LEONES TOP SULTANES 6-1 IN GAME 7, WIN LMB CROWN

Yucatan Leones pitcher Henderson Alvarez

           The Yucatan Lions were crowned Mexican League champions for the fifth time in their history last Monday, thanks to pitcher Henderson Alvarez and outfielder Jose “Cafecito” Martinez. The Merida squad joins their predecessors from 1957, 1984, 2006 and Spring 2018 as pennant-winners, leaving behind two consecutive defeats in the Serie del Rey after skipper Roberto Vizcarra and his players defeated the Monterrey Sultanes, 6-1, in the seventh and deciding game as a sellout crowd of  21,909 at Estadio Monterrey looked on.

Nicknamed “Chapo,” the 55-year-old Vizcarra managed Yucatan’s Spring 2018 champions before parting ways with Leones owners Juan Jose and Erick Arellano after a first-round playoff exit in the second abbreviated Fall 2018 season. Vizcarra was brought back to manage Yucatan on May 30 when Luis Matos was relieved of his duties after piloting the Merida club to a 14-19 record, marking the third mid-year change at the helm in as many seasons for the Leones and sixth such move since 2013. Yucatan went 32-24 the rest of the way under Vizcarra to finish fourth in the LMB South during the regular season before defeating Puebla, Quintana Roo and Mexico City in the playoffs to reach the title series against manager Roberto Kelly’s Sultanes. He managed Jalisco to a Mexican Pacific League pennant last winter.

The Leones were paced in Game Seven by the mound work of Alvarez, a former big league starter in Toronto and Miami who was selected to the 2014 All-Star Game as the Marlins representative but did not appear. The 31-year-old Venezuelan tossed eight-plus innings of one-run ball and scattered seven hits to earn the win on the heels of 7.2 shutout innings in a Game Three triumph, and was named the Serie del Rey's Most Valuable Player for 2022 by media members.

After driving in just one run over the first six games of the finals, Martinez picked the right time to wake his bat up for the winners, doubling in Norberto Obeso in the top of the first to put the visitors on the scoreboard, scoring Obeso on a single in the fifth and then crashing a three-run homer off Wander Suero in the seventh to bring in Obeso and Art Charles before crossing the plate himself. Walter Ibarra stroked a solo homer off Monterrey closer Neftali Feliz in the top of the ninth to give Yucatan a 6-0 lead. 

Alvarez came out in the bottom of the frame to complete his complete game shutout bid but after Sultanes leadoff batter Zoilo Almonte deposited a 1-1 pitch (Alvarez’ 102nd of the game) over the left field wall, Vizcarra brought Jorge Rondon from the bullpen to complete the inning and season by holding Monterrey scoreless the rest of the way.

Martinez, who grew up 125 miles from Alvarez in Venezuela, finished the night 4-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs for Yucatan while Orlando Calixte had three singles and Almonte homered and singled for the Sultanes.  Yoanner Mendez had a decent start for Monterrey, allowing two runs on five hits over 4.2 innings, but was no match for Alvarez and took the loss.

With this title, the Leones win their fifth flag to equal the Dos Laredos Tecolotes as for fifth among LMB teams with the most pennants (Mexico City has 16, the Quintana Roo Tigres have 12 and Monterrey has won 10). Vizcarra climbs in the record books to third place among managers with the most titles in the LMB, reaching four (2013 and 2015 with the Tigres, Spring 2018 and 2022 with Yucatan) to trail only Lazaro Salazar (7) and Benjamin “Cananea” Reyes (6).

TIJUANA, MEXICALI SPLIT CLASICO CON CAUSA SERIES

Tijuana Toros OF/P Felix Perez

     While the Mexican League was wrapping up its 2022 season in Monterrey, the Mexican Pacific League’s ten teams were already in full training camp mode. Although their season had officially ended with their elimination by Monterrey in the LMB North Division championship series, the Tijuana Toros were able to assemble a squad to play a two-game “Clasico con Causa” (“Classic with a Cause”) series against the LMP Mexicali Aguilas as a fundraiser for two cancer-fighting organizations, the Fundacion Mujeres Que Viven of Mexicali and Fundacion Castro Limon of Tijuana.

The short set opened Friday night in Mexicali at a sold out El Nido ballpark with a resounding 9-1 win before 13,000 fanaticos for the host Aguilas, who broke the game open early with an 8-run third inning, aided by a pair of costly Toros errors. Tijuana had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Junior Lake scored from third on a Zach Kirtley single up the middle off Eagles starter Eduardo Vera. The lone run held until the fateful third, which was keyed by Kevin Zamudio’s two-run double and an RBI single by venerable Aguilas outfielder Chris Roberson. 

A 43-year-old Californian who hit .317 with 10 homers and nine steals in 78 Mexican League games between Leon and Monclova in his 22nd summer of pro ball, Roberson is a naturalized Mexican citizen who has settled his family in Monterrey and is arguably the most beloved American ballplayer south of the border today. He received a warm ovation from Mexicali fans, for whom he’d played nine winterball seasons before spending the last two Mex Pac campaigns in Mazatlan, when he was pulled for pinch-runner Israel Camacho after his one-bagger. 

Mexicali reliever Thomas Melgarejo was awarded the win after the left-hander had a strong outing out of the bullpen while Daniel de la Fuente’s disastrous third inning was enough to tag him with the loss. 

The second and closing game of the historic first series between the two neighboring border cities was held Saturday in Tijuana as the Toros held off Mexicali, 6-4, at Estadio Nacional with 12,974 onlookers in the stands.

