BBM Summer Awards: Most Valuable Player

Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias

I've mentioned a couple times that I was facing some mighty tough choices in picking the Summer Bammys this year, but none was harder than Most Valuable Player.  There were several standout performances this season in the Mexican League, only some of which BBM has already highlighted this week, but the MVP award (to me) boiled down to three players:  Tijuana centerfielder Corey Brown, Aguascalientes first baseman Jesus "Jesse" Castillo and Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias.  Of all the Bammys I've considered since 2010, I agonized over this one more than any of the others and even broke down offensive and defensive stats for each player AND their respective teams to try determine who contributed the most to their club's success, and it's taken me until literally minutes before I started typing this piece to decide.

There are such good arguments for all three men.  Tijuana, of course, is this year's LMB champion and Brown was perhaps the main cog in the Toros machine.  He batted .291, his 24 homers were second in Liga to Saltillo's Rainel Rosario's 26 and finished fifth with 85 RBIs.  In addition, Brown was very effective on the basepaths, stealing 19 bases in 21 attempts to just miss being the sole member of the loop's 20/20 Club in 2017.  Defensively, he was an adequate centerfielder, hauling in 214 fly balls and throwing out four baserunners for a .982 fielding percentage with a 2.10 range factor.  Brown also played in this year's LMB All-Star Game at Campeche.  While it was his first such contest in the LMB, Brown previously played four midseason classics in the International, Texas and Midwest Leagues.  Despite his relatively-low batting average, he was my pick until Wednesday night, when I began considering Jesse Castillo.

Aguascalientes was the surprise team in the Liga's regular season this summer, winning 64 of 110 games to pull away from Union Laguna and Mexico City for fourth place in the LMB North, then provided perhaps the strongest opposition Tijuana faced in the playoffs before falling in six games in the division semis.  Rieleros manager Homar Rojas had to contend with a budget-limited roster along with the vagaries any skipper will encounter over a season, but the one constant was Castillo.  The veteran first sacker hit a rock-solid .342 with 20 homers and 82 RBIs while matching Brown with 79 runs to finish in the top ten in all four categories along with on-base percentage (.435), slugging percentage (.548) and OPS (.548).  Castillo also acquitted himself well at first with a .994 fielding percentage over 773 chances, including 712 putouts, 56 assists and a 9.72 range factor.  He played in his seventh All-Star Game this summer and was named its Most Valuable Player.  While Jose Vargas combined with Castillo to form a lethal 1-2 punch, the latter was clearly the most important player in Aguascalientes' unexpected success.  A legit MVP candidate, for sure.  But then on Thursday afternoon, I turned my attention to Ramon Urias.

The Diablos' wunderkind shortstop (he turned 23 in June) was able to carry his team to a 57-54 record and coming within four games of forcing a postseason play-in game against Aguascalientes despite a pitching staff with a 5.06 ERA while injuries and Father Time took their toll on Red Devils' position players.  Despite just missing the batting derby's top ten list (he was 12th at .340), Urias met that standard in several other offensive categories, leading the LMB with 91 runs scored along with 132 hits (tied for 10th), 29 doubles (tied for 7th), 19 homers (tied for 6th), 79 RBIs (8th), 224 total bases (tied for 4th), a .433 on-base percentage (5th), a .577 slugging percentage (4th) and 1.011 OPS (2nd).  He played most of his defensive time (65 games) at short but also spent 45 contests at second base, with a combined .967 fielding average in 530 total chances, contributing 203 putouts, 309 assists and taking part in 79 double plays (two fewer than Castillo) for a combined range factor of 4.65 over the two positions.  Although the Escarlatas missed the playoffs a second year in a row (after reaching the postseason every year between 1984 and 2015), those are numbers impossible to ignore.

