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| Hermosillo pitcher Elian Leyva |
Schedule
makers have rarely been as prescient as those who cobbled together
the Mexican Pacific League's first-half schedule for the 2022-23
season. As luck (or “something”) would have it, that first half
came down to its final day on Sunday before a champion could be
crowned and given the 10.0 playoff points that come with finishing in
first place.
The Hermosillo Naranjeros,
who had led the LMP standings most of the season, showed a 20-14
record and a one-game lead over 19-15 Los Mochis heading into
Sunday's showdown between the two clubs at Estadio Sonora. If the
Caneros prevailed, they'd have vaulted into a tie for first with the
Naranjeros and the first-half championship by virtue of having more
wins than losses against the Orangemen. In fact, the Mex Pac
standings were so tight that a four-way tie for first was
mathematically possible, which would've led to calculators (or slide
rules for stubborn traditionalists) being brought out to determine
just who DID finish first.
Fortunately,
the mathematicians have been spared as the Naranjeros recorded a 6-1
win over Los Mochis in front of 10,808 spectators. Hermosillo starter
Elian Leyva, who has become one of the top pitchers in Mexican
baseball, turned in a solid performance over six innings, allowing
one run on three hits while striking out nine Caneros and throwing 63
strikes on his 95 pitches to even his record at 2-2.
The
game was tighter than the final score implies, however, as the score
was knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning when veteran
Tomas Solis replaced starter Luis Miranda on the mound for Los
Mochis. It took three pitches for slugger Roberto Ramos to send a
Solis delivery over the right-center field wall to give Hermosillo
the lead and the Naranjeros went on to score four more runs in the
frame, two coming in on a Jose Carmona single off another reliever,
Miguel Vazquez.
After
that, it was left to ex-Padres starter Cesar Vargas and former Mets
prospect Thomas McIlraith to shut down the Caneros on one hit over
the final three innings to clinch first place and the points. Roel
Santos, Ramon Mendoza and Jasson Atondo each had two hits for the
winners (Atondo contributing an RBI single in the fourth to give
Hermosillo a 1-0 lead). Isaac Rodriguez' game-tying single in the
fifth was one of three hits on the night for the Caneros' leadoff
hitter and second sacker. Miranda allowed his first run of the season
in his seventh start on Atondo's single but it was Solis who took the
loss for Los Mochis.
Elsewhere
in the winter circuit Sunday, Guasave snuck past Navojoa, 2-1, on
Erisbel Arruebarrena's walk-off RBI single to overtake Los Mochis for
second place (and 9.0 points) with a 20-15 record. The Mayos finished
the half at 16-19 and in a three-way tie for sixth with Mexicali and
Monterrey. Monterrey scored five times in the seventh as Alex Liddi
stroked a two-run double to beat Mexicali, Mexicali, 8-3.
Mazatlan
and Obregon joined Los Mochis in a tie for third with 19-16 records.
The Venados dropped a 5-0 shutout against visiting Jalisco (15-20) as
U-23 World Cup star Alemao Hernandez blanked the Deer over five
innings while Obregon snuck past Culiacan (14-21) by a 5-4 count when
Juan Carlos Gamboa scored all the way from first on Allen Cordoba's
walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth to send 10,228 fanaticos
at Estadio Yaquis home happy.
Monterrey's
Roberto Valenzuela leads the batting race with a .385 average, well
ahead of Jalico's Fernando Villegas (.348) and veteran third baseman
Rudy Amador of Los Mochis (.341). Anthony Giansanti of Mexicali has
nine homers to lead four other players with six longballs apiece.
Obregon's 1-2 puch of Yadir Drake and Victor Mendoza share the RBI
lead with 26 each, one more than Christian Villanueva of Jalisco.
Hermosillo's Jose Cardona stole his first base in seven games to take
a one-pilfer lead over Randy Romero of Mazatlan, 15 to 14. Romero
swiped five bases in one seven-game stretch earlier this month.
It
remains crowded at the top of the pitching wins list with a cast of
thousands (okay, okay, a cast of seven) showing four victories each.
Among those hurlers, Nico Tellache of Guasave (1.66) and Juan Pablo
Oramas of Hermosillo (1.69) trail only Los Mochis' Luis Miranda
(0.24) in the ERA derby after the latter allowed his first run Sunday
in Hermosillo. Oramas' Naranjeros moundmate, Touki Toussaint, leads
the LMP with 41 strikeouts, just ahead of the 40 by Matt Pobereyko of
Guasave while Culiacan vet Manny Barreda is third with 39 whiffs.
Colombian closer Elkin Alcala of Mazatlan had two saves last week to
bring his season total to 12, followed by the 10 of Guasave's Brandon
Koch and Jake Sanchez of Mexicali.
With
everyone's slate wiped clean, six weeks of second-half action will
begin Tuesday night with the first of five three-game midweek series.
LMB
AWARDS: TOROS' PEREZ NAMED MVP FOR 2022
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| Mexican League 2022 MVP Felix Perez |
Tijuana
Toros designated hitter Felix Perez has been named the Mexican
League's Most Valuable Player for 2022. He becomes the second
consecutive Tijuana player to be accorded MVP honors after outfielder
Leandro Castro won in 2021 and first Cubano to win it since
Monterrey's Michel Abreu in 2012. Perez was also named the Liga's
Comeback Player of the Year.