Tijuana again drew first blood in the opening inning, taking a 3-0 lead on a Jose Guadalupe Chavez single that scored Isaac Rodriguez and a double from Agustin Murillo that plated Lake and Felix Perez. Mexicali woke the scorekeeper in the top of the third when Yahir Gamez socked a homer over the left field wall to close the gap to two runs, but Perez responded with a two-run roundtripper of his own to right in the bottom of the entrada to stretch the Bulls’ advantage to 5-1. 

Not to be put away that easily, the Aguilas made it a 5-3 game in the top of the fourth on Fernando Diaz’ two-run single but Perez put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with a run-scoring safety to bring the Toros’ lead to 6-3 and while Mexicali scored one more time in the top of the ninth, the visitors ran out of outs to fall by a pair of runs.

Perez did more than just homer and drive in three runs for the winners.  The 37-year-old Cuban expat, who’d spent five years in the Reds system before coming to Mexico in 2015, pitched a scoreless fifth inning and was awarded the victory.  The 6’2” lefty, who hit .323 with 38 homers to tie Saltillo’s Rainel Rosario for most in the Liga this summer, made four relief appearances for his hometown Isla de la Juventud team in the Cuban National Series and tossed two-thirds of an inning for AAA Louisville in 2014, allowing nine runs on six hits and five walks. Maybe he’s been working on his slider.

MEXICO FINISHES SIXTH AT U-18 BASEBALL WORLD CUP

Celebration of win over Panama

After a fairly promising start in which they won three of five first round games at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup at spring training sites in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida, the Mexican U-18 National Team lost all three of their Super Round games to finish sixth overall in the 12-team event earlier this month under manager Enrique “Che” Reyes.

Mexico opened Group B play on Saturday, September 10 with a 9-5 win over Australia at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium, spring home of the Baltimore Orioles. Rosman Verdugo doubled in Carlos Gutierrez with the first run of the game for the Mexicans in the top of the first inning, followed by an RBI single from Yael Romero, who later scored on an Alberto Barriga groundout. A two-run Romero double capped a four-run fourth inning in which Mexico opened a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Romero finished with four RBIs on the night while starter Manuel Rodriguez tossed four innings of one-run ball to earn the win.

One day later, a three-run first for Japan was the difference as the top-ranked team went on to top Mexico, 4-1, at the former McKechnie Field in Bradenton, spring headquarters of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 1969. The key hit for Japan in the first was a two-run, two-out single to right by Kaito Ito of Mexico starter Angel Sanchez that gave the visiting team a 3-0 lead that turned out to be insurmountable. Mexican batters could only muster one run on four hits, including a Romero single that drove in Verdugo in the fifth, against winner Kazuki Kozai and reliever Haruya Miyahara. Kozai allowed one hit in four shutout innings. Sanchez took the loss for Mexico.

Mexico bounced back on September 12 with a 12-7 triumph over Italy in Bradenton as leadoff hitter Antonis Macias went 4-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored for the victors. Italy held a 2-1 lead until the top of the third, when Mexico erupted for five runs in the third. Barriga and Daniel Sierra each contributed two-run doubles  while Macias’ RBI three-bagger chased Italian starter Giacomo Taschin. Italy kept battling and were within 9-7 until Mexico scored thrice in the top of the seventh (two on Barriga’s second double of the afternoon) to salt the contest away. Reliever Victor Landeros took the win while Anhuar Garcia held Italy scoreless on three hits over the final 2.2 innings to earn the save for Mexico, but it was a hitter’s day as both teams combined for 25 safeties over seven innings.

The Mexicans could have used some of that offensive output during their September 13 loss to defending U-18 champs Taiwan, 4-0. Lin Shao-En pitched a complete game one-hitter for the Formosans, needing only 85 pitches over seven innings. Manue Estrada averted the no-hit bid with a leadoff single on an 0-2 pitch in the top of the fifth but Lin was in control throughout., striking out eight batters and walking one. Mexico, who entered the tournament ranked fourth in the world, did not help their own cause by committing four errors in the field 

It was back to Bradenton on September 14, when Mexico beat Panama, 8-7, in eight innings for their last win in Florida. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Mexico plated five runs on just two hits in the bottom of the frame. Macias stroked a leadoff double and scored on a Gutierrez single but the next four runs were scored without benefit of a hit, thanks in part to two walks and two hit batsmen. Panama fought back and tied the game with two seventh-inning runs, but with runners placed on first and second in the bottom of the eighth via WBSC tiebreaker rules, Macias’ single to right brought in Barriga from second for the walk-off win.  Macias had his second straight four-hit game, scoring twice and driving in the game-winner, while Gutierrez had three hits, one run and a ribbie. The win gave Mexico a 3-2 first round record, edging out Panama for a Super Round berth.

Mexico U-18 OF Antonis Macias 

After that, it was 3-and-out for Reyes’ charges, starting with a 7-4 loss to The Netherlands on September 15 in Bradenton. Mexico scored first in the top of the second when Barriga laid down a bunt to the mound, allowing Estrada to score from third. The Mexicans eventually built a 3-1 lead that disappeared in the fifth when Holland scored three runs, two coming in after a pair of errors on back-to-back bunts by Cano at third and  Barriga at catcher, respectively. The Netherlands pushed three more scores across in the sixth and that was all she wrote. Romero had two of Mexico’s six hits (including a fifth-inning double down the left field line) but while the Mexicans put runners on base in every inning, eight were left stranded in a disappointing loss to a Dutch team ranked eighth in the world prior to the World Cup.

Mexico played for a sixth straight time in Bradenton on September 16, this time in a 7-5 loss to the host United States.  Mexico scored twice in the top of the first, including a Romero RBI single to right that scored Macias from third, and held a narrow 3-2 lead until the floodgates opened in the bottom of the third. The Americans scored five times  n three hits, two walks and an Estrada error at second. To their credit, Mexico came back with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to make it a two-run game, thanks in part to an RBI single by Gutierrez, but that would be the last time either team scored. Mexico outhit the USA, 9-4, as Gutierrez and Cano each had two singles but five walks and three errors were hurtful, as were nine Mexican runners left on base.