As you can see, there's not a lot to create much separation among those three players, so I started comparing their individual stats with their team's overall stats and while I'll spare you that breakdown, it appeared rather clearly to me that Urias meant more to the Diablos Rojos than Brown did to the Toros and even Castillo did to the Rieleros.  While Brown and Castillo had stats similar or even below their respective team's, Urias' were better (some significantly) than his teammates accrued while working behind a pitching staff demonstrably inferior to Tijuana's and Aguascalientes'.  Adding in the fact that he was only 22 when his breakout season opened (Brown is 31 while Castillo is 34) and that being on a non-contending team didn't hurt another shortstop named Ernie Banks win TWO consecutive National League MVPs in the late 1950's, I've finally determined Urias is my top LMB player for 2017.

For being such a tender age, Urias (whose 20-year-old brother Luis is the premier shortstop prospect in the Padres system) has completed his seventh year as a pro.  Ramon spent two years in the Dominican Summer League after signing with Texas as a 16-year-old free agent in November 2010 (batting .213 in 2011 and .268 in 2012) before landing with Mexico City in 2013.  After batting an even .300 in 12 sporadic appearances that year, Urias took over the Diablos' shortstop job in 2014 and hit .262 in the regular season before raking pitchers for a .393 average with a homer over nine games as the Diablos had the Liga's best regular-season record and swept their way through the playoffs for their 16th LMB pennant.  He hit .351 with 10 homers in 2015 and was at .301 in 2016 before a June 22 injury in a game against Carmen ended his season early.

As major league scouts have also likely noticed, Urias appears to have recovered nicely.

BBM MOST VALUABLE PLAYER WINNERS
Summer 2010    Willis Otanez, Puebla
Winter 2010-11   Justin Christian, Los Mochis
Summer 2011     Luis Terrero, Mexico City
Winter 2015-16   Christian Villanueva, Obregon
Summer 2016     Cesar Tapia, Puebla
Winter 2016-17   Hector Velazquez, Navojoa
Summer 2017     Ramon Urias, Mexico City

Tijuana blows out Puebla, 15-3, to clinch first LMB title

Tijuana Toros DH Cyle Hankerd 

Cyle Hankerd belted a pair of homers, driving in four runs, and starting pitcher Miguel Pena allowed one run in 5.2 innings as the Tijuana Toros defeated the Puebla Pericos, 15-3, Sunday afternoon in Puebla to clinch the 2017 Mexican League championship.  In winning Game Five of the Serie del Rey, the Toros bring Tijuana the city's first Liga pennant.  It was the second flag for TJ manager Pedro Mere, who led the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila to the 2012 LMB title. The Pericos were attempting to stay alive in their quest for a second consecutive LMB title despite having had their roster decimated by player transfers to Monclova during the offseason.

Tijuana 15-19-0, PUEBLA 3-9-0 (Tijuana wins Serie del Rey, 4 games to 1)
W-M. Pena (1-0).  L-Roenicke (0-2).  A-6,954.  T-3:13.

The Pericos actually led this one early.  Julio Borbon led off the bottom off by getting hit by a Pena pitch, then moved to second when Pena walked Endy Chavez.  Issmael Salas then grounded into a 5-4-3 double play but Borbon was able to advance to third on the play, then scored when Jesus Arredondo poked a grounder past second into center field.

Puebla held on to their slim 1-0 lead until the top of the third, when Tijuana scored six runs.  Isaac Rodriguez started things off with a one-out single to right, went from first to third on Jose Guadalupe Chavez' single to left and scored the tying run on a Roberto Lopez sacrifice fly to right.  Pericos starter Josh Roenicke then lost his control while trying to record the third out of the inning, walking Corey Brown, Hankerd (2006 MVP of the Class A Northwest League) and Jorge Cantu in succession, the latter forcing Chavez across the plate with the go-ahead tally.  Dustin Martin then cleared the bases by launching a grand slam over the centerfield wall to make it a 6-2 contest.

The Toros posted four more counters on the scoreboard in the fourth to knock Roenicke out of the game and effectively put the contest (and pennant) out of Puebla's reach.  With one out and runners on second and third, Lopez lifted another sacrifice fly to right, this time scoring Alex Liddi from third.  A Brown single plated Rodriguez from third to make it an 8-2 score, sending Roenicke to the showers and bringing in Angel Rodriguez from the bullpen.  The first batter Rodriguez faced, Hankerd, belted his second homer of the Serie del Rey, a two-run shot to right that brought the score to 10-2.  One inning later, Liddi took Henry Garcia deep to left, giving the Toros a nine-run bulge.

