the years.

The recently-concluded regular season showed the defending champions with both the best record in the LMB at 62-28 and the most backsides in the stands at 453,961 clicking the turnstiles at their 17,000-seat ballpark, an average of 10,088 that was the highest in all of minor league baseball this year. The Yucatan Leones, always a strong draw in Merida over the decades, finished second with 440,165 attending games in their fortieth season at Parque Kukulkan.

Overall, a total of 3,564,524 people went to 792 Mexican League games during the regular season, an average of 4,501 per opening. The numbers represent an increase in average attendance from 2021. Crowds went up 2,015 per opening over last year, a gain of 81 percent over the previous average of 2,486. Overall attendance naturally took an upward spike after the schedule was increased from 66 to 90 games per team. Still, it’s hard not to be impressed with the LMB more than doubling their total attendance of 1,446,929 in 2021, the circuit’s first year back as a fully-independent loop after more than seven decades as a member of Minor League Baseball.

The hike in league-wide numbers does not hide the fact that several, if not most, of the 18 Mexican League franchises are struggling financially, some mightily. Although five teams averaged over 5,000 per game in attendance (with Monterrey, Saltillo and Mexico City joining Tijuana and Yucatan at the top of the derby), another five clubs drew fewer than 100,000 over an average of 44 home games. Tabasco (81,656), Guadalajara (78,910), Aguascalientes (74,606), Oaxaca (71,916) and Durango (70,771) drew fewer attendees combined than Tijuana, Yucatan and Monterrey each did alone while averaging just over 1,700 per opening.