The Mexicans finally returned to Sarasota on September 17 for their first game there since their World Cup opener, but their tourney appearance ended with a disappointing 6-4 loss to South Korea. Once again, Mexico had an early lead at 3-1 going into the bottom of the third after Cano doubled in Verdugo and Romero in the top of the frame, but the Koreans scored twice in the third to tie the game and then plated three more runs in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead they would never relinquish. Facing a 6-3 deficit in the top of the second, Gutierrez scored from third on a Macias groundout to short just before Romero flew out to left to end the game.  Verdugo had three of Mexico’s five hits, including a pair of doubles, but South Korea was able to convert enough times on eight hits of their own plus seven walks and one Mexico error to put the game away. 

Although the U-18 World Cup ended on a down note, there were bright spots in Mexico’s performance. Yael Romero was selected the All-World first baseman after hitting .476 with eight RBIs for the tournament, which was won by the USA, while Rosman Verdugo was the pick at shortstop by virtue of his .320 average with five RBIs and five runs scored over nine games. Antonis Macias (.448) and  Carlos Gutierrez (.414) joined Romero in the 400 Club while combining for 25 of Mexico’s 62 hits in Florida as the team hit a collective .281. Pitching was not a strong point as the team posted a 5.28 ERA but Manuel Rodriguez did go 1-1 in two starts with seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings for a 2.52 ERA while reliever Anhuar Garcia looked good in two outings, earning a save and a team-best ERA of 1.50 over 4.2 frames.

YUCATAN FORCES GAME 7 WITH 6-2 WIN AT MONTERREY

Cristhian Adames, Yucatan Leones

The Yucatan Leones have proven that they are not phased when facing elimination from a playoff series. After overcoming a 3-games-to-1 deficit to defeat Mexico City for the Mexican League South Division championship series, the Lions delayed their offseason one more day with a 6-2 Game Six win Sunday in front of a full house of 21,909 at Estadio Monterrey to force a seventh and deciding Serie del Rey game against the Sultanes Monday night. All six games of the LMB title series have had sellout crowds and with all tickets gone for Monday’s Game Seven, a total of 132,387 fans will have clicked the turnstiles, an average of 18,912 per opening.

Manager Roberto Vizcarra’s charges never trailed Sunday after taking a 2-0 first-inning lead on Cristhian Adames’ two-run double with two out off Monterrey starter Cristian Castillo, the 2016 Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year as a Royals farmhand. The Leones built a 3-1 lead before the Sultanes made it a one-run contest in the bottom of the seventh when Gustavo Nunez tagged third and scored on Sebastian Elizalde’s sacrifice fly to center, but Yucatan put the game in their hip pocket with three more runs in the top of the eighth as Yadir Drake and Luis Juarez contributed RBI singles. Jorge Rondon held the Sultanes scoreless over the last two innings in relief to close out the win.

Adames was 2-for-5 for the night with a double, a run scored and three RBIs for the winners while Juarez singled and scored twice. Victor Mendoza went 2-for-3 for Monterrey, doubling in Zoilo Almonte with the Sultanes’ first run in the fourth off Yucatan starter Onelki Garcia. Hunter Cervenka pitched one shutout entrada for the Leones and was awarded the win while Castillo absorbed the loss for Monterrey.

The Sultanes took the Serie del Rey lead by winning two of three games on the road last week in Merida, where sellout crowds of 14,917 packed Parque Kukulkan for all three tilts. After rain washed out Game Three on Tuesday night, the two teams were able to take the field Wednesday. Yucatan gained a 2-games-to-1 advantage with a 6-1 win behind the standout pitching of ex-MLBer Henderson Alvarez, who was supported by a pair of three-run innings from his teammates. Alvarez lasted until Vizcarra lifted him with two out in the top of the eight, by which time he’d scattered seven hits and allowed one unearned run.

Drake drove in the first run of the night in the bottom of the second by doubling in Jose Martinez from second. Sebastian Valle’s one-out single brought home Adames and a Norberto Obeso sacrifice fly to left plated Drake from third. The lone Monterrey run came in the fifth, when Jose Cardona’s infield single moved Ramiro Pena to third and Pena scampered home after an errant throw from Adames at shortstop. The Leones pushed three insurance runs across in the bottom of the fifth as Art Charles and Martinez each had run-scoring singles. Charles, Martinez and Adames combined for six hits, three runs and two RBI for Yucatan while Pena doubled twice off Alvarez for the Sultanes.

The visitors bounced back to win the next two games, including Thursday’s 5-0 whitewash in Game Four behind the five shutout innings from 2022 ERA champ Yohander Mendez, who allowed three hits and struck out six Yucatan batsmen. 

All five Sultanes runs came via the longball as Elizalde socked a two-run homer off Leones starter Jake Thompson in the top of the first after rain delayed the game’s start by a half-hour. Mendoza victimized Thompson, a former Phillies starter, two innings later with a three-run bomb of his own to end the scoring for the night. At that point, Vizcarra replaced Thompson with Yoanner Negrin and while the 2016 LMB Pitcher of the Year gave the Leones three scoreless innings, the damage was done as Yucatan collected just six hits (two each for Drake and Josh Fuentes) and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position for the night.

Monterrey pulled ahead in the series Friday night by virtue of a 6-3 win to take a 3-games-to-2 advantage. Yucatan did lead, 3-2, in the bottom of the fifth after a Luis Juarez double drove in Valle from second and a Charles line-drive single brought home Obeso, but Orlando Calixte’s two-run roundtripper in the top of the seventh regained the Sultanes’ lead and Monterrey salted the contest away with a pair of runs one inning later on an Elizade single and an Almonte double. Yucatan did have runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but reliever Carlos Morales settled down and got Drake to fly out to right and struck out pinch-hitter Lazaro Alfonso swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.