Puebla got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Alberto Carreon greeter TJ middleman Mark Serrano with a leadoff homer over the leftfield wall, but the Toros scored twice in the top of the eighth when Hankerd hit his second homer of the afternoon, a two-run shot to center off Julio Felix that brought in Brown, who'd just doubled off Felix.  The Pericos scored once more in the bottom of the eighth when Cesar Tapia singled in Arredondo, narrowing the gap to 13-3, but Brown put an exclamation point on the Toros' playoff run by slamming a two-run dinger off yet another Pericos reliever, Fabian Williamson, to bring the count to 15-3. Jason Urquidez then came in and ended the game and Mexican league season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, with Salas flying out to Lopez to bring the 2017 schedule to a close.

While Pena's 5.2 innings were decent enough on their own merit (giving up one run on five hits, striking out four and walking three to earn the win), he had plenty of support as the Toros went on to batter six Puebla hurlers for 19 hits, including five homers.  Hankerd finished the day with two homers and four RBIs while Brown was 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs and three ribbies.  Tapia led Puebla with three hits while Arredondo and Ricky Rodriguez each had two safeties.  Roenicke absorbed his second loss in the Serie del Rey after being knocked around for nine runs on eight hits and three walks.

After drawing crowds of 10,000 for every home game in both the LMB South championships and the Serie del Rey, attendance at Estadio Hermanos Serdan dipped to 6,954 on Sunday.  Pericos owner Gerardo Benavides has threatened to move the team, perhaps to Nuevo Laredo or Juarez along the Texas border, one year after Puebla won the Liga pennant over Tijuana in six games.  Benavides then bought his hometown Monclova Acereros last winter and shifted more than twenty members of Puebla's champions to his new club.  The Steelers were a playoff team before the massive influx of Pericos stalwarts and a preseason pick among many to win the flag this year, but fell to Monterrey in the first round of the playoffs.

The Toros win caps quite a year for what has become perhaps the leading organization in the Mexican League. Tijuana home games were perhaps the loop's most-entertaining openings (finishing second to Monterrey in regular season attendance with an average of 10,872), the team sold a number of prospects they'd developed to MLB organizations during the summer and now the "Gateway to Mexico" has its first Mexican League championship team and first organized ball pennant winner since the 1952 Potros, led by Triple Crown winner Pete Hughes (.366/28/131), won the Class C Southwest International League crown.  The Tijuana Potros also won winterball titles in the Mexican Pacific League for 1987-88 and 1990-91.

Toros, Pericos both one win away from Serie del Rey rematch

Tijuana Toros pitcher Alex Sanabia

The Tijuana Toros and Puebla Pericos came away with Tuesday night triumphs in their respective Mexican League division championship series, and both are one win away from punching their tickets to the LMB's Serie del Rey league championship series.  The two teams collided in last year's finals, with Puebla coming away with the pennant.

Alex Sanabia contributed a brilliant pitching performance in Tijuana's 4-1 victory in Monterrey Tuesday, allowing no earned runs on one hit and no walks over seven innings as the Toros edged ahead of the Sultanes in their LMB North final series, 3 games to 2.  In Puebla, both the Pericos and Yucatan Leones broke out the bats to combine for 18 runs and 28 hits as the hosts posted an 11-7 win over the men from Merida to take a 3-games-to-1 advantage in their LMB South title set.  Jesus Arredondo had three hits and three RBIs for the winners.

The Toros and Sultanes will take Wednesday off as a travel day prior to Thursday night's Game Six in Tijuana.  The Pericos and Leones will play Game Five of their series after Monday's rainout in Puebla pushed their set back a day.


Tijuana 4-4-1, MONTERREY 1-1-0
W-Sanabia (2-0).  L-Solano (0-2).  SV-Urquidez (1).  A-21,285.  T-2:33.