Perez,
who celebrated his 38th birthday last week, is a Cuba native who
played three seasons for his hometown Isla de la Juventud Toronjeros
in the Cuban National Series before defecting from the island nation
in 2008. He subsequently signed with Cincinnati and spent five
seasons in the Reds system between 2010 and 2014, including two years
in AAA Louisville, batting a combined .281 with 33 homers and 241
RBIs in 532 games.
The
6'2” lefty hitter known as “El Nino” south of the border made
his LMB debut in 2015 with Monterrey and hit over .300 for the
Sultanes two years before signing with the Rakuten in Japan's NPB for
the rest of the 2016 campaign, hitting .238 in 24 games. Perez
returned to Mexico for good in 2017 and has also spent time with
Aguascalientes and Leon before coming to Tijuana this year after only
batting .200 with three homers over 17 games for the Bravos in 2021.
Perez
made the most of his first season in the border city in 2022 by
hitting .323 with 38 homers and 109 RBIs over 87 games and missing
just three contests for the Toros, who finished the regular season
under manager Homar Rojas with an Liga-best 62-28 record before
falling to rival Monterrey in the LMB North finals. Perez tied
Saltillo's Rainel Rosario for most homers, was second to Rosario's
116 ribbies, finished in the top ten for total bases, slugging
percentage and on-base+slugging and came in eleventh with 73 runs
scored.
Beyond
the numbers, Toros sports manager Ricardo Williamson says the veteran
Perez served as a team leader and mentor to younger TJ players. “He
is a very important pillar for veterans and young people for their
journey in baseball,” Williamson states. “He pushed others to be
better. He is a great player and a great human being of good mood and
happy.” Toros press officer Armando Esquivel confirmed Williamson's
assessment of Perez. “He was an immediate leader,” said Esquivel.
“There are natural leaders and Felix was integrated from the first
days. He teamed up and was one of the most appreciated.”
Other
Mexican League postseason honorees include Yucatan skipper Roberto
“Chapo” Vizcarra as Manager of the Year after leading the Leones
to the 2022 pennant, Monterrey closer Neftali Feliz (24 saves) as
Reliever of the Year, Sultanes starter Yohander Mendez (7-0, 2.78
ERA) as Pitcher of the Year, Veracruz pitcher Luis Marquez (9-1,
2.38) as Rookie of the Year and Union Laguna center fielder Edgar
Robles (.990 fielding percentage) as Defensive Player of the
Year.
LIGA RELEASES 2023 REGULAR SEASON
SCHEDULE
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| Tabasco Omecas to host 2023 LMB All-Stars |
The
Mexican League has announced its official schedule for the 2023
regular season. “Play ball!” will first be heard on Thursday,
April 20 at Estadio Domingo Santana when the current champion Yucatan
Leones visit the Leon Bravos.
The
regular season will open for the remaining 16 teams one night later
(including when the Quintana Roo Tigres are welcomed by their
longtime rival Mexico City Diablos Rojos at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú
Stadium in the nation's capital) on Friday, April 21. The rest of the
Friday night inaugurals will be Tijuana at Veracruz, Aguascalientes
at Monclova, Saltillo at Guadalajara, Durango at Nuevo Laredo,
Monterrey at Union Laguna, Tabasco at Oaxaca and Campeche at Puebla.
The
weekend of the All-Star Game, to be played in Villahermosa, Tabasco,
will be from June 16 to 18. The Olmecas finished a surprising 47-37
under manager Pedro Mere in 2022 (who coaxed .311/7/24 numbers over
43 games from ex-MLB star Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval), while
playing home games at makeshift Estadio Angel Toledo Meza in
Macuspana while renovations were being done on Parque Centenario de
Febrero 27 in Villahermosa.The latter was opened in 1964 and served
as home to Tabasco's Mexican League teams from 1975 until the
federally-funded facelift began in late 2021. The ballpark will seat
16,500 spectators when it's reopened next year to house a team that averaged
1,911 in attendance for 2022.
As in
2022, the LMB schedule will be 90 games per team (equivalent to 810
games in total for the regular season), and when the postseason is
added there will be about 900 matches in all. The same competition
system of 2020 and 2021 will be maintained, with a continuous season
(no first or second halfs) and six qualified teams per divison based
on the percentage of won and lost will qualify for the postseason.
The
regular circuit campaign will end on Sunday, August 6. The postseason
will begin on August 8 in the South Zone and on August 9 in the North
Zone. The “lucky loser” system will be used again in which
winners of each of three first round series in each division will be
joined in their respective Division Semifinals by a fourth club that
fared the best among the three losing teams.
In all,
there will be four playoff stages, all in a best-of-7 format:
DIVISION
FIRST ROUND (1v6, 2v5, 3v4) between August 8 and 16
DIVISION
SEMIFINALS between August 18 and 27
DIVISION
CHAMPIONSHIPS between August 28 and September 6
LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP (Serie del Rey) between September 8 through 16
Here is
a link to the complete Mexican League schedule for 2023:
https://bit.ly/3XfMn1l
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