Juan Gamez earned the win after manager Roberto Kelly brought him in to replace a struggling Julio Teheran (4.1 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 3 BB) in the fifth and tossed 1.2 frames of shutout ball. Neftali Feliz held the Leones scoreless in the ninth to record his second save of the Serie del Rey. Yucatan starter Elian Leyva pitched well enough to win (6 IP, 2 R, 4H), although he did allow an Almonte homer in the second, but Cervenka gave up Calixte’s go-ahead homer in the seventh and absorbed the loss. 

Monday night’s game marks the third consecutive season that the Serie del Rey has gone a full seven games. Alvarez will start for Yucatan in the contest, which is slated to begin at 7:30PM EDT, while Mendez will open for Monterrey.

GIL: MENESES TO PLAY FOR CULIACAN IN SECOND HALF 

Joey Meneses, Culiacan Tomateros

Former major league shortstop Benji Gil, who is wrapping up his first season as a coach with the Los Angeles Angels under interim manager Phil Nevin, says he should return to his managerial post in Culiacan just prior to the coming Mexican Pacific League season, when the Tomateros will seek their fourth pennant in six winters.

However, Gil said, there is one player who will not joining him next month for the start of the 2022-23 campaign: Longtime Tomateros slugger Joey Meneses, a Culiacan native who has spent all or part of nine seasons playing for his hometown team. Gil adds that Meneses is expected to join the Tomateros when the second half of the LMP schedule begins in November.

Although he’s become a minor sensation in Washington since his August 2 big league debut for the Nationals at age 30 (becoming the first Mexican to homer in his first MLB game), Meneses’ baseball journey during the summer has taken several twists and turns since he first signed with the Atlanta Braves as a 19-year-old free agent in 2011. Beginning with a less-than-impressive 19-game stint that year with the Braves’ Dominican Summer League entry (for whom he hit .206 with no extra-base hits), Meneses spent seven years in the Atlanta system and was an organizational All-Star in both 2014 and 2019 but never rose above Class AA Mississippi, for whom he was a Southern League midseason All-Star in 2017.

After that season, Meneses filed for free agency and signed with Philadelphia, who assigned him to AAA Lehigh Valley, where he was named the 2018 International League MVP after batting .311 and leading the loop with 23 homers and 82 RBIs. That earned him a one-year US$950,000 contract with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Pacific League. After struggling at the start of his first season in Asia (.206 with 4 homers in 29 games), the 6’3” first baseman-outfielder was suspended for one year in June 2019 after testing positive for Stanozolal (a steroid) and the Buffaloes subsequently voided his contract. 

After sitting out the 2020 summer season, Meneses signed as a free agent with Boston last year, splitting 2021 between AA Portland and AAA Worcester, before signing with Washington this season. Meneses hit .286 with 20 homers in 96 games at AAA Rochester before his August call-up. Since then, he’s hit .317 with 9 homers and 23 RBIs over 39 games for the Nationals. Meneses has never played in the Mexican League.

Although his summers have often been frustrating at best, Meneses has returned home every winter to play for the Tomateros since 2013-14. In 453 games over nine LMP seasons, the right-handed batter has hit .283 with 42 homers and 268 ribbies, appearing in five Caribbean Series including last February in Mazatlan, where he hit .158 as a pickup for the Jalisco Charros and manager Roberto Vizcarra.

PEREYRA: MEXICAN WOMEN SHOWING THEY CAN PLAY, TOO

The Mexican National Women’s Baseball Team secured a berth in next year’s World Championship tournament, the first time the country will appear in that event, after securing a bronze medal at the Americas Qualifier in Venezuela last month. As Beatriz Pereyra of Mexico City’s Proceso writes, it marks one more step in the process of women being seen simply as “ballplayers” south of the border instead of being limited to playing softball in the public’s perception.

The following is a Google translation of Pereyra’s piece in Proceso, lightly edited for clarity:

The members of the Mexican Women's Baseball Team have something in common: as girls they began playing baseball with boys in some leagues in the country, then were forced to switch to softball because they were not allowed to compete with men. Players like Rosi del Castillo, Dafne Mejía and Samaria Benítez from Nayarit have become known for being the first to participate in men's amateur or semi-professional leagues. On the way to Mexico's participation in its first World Cup and given the lack of infrastructure for them in the ninth, they warn: "People need to believe that women can also play baseball."

Despite the fact that Mexican women's baseball is in an incipient stage, the national team qualified for the 2023 World Championship, a tournament in which Mexico will have its first international participation.

The squad, made up of 21 players from different states, is currently ranked 12th in the world. Recently, they won the bronze medal at the Venezuela 2022 Women's Baseball Pre-World Championship, where five other teams participated: Venezuela (5th in the world), the Dominican Republic (6th), Cuba (7th) Puerto Rico (9) and Nicaragua (17th).

This is the second time in which the Mexican Women's Baseball Team gets its ticket to the World Cup which in this edition, its first stage will be played in 2023 and the rest in the summer of 2024, with dates and venues to be defined. The first time they qualified was in the 2019 Aguascalientes Pre-World Cup tournament. However, the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) decided to cancel the 2020 World Cup event as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. 

The Mexican team is made up of “veteran” players such as Dafne Mejía (30 years old) and Thalía Villavicencio (34) plus other younger ones such as Rosi del Castillo from Puebla and María José Valenzuela from Sonora (both 24 years old), but all with a lot of experience because they have played baseball since they were very young. Regardless of her deafness since birth, Valenzuela, the only Sonoran on the team, is one of the most outstanding players.