Although the boxscore won't reveal it, Tijuana starting pitcher Alex Sanabia literally threw away whatever shutout bid in the bottom of the first inning but pulled himself together to dominate Monterrey over the next six innings to register his second win of the LMB North championship series.  Sultanes leadoff hitter Chris Roberson tapped a grounder back to the mound that Sanabia meant to throw to Toros first baseman Jorge Cantu for the first out of the inning.  Instead, the former Marlins hurler's throw sailed out of Cantu's reach into right field foul territory, allowing the speedy Roberson to advance all the way to third base on the play.  Robo then scored on Ramon Rios' sacrifice fly to give Monterrey an early 1-0 lead.  One out later, Sanabia plunked Jesus Montero to put another runner on, but induced Daniel Mayora into a fielder's choice grounder to Alex Liddi for the final out of a shaky frame.

After that, the righty from San Diego settled down to dominate the Sultanes lineup for the next six innings, allowing only a Zoilo Almonte leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh before being replaced by Juan Sandoval in the eighth.  Sanabia retired 15 Monterrey batters in a row, pitching 1-2-3 innings from the second through the sixth entradas, and threw strikes on 50 of his 73 pitches on the night.  He has now allowed one earned run on six hits over 14 innings in his two victories against the Sultanes after winning last Thursday's opener, 10-1.

Sanabia still had to pitch from behind through three innings before his teammates scored three times in the top of the fourth to give him a lead to work with, with all runs coming in on Dustin Martin's three-run homer off Monterrey starter Javier Solano, who'd allowed a leadoff single to Roberto Lopez and gave up a two-out walk to Cantu before Martin stepped up to the plate.  Martin later made a standout defensive play in the seventh, when he caught a one-out Mayora fly ball to right field and then threw a strike to Cantu at first to double off Almonte for the final out of the frame.

Corey Brown gave Tijuana one more insurance run by belting his second homer of the series in the top of the ninth off Solano to make it a 4-1 game.  Solano pitched in tough luck in an otherwise decent 119-pitch performance, but that gopher ball to Martin in the fourth was the difference-maker.  Toros closer Jason Urquidez then came on to retire the Sultanes in order in the bottom of the ninth to give TJ the first win by a road team in the series, which now shifts back to Tijuana for Thursday's Game Six.  The Toros are now a win away from a second straight shot at the city's first Liga pennant.  A crowd of 21,285 watched the game at Estadio Monterrey to bring the three-day attendance total in Monterrey to over 60,000 aficionados.


PUEBLA 11-16-0, Yucatan 7-12-0
W-Roenicke (2-0).  L-Negrin (0-1).  SV-Heath (2).  A-11,099.  T-3:30.

Unlike Tuesday's Tijuana-Monterrey game, this contest had little to do with pitching as Puebla and Yucatan got together to post batting-practice totals of 18 runs and 28 hits on the night, with the host Pericos prevailing by an 11-7 score.  At least one run was scored by either team in every inning but the second and eighth as defending champion Puebla brought themselves one win away from the Serie del Rey.

Issmael Salas' two-run homer off Yucatan starter Jonathan Castellanos in the bottom of the first gave the Pericos an early lead while serving early notice that this would be a long night for pitchers.  Castellanos then gave up singles to Jesus Arredondo and Cesar Tapia before Leones manager Chico Rodriguez decided he'd seen enough and brought in Yoanner Negrin to stop the bleeding and the 2016 Pitcher of the Year obliged, getting Hector Garanzuay to fly to right for the third out.  Yuniesky Betancourt socked a solo homer in the top of the second against Pericos starter Josh Roenicke to cut the Puebla lead to one, but a (what else?) homer by Arredondo from a Negrin delivery put the home team up, 3-1.

A wild fourth inning in both halves generated a total of eight runs on eight hits for the two combatants. Roenicke staggered through the top of the fourth by allowing three runs after the first five batters accrued hit after hit: Juan Francisco singled, Betancourt doubled, Esteban Quiroz double (scoring Francisco and Betancourt), Ricky Alvarez singled and Sebastian Valle doubled to plate Quiroz.  Roenicke then drilled Juan Aguilar with a pitch before getting the first out of the inning, a bases-loaded Leo Heras sacrifice fly that brought in Quiroz from third to give Yucatan a 5-3 advantage.  Valle was then thrown out at the plate on Diego Madero's grounder to third before Ronnier Mustelier grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice at second.  Roenicke managed to stay in for all nine batters, but his insurance rates are likely to go up in the aftermath.