“It has been an important achievement. We were able to transcend, we classified as we wanted and one goal was to bring the medal that we couldn't before,” says Mejia, who was Mexico’s designated hitter in Venezuela. “ Although it was not gold, we are proud of that achievement, of giving Mexico a medal.”

Sisters Laura and Melody Cortés Tapia also stand out in the team as daughters of Julio Cortés, a promoter of women's baseball in the city of Pachuca, where he runs the Rancho Beisbolero Academy. They are joined by pitchers of the quality of Adriana Palma from Yucatan, Marlene Lagunes from Veracruz and Narda Andrade from Puebla, catchers Itza Hernández and Marcela Díaz, who is a player in Mexico City’s Anahuac League. 

Almost all of them have followed the same process in their careers as ballplayers: as girls they started playing baseball with boys in some little league, then they were forced to switch to softball because they are not allowed to participate with men, but they clung to staying in the sport they love.

Players such as Rosi del Castillo, Dafne Mejía and Samaria Benítez from Nayarit have become known because they have been pioneers in participating in men's amateur or semi-professional leagues, because if women's baseball still lacks something, it is that it does not have the facilities and enough coaches that is not an appendage of men's baseball.

LEYVA, VALLE GIVE LEONES 1-1 TIE IN SERIE DE REY

Yucatan Leones pitcher Elian Leyva

After taking a lead role in overcoming a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the Mexican League South Division Championship Series over the heavy-hitting Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Yucatan pitcher Elian Leyva could be forgiven if he was exhausted heading into the LMB’s Serie del Rey against Monterrey to determine this year’s pennant winner.

Instead, the two-time Mexican Pacific League Pitcher of the Year showed no ill effects of facing one the Liga’s most potent offenses over seven games, including a pivotal relief stint in the LMB South title series clincher, Sunday against the Sultanes. Leyva gave the Leones four-hit shutout pitching until being lifted by manager Roberto Vizcarra (who led the Merida squad to the Spring 2018 crown) one out into the seventh inning of a 1-0 win over the hometown Sultanes, disappointing the capacity crowd of 21,909 at Estadio Monterrey. By then, the 33-year-old righty had thrown 84 pitches (52 for strikes), struck out seven Sultanes hitters and not allowed a baserunner past second base. Three relievers went on to preserve the shutout, with closer Jorge Rondon getting the final three outs in the ninth for the save to tie the series at one game apiece.

Obviously, manager Roberto Kelly’s Sultanes were getting some pretty good pitching too. Julio Teheran, who has had an excellent postseason, gave up five hits and struck out four Leones batsmen in a solid five-inning performance of his own. Unfortunately for the ex-Braves starter, two of those hits came in the top of the fateful fifth frame. Yadir Drake led off with a single and one out later motored in from first on Sebastian Valle’s double to left fielder Jose Figueroa, whose throw to catcher Ali Solis was not in time to nail the 2017 LMB batting champion, who has hit .342 over five summers in Mexico. Five different players had a hit for Yucatan Sunday while Sebastian Elizalde and ex-Yankees prospect Ramiro Pena split four of Monterrey’s five safeties.

The series opened on Saturday night (a day later than the scheduled Friday opener because the Yucatan-Mexico City went the full seven games) with a 4-3 Sultanes win in front of 19,026 fans at Estadio Monterrey.  The Leones took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Luis Juarez RBI single but the Sultanes tied it up in the bottom of the second on a Jose Figueroa groundout when baserunner Orlando Calixte ran home from third on the play and drew an errant throw to the plate from first baseman Art Charles. Monterrey took a 2-1 lead one innings later on Zoilo Almonte’s one-bagger that plated Jose Cardona from third but Sebastian Valle’s homer off reliever Manuel Chavez in the fifth lifted Yucatan back into a 2-2 tie.

The Sultanes regained the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when Calixte lined a full-count double to left off reliever Jake Thompson, who had just come in for Chavez, scoring Victor Mendoza all the way from first. After advancing to third on a Thompson wild pitch to Ramiro Pena, Calixte made it a 4-2 contest by coming in on Pena’s sacrifice fly to right. Juarez’ two-out single drove in Josh Fuentes in the top of the seventh but the Leones got no closer as Monterrey skipper Roberto Kelly replaced reliever Wander Suero with Jose Martinez, who combined with two other bullpen mates to shut down the visitors the rest of the way. Juan Gamez was awarded the win after pitching a scoreless sixth for Monterrey and Neftali Feliz earned the save while Chavez took the opening loss for Yucatan.

The Serie del Rey now moves to Merida for Tuesday’s Game Three.

Yucatan earned the LMB South championship (and their slot in the title series) with a miraculous seven-game defeat of Mexico City after having trailed the Diablos Rojos, 3 games to one, at one point. Following their 2-0 home shutout over the Red Devils last Sunday to stave off elimination, the Leones then took the final two games of the set before hostile crowds in the nation’s capital at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu.

Game Six began last Tuesday and ended a day later with a wild 21-18 Yucatan win in ten innings. A six-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh keyed by a Roberto Ramos three-run homer gave Mexico City an 18-7 lead. Valle’s three-run roundtripper of his own in the top of the eighth off Connor Greene cut the Diablos lead to five and the visitors tied it up at 18-18 in the top of the ninth with five more runs on a three-run longball from Cristhian Adames and a two-run blast off the bat of Fuentes.

After Andre Tovalin held the Diablos scoreless for the second inning in a row in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into overtime, Mexico City reliever Francisco Haro ran into immediate trouble in the top of the tenth by allowing a leadoff double to Juarez and then intentionally walking Charles to pitch to Jose Martinez, who then launched a 2-2 Haro delivery over the wall in left center for yet another three-run homer, this one giving the Leones the lead at 21-18. It was left to Rondon (the 16th pitcher to appear for the two teams) to hold the Diablos scoreless to save the win and tie the series at three games apiece. 

The combatants combined for 40 hits, including eight homers (two by Juarez, who finished 5-for-7 with six RBIs and four runs), as the game was halted by rain in the fourth inning Tuesday night and had to be completed Wednesday. Juan Carlos Gamboa drove in seven runs on a double and homer for Mexico City in their home loss, witnessed by 18,916 spectators.

The deciding Game Seven, which was delayed until Thursday night, when just 10,497 were in the stands as Yucatan completed their series comeback with a 7-5 win to advance to the Serie del Rey. Charles opened the scoring for the Leones in the top of the first with a two-run homer (his third of the series) off starter William Cuevas. Jesus Fabela sliced a leadoff single off Yucatan starter Henderson Alvarez in the bottom of the first, advanced to third on a pair of groundouts and then scored the Diablos’ first run on a Japhet Amador single. Martinez gave the Leones a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth with a leadoff homer off Cuevas, followed later by back-to-back doubles by Yadir Drake and Fuentes (the latter scoring Drake) and a Norberto Obeso groundout that brought in Fuentes from second thanks to a throwing error by Gamboa at short to give the Lions a 5-1 advantage.

To their credit, the Diablos Rojos did not lie down, scoring once in the fourth on a Gamboa single that scored Amador from third and then pushing three more runs across in the fifth to tie the game on a solo homer by Amador and a two-run bomb by Ramos, both with two out. Alvarez was able to record the third out but Yucatan manager Roberto Vizcarra, who returned to Merida on May 30 to replace Luis Matos at the helm two days after being fired in Saltillo, replaced the former big leaguer withLeyva in the sixth. Normally a starter, Leyva held scoreless for two innings before his teammates put the final two runs of the game on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, when a Juarez double scored Obeso and Walter Ibarra to give Yucatan a 7-5 lead. Cervenka and Rondon each turned in a shutout inning to seal the win, which went to Leyva (his second of the series). Charles led the Leones offense with two hits, a homer and two RBIs while Amador was 3-for-4 on the night for Mexico City, driving in three runs, scoring twice and homering once.

ROJAS NEW MANAGER IN NAVOJOA

The Navojoa Mayos announced that Homar Rojas, fresh off a summer season that saw his Tijuana Toros post the best regular season in the Mexican League and reaching the LMB North Championship Series (a loss to Monterrey) will be their manager for the 2022-23 Mexican Pacific League season. He’ll replace Matias Carrillo as dugout boss for the Mayos, who finished with the top overall playoff seed in the LMP last winter with a 40-28 record before being knocked out by eventual LMP champion Culiacan in four straight games in January’s first round. Carrillo finished the Mexican League season as manager in Monclova and will presumably manage the Acereros’ defending Mexican Winter League champions in the coming months.

Rojas, 58, debuted as a professional player in 1982 with Monterrey in the summer circuit and went on to spend 23 seasons playing in both leagues, including Navojoa in 1996-97, hitting .248 over 44 games. He was a lifetime .291 hitter in the LMB, topping the .300 mark nine times, and was a solid defender behind the plate.

One year after retiring as a player, Rojas made his managerial debut in 2005 with Oaxaca. Later, he directed Liga teams in Reynosa, Campeche, Monclova, Aguascalientes and the last two years in Tijuana, winning the 2021 LMB pennant with the Toros. In 15 years managing in the LMB, Rojas has a 816-749 record and was named Manager of the Year in 2008 with Oaxaca and 2017 with Aguascalientes, two teams that historically have rarely been winners on the field or at the turnstiles.

Over the winters in the Mex Pac, Rojas has managed in Obregon, Hermosillo, Jalisco and Monterrey, while also serving as bench coach with Mazataán. He won LMP pennants with Obregon in 2007-08 and Hermosillo in 2009-10 and was named manager of the year in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 with the Yaquis. 

RODRIGO LOPEZ NEW GM FOR MEXICAN 2023 WBC TEAM

Mexican WBC GM Rodrigo Lopez

According to both the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE) and the Mexican League, former major league pitcher Rodrigo Lopez, who started three Opening Day games for Baltimore, was appointed General Manager of the Mexican National Team, which will play the World Baseball Classic in 2023.

Lopez played eleven seasons in the Major Leagues with the Orioles, San Diego, Colorado, Philadelphia, Arizona and the Chicago Cubs between 2000 and 2012. The former pitcher appeared in a total of 257 games, 215 as a starter, with a 4.82 ERA. In 2004 and 2005 he was eighth in the American League in wins both seasons with 14 and 15, respectively, and reached double figures in wins three times. However, the Mexico City area product also led the AL in losses in 2006 (18) as well as the NL with 16 setbacks for the Diamondbacks in 2010 and led each league in earned runs allowed both seasons.  

In 2013, Lopez started 15 games with the Liga’s Mexico City Diablos Rojos, going 4-3 with a 5.49 ERA, and was 13-13 with a 3.68 ERA in 38 outings over six winters for Culiacan in the Mexican Pacific League between 2008-09 and 2014-15 He started twice in the 2013 Caribbean Series and had a 0.66 ERA with no decisions.

Lopez is part of the Diamondbacks radio team as an analyst on their Spanish broadcasts so the Verdes Grande will play in a ballpark that he knows well, since at Chase Field they’ll play the first round of next year’s WBC against the United States, Colombia, Canada and one more national team to determine. Mexico played at Chase Field in two previous WBC tournaments.