Then it was Puebla's turn to beat a drum on Negrin in the bottom of the fourth, also sending nine men to the plate.  Garanzuay led off with a double, moved to third on a Sergio Perez single and scored when shortstop Madero made a bad throw on an Alberto Carreon grounder.  It looked like Negrin might pitch himself out of trouble when he struck out Julio Borbon and Endy Chavez, but the gates opened again when Salas was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Arredondo walked to bring in Perez with the tying run and Ricky Rodriguez lined a single to left, scoring Carreon and Salas to bring the Pericos back into a 7-5 lead.  At that point, Negrin was replaced by Jesus Barraza, who struck out Tapia to end the carnage.

Puebla then rang up four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 11-5 as the Leones sent three men to the mound.  Barraza lasted long enough to give up singles to Garanzuay and Carreon before Alejandro Soto came in with one out and immediately gave up run-scoring singles to Borbon and Chavez.  Soto was then yanked for Pedro Rodriguez, who bookended the final two outs around an RBI single by Arredondo.  From that point on it seemed a matter of time for the Pericos, although the Leones did fight back with single runs in the seventh (bases-loaded forceout by Alvarez that scored Ivan Araujo) and ninth (RBI single from Aguilar) to come within four counters before time ran out.

Where to begin with highlights from this one?  Let's start with Puebla DH Arredondo, who collected two singles and a homer to drive in three runs and score once.  Garanzuay and Perez, batting seventh and eighth, combined for six hits and three runs (both are batting .500 for the series) and Perez also homered and scored twice for the home team.  Five players had two hits each for Yucatan but Quiroz did the most damage, hitting one double and walking three times to score twice and drive in two more.  Betancourt also scored twice while singling and homering and Araujo (making his first appearance of the series when he batted for Mustelier in the seventh and took over in left) went 2-for-2 with a run.

Roenicke was awarded the win because, well, SOMEONE had to get the W, but it was probably a start he'd rather forget after giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.1 innings and 110 pitches.  Whew!  Negrin took the loss in his first relief appearance since July 12, 2015, allowing two runs on five hits in three innings.  Deunte Heath got his second save of the series for Puebla but even he let in a run in 1.1 innings of closing work.  It was that kind of night.

Over 11,000 fans turned out for the second night in a row in Estadio Hermanos Serdan, where the Pericos averaged just 3,186 per opening during the regular season, leading owner Gerardo Benavides (who dismantled his 2016 champions by sending 20+ players to his other team in Monclova during the last offseason) to declare his willingness to move the team north for 2018 if fans didn't turn out in the postseason.  The two teams will go at it again in Game Five Wednesday in Puebla as the Pericos try to close out the series with Andres Meza on the mound against Yucatan's James Russell.

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Pitching rules the night in Monterrey, Puebla clutch wins

Puebla closer Deunte Heath receiving high-fives after win

Although the Mexican League has gained a well-earned reputation as a hitter's league over the decades, both of Sunday's division championship series games were most influenced by the men on the mound.  Puebla starter Jaime Lugo scattered five hits over seven shutout innings to lead the Pericos to a 2-1 home win over Yucatan to take a 2-games-to-1 lead in their LMB South title series.  In the LMB North, Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez combined with two relievers to limit Tijuana to two runs on seven hits in the Sultanes' 4-2 victory against the Toros.  Tijuana still leads that set, 2 games to 1.

Game Four in both series is slated for Monday night.  Yucatan will send Jonathan Castellanos to the mound in Puebla against Pericos starter Andres Meza while in Monterrey, Jorge Reyes will take the hill for the Sultanes against Sergio Mitre and Tijuana.