To best face the international competition, Lopez will form a “multidisciplinary team, including advanced analytics and sports consulting personnel” according to a FEMEBE press release.The most recent outing by Mexico’s National Team at a professional level was their disastrous performance in last year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where the team lost to host Japan and the Dominican Republic in the first round before an embarrassing 15-2 knockout round defeat at the hands of Israel while also running afoul of Olympics officials after manager Benji Gil and several team members who’d played winterball for him in Culiacan had a picture taken of them wearing Tomateros apparel in violation of Olympic Village rules.

Mexico's best showing in a World Baseball Classic was at the inaugural event in 2006, where they played at Chase Field prior to eliminating the United States in Anaheim and took sixth place. At the most recent WBC in 2017, Mexico went 1-2 in Group D play at Guadalajara and just missed playing an extra game against Venezuela for second place after a tiebreaker ruling regarding an earlier loss to Italy went the way of the Italians, creating much controversy among the host team and their fans (who only came out 1,783 strong for Venezuela’s 4-3 win over Italy after an average of 14,058 had attended the previous six games).

LEYVA KEEPS LEONES ALIVE; OJEDA SUSPENDED

C Sebastian Valle and P Elian Leyva, Yucatan

The Mexican League South Division Championships are moving back to Mexico City for Game Six on Tuesday after pitcher Elian Leyva’s masterful outing Sunday in Merida kept his Yucatan Leones afloat in their battle with the Diablos Rojos, who lead the best-of-7 series, 3-games-to-2. 

Leyva, a two-time Mexican Pacific League Pitcher of the Year (including last winter), tossed seven shutout innings of one-hit ball Sunday as the Leones outlasted the Diablos, 2-0, in front of a third consecutive sellout crowd of 14,917 at venerable Parque Kukulkan. Leyva struck out eight Mexico City batters before leaving the scoreless tie after the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Art Charles lined a two-run homer to straightaway center field off Diablos reliever David Huff, who’d replaced starter Jeffry Nino after the latter had whitewashed Yucatan over the first six entradas. Charles’ blast was enough as three Yucatan relievers held Mexico City scoreless over the final two innings with Jorge Rondon striking out the dangerous Roberto Ramos looking to end the contest, after which fans in Merida danced and sang in the ballpark’s esplanade during a postgame concert by bands El Fresca and La Sentencia.

The series opened last Tuesday at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in the nation’s capital with an 11-10 Diablos win in eleven innings. The contest featured five homers among the 36 combined hits from the two combatants, but it was a bases-loaded walkoff single from Jesus Fabela off Rondon that scored pinch-runner Antonio Castaneda that ended the tilt in the bottom of the eleventh as 14,528 fanaticos looked on. Juan Carlos Gamboa socked two homers for the winners, including a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, while Charles belted a roundtripper for the Leones in the top of the tenth.

After a Tuesday rainout, Game Two of the LMB South title set was played last Wednesday as the Leones triumphed, 15-8, and did something Puebla was unable to achieve in their division semis against Mexico City: Hold the Diablos to less than 10 runs. As 18,851 watched, Yucatan scored 12 times between the third and sixth innings to take a 12-6 lead and never looked back. Yadir Drake homered and drove in four runs for the Lions while Luis Juarez went 3-for-5 and two RBIs. Moises Gutierrez led the Red Devils with two hits (including a homer) and two ribbies as every starting batter for both teams had at least one of the game’s combined 31 hits except for Diablos catcher Julian Leon, the Puebla series hero who struck out three times. Sic transit gloria.

The series shifted to Merida for Game Three last Thursday, with the visiting Diablos taking an 8-3 win behind the bats of Julian Ornelas (who went 4-for-5 with two homers, scoring four runs and driving in three) and Gamboa, who had three hits, including an RBI single. Cristhian Adames hit a solo homer for the Leones while pinch-hitter Lazaro Alfonso socked a two-run bomb in the ninth to give the home crowd of 14,917 something to cheer about but it was too little, too late. Diablos reliever Huff got the win after going 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out four Yucatan batsmen while Leones starter Henderson Alvarez (5 innings, 4 runs) took the loss.

Another rainout delayed Game Four until Saturday, which saw another Mexico City road win in front of one more full house of 14,917 at Parque Kukulkan, albeit by a closer 6-5 score. The Leones led, 4-3, after one inning thanks to Josh Fuentes’ two-run single, but the Diablos tied the tilt in the fifth and a Fabela bunt scored Gutierrez with the go-ahead run one frame later. Ramos had a resourceful night for the Red Devils as the former KBO star drove in three runs and scored once on a double, a sacrifice fly and a plunking by Hunter Cervenka while Gamboa stroked a two-run single in the first. Francisco Haro came out of the bullpen to replace starter Humberto Sosa two outs into the first and pitched 6.1 scoreless innings (allowing two hits and striking out 11) for the win. Jake Thompson, normally a starter for Yucatan, took the loss in relief after giving up Fabela’s run-scoring sacrifice bunt during his two-inning stint as the Diablos found themselves one win away from the Serie del Rey going into Leyva’s season-saving heroics on Sunday. Game Six is set for 8PM Eastern on Tuesday in Mexico City.

Not all the drama in the series has been on the field. Former big league and Liga catcher Miguel Ojeda, who managed Mexico City to their last pennant in 2014 and is now the team’s sports manager, was suspended for a year by LMB president Horacio de la Vegas after it was discovered the Diablos used a television camera in center field to steal signs from Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle during the first two games of the series at Estadio AHH. The Leones front office told de la Vega of their suspicions last week and after an investigation, Ojeda received his suspension Sunday, as did Diablos TV producer Marco Antonio Avila Toledo.

SULTANES SWEEP CHAMPS, ON TO SERIE DEL REY

Victor Mendoza, Monterrey Sultanes 1B

Given the sometimes-heated nature of the rivalry between the Monterrey Sultanes and the defending Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros over the past few years, there was much anticipation going into their LMB North Championship Series last week. As it turned out, the anticipation exceeded the event as the Sultanes swept the Toros in four straight games to advance to the pennant-deciding Serie del Rey later this week.

Monterrey took the first two games at Tijuana’s Estadio Nacional, opening the series last Monday with a 6-2 win over the Toros in front of 10,081 spectators. The Sultanes were paced offensively by homers from Sebastian Elizalde and Zoilo Almonte and Orlando Calixte’s 3-for-5 night at the plate as starter Yohander Mendez turned in a strong five innings for the winners. Mendez, who was 7-0 and led the LMB with a 2.78 ERA during the regular season, gave up just one run on a Nick Williams triple in the fifth while striking out eight to earn the win as Agustin Murillo’s RBI single in the eighth accounted for the Toros’ other run. TJ starter Nick Struck didn’t have a bad outing, going five innings and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, but he couldn’t match Mendez’ mound mastery (no extra charge for the alliteration).

Game Two on Tuesday in Tijuana was more of the same as strong Monterrey pitching keyed a Sultanes road win, this time by a 4-1 count. It was mostly a pitcher’s duel except for one pitch: Toros starter Manny Barreda dished up a three-run homer to Calixte in the top of the fourth that decided the game for all intent and purposes. Leandro Castro broke up Monterrey’s shutout bid in the seventh with a solo homer off reliever Juan Gamez with 15,313 watching at Estadio Nacional, but the night belonged to the Sultanes pitching staff. Julio Teheran has had a great postseason thus far for manager Roberto Kelly’s troops as the former Braves starter threw six innings of two-hit baseball in blanking the potent Toros. Barreda went five frames and struck out eight while allowing five hits, but took the loss for Tijuana.

After a travel day, the series resumed at Estadio Monterrey as 17,241 were in the stands for a 2-1 knucklebiter win in 13 innings for the Sultanes last Thursday. The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh, when Elizalde scored from third after a Javy Guerra pitch eluded Tijuana catcher Xorge Carrillo. Guerra had relieved Toros starter Humberto Mejia after Elizalde opened the inning with a single, but promptly hit Zoilo Almonte with his first pitch, advancing Elizalde to second. Guerra gave himself a little breathing room by inducing Victor Mendoza to ground into a 3-6-1 double play as Elizalde moved to third on the play but Carrillo mishandled a pitch while he pitched to Calixte. Murillo tied the game in the top of the ninth by coming in from third on a bases-loaded forceout at second on a grounder from Nick Williams. The two teams battled for three more scoreless innings until Mendoza’s walkoff single off Kyle Lobstein in the bottom of the 13th brought in Gustavo Nunez with the game-winner, giving the Sultanes a 3-games-to-1 advantage.

The series (and Tijuana’s season) ended last Friday as Monterrey completed the sweep with a 12-11 home win with a sellout crowd of 21,000 fans in the stands. After allowing four runs over the first three games, the Sultanes pitching basically took the night off as a Junior Lake solo homer in the top of the ninth gave the Toros an 11-9 lead. Former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney took the mound in the bottom of the inning and was one out away from the save after getting the first two Sultanes.

As anyone who’s followed Rodney’s career knows, however, two outs are never enough as the 45-year-old righty (second to Monterrey’s Neftali Feliz with 22 saves in the regular season) then gave up singles to Nunez and Jose Cardona and walked Elizalde to load the bases. Rodney then walked Almonte to score Nunez, making it an 11-10 Tijuana lead, then gave up a single to Mendoza to plate Cardona with the tying run and Elizalde with the game winner in what could well have been Fernando’s last pitch in Tijuana togs, given the capricious nature of Toros owner Alberto Uribe. Uribe may also be wondering why manager Homar Rojas left a struggling Rodney in to face Mendoza while leaving Struck, a successful long-time reliever in Mexico until last year who hadn’t pitched for four nights, in the bullpen. Managers have been fired for less in Tijuana.

With the win, the Sultanes will be well-rested when they seek the franchise’s eleventh pennant since 1943 and their second under Kelly, who took them to a title in 2018. The Serie del Rey is scheduled to open Friday night.

MEXICO CITY TO HOST TWO MLB GAMES IN 2023

The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants will meet in a two-game series at Mexico City’s Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City on April 29 and 30 next year. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association made the announcement last week. The games, which will serve as Padres home games, will represent the first-ever regular season series played in Mexico City. In 2016, the Padres hosted Houston in a two-game exhibition series at Fray Nano Stadium in Mexico City.  

The Mexican Series games next April mark the fourth time the Padres have traveled to Mexico for regular season games: They’ve also been a part of three MLB visits to Monterrey, including a three-games series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, the 1999 season-opener against the Colorado Rockies and a three-game series against the New York Mets in 1996.  These games will be the first games in Mexico for the San Francisco Giants in their long history. In 2004, they traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a three-game regular season series against the Montreal Expos, who played part of their home schedule at Estadio Hiram Bithorn that season prior to moving to Washington a year later.

“The Padres are excited to return to Mexico and play in the first regular season series in Mexico City in MLB history,” said San Diego CEO Erik Greupner. “We are fortunate to have a loyal and passionate fan base in Mexico, and it will be an honor to showcase our team in Mexico’s capital city at the beautiful new ballpark built by and named after Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú.”

“It will be an honor to represent Major League Baseball, as well as San Francisco, at historic Mexico City for the first time ever,” said Giants President and CEO Larry Baer. “We look forward to bringing the Giants and Padres rivalry to a passionate sports fan base and it will be a great opportunity to introduce the Giants to an international audience to further develop new fans across all of Mexico.”