PUEBLA 2-10-0, Yucatan 1-5-0
W-Heath (1-0).  L-Fr. Rodriguez (1-1).  A-11,812.  T-2:37

Puebla's Jaime Lugo and Yucatan's Jose Samayoa locked up in a pitcher's duel into the seventh inning and the respective bullpens carried it to the end as the Pericos slipped past the Leones, 2-1, on a ninth-inning run Sunday night in Puebla.  A season-high crowd of 11,812 witnessed the proceedings at Estadio Hermanos Serdan in the colonial city.

Lugo and Samayoa swapped zeros until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Pericos catcher (and 2017 LMB batting champ) Cesar Tapia lined a Samayoa delivery over the left field wall for a home run to give Puebla a 1-0 lead.  The Parrots clung to their narrow lead through the seventh, but the Leones tied it up in the top of the eighth when closer Deunte Heath (who was replacing Lugo) was touched for a solo homer to left by Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle.  Heath settled down to retire the side without any further damage and pitched a scoreless ninth, setting up late heroics by Tapia and Alberto Carreon.

Ex-MLB hurler Francisco Rodriguez took over on the hill for Yucatan in the bottom of the ninth and immediately gave up a leadoff single to Tapia, who then advanced to second when Hector Garanzuay walked. Both runners moved up on Sergio Perez' bunt single and Carreon delivered the game-winning blow by smoking a Rodriguez delivery to left, bringing Tapia across with the walkoff run.

Tapia, Perez and Carreon each had two of Puebla's ten hits while Valle singled and homered for Yucatan. While Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings for the Pericos, allowing three hits and striking out five, the win went to Heath, who blew the save on Valle's homer but otherwise had a creditable two-inning appearance. Samayoa let in one run on five hits and one walk over six frames for the Leones, good enough to win most nights, but Rodriguez was tagged with the loss after giving up three hits, a walk and the game-winning run without retiring a batter in the ninth.


MONTERREY 4-9-0, Tijuana 2-7-1
W-Ed. Gonzalez (1-0).  L-M. Pena.  A-23,176.  T-3:04.

Although the pitching in this game wasn't as dominant as the contest in Puebla, former Arizona hurler Edgar Gonzalez turned in a strong performance Sunday in Monterrey as the Sultanes topped Tijuana, 4-2, in Game Three of their LMB North Division championship series.  The Toros still lead the set, 2-games-to-1, but a throng of 23,176 were in the Estadio Monterrey stands to see the Sultanes bounce back after two losses in the border city.

Gonzalez and Toros starter Miguel Pena were both working on shutouts through the first three innings before Tijuana scored the first run of the night in the top of the fourth when Corey Brown clubbed a Gonzalez serving over the wall in right-center field to put the visitors up, 1-0.  Pena was struck by three bolts of lightning in the bottom of the fourth when he gave up solo roundtrippers to Ramon Rios, Luis Juarez and Daniel Mayora to fall behind, 3-1.  Pena recovered to get the final two outs of the inning, but the wounds would prove mortal with Gonzalez shutting down the potent Bulls.  The Sultanes added an insurance run in the fifth when Rios doubled in Chris Roberson.

The Toros did score once more in the top of the sixth on Roberto Lopez' leadoff homer off Gonzalez, but that would prove to be the last hit of the night for Tijuana as Gonzalez, Nick Struck and Wirfin Obispo would combine to allow just one walk en route to recording the final twelve TJ outs of the contest.  The Toros ended the night with seven hits, but the longballs by Brown (who also singled) and Lopez were the only ones of any significance.  Rios had two doubles and a homer for the Sultanes, scoring twice for the winners, while Juarez and Luis Flores each had a pair of hits.

Gonzales tossed six innings of two-run, seven-hit ball for the win, striking out five in a solid performance while Obispo's scoreless ninth was worth a save.  Pena suffered the loss by allowing all four Monterrey runs on five hits in 4.2 entradas, striking out five and walking one.

Madero HR paces Yucatan win; TJ bops Sultanes again

Diego Madero cracked a three-run homer to key a five-run outburst in the sixth inning as the Yucatan Leones defeated the Puebla Pericos, 7-6, Friday night at home to even their Mexican League South Division championship series at one game apiece.  In the LMB North title series, Horacio Ramirez pitched seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball as his Tijuana Toros pulled away from the Monterrey Sultanes, 7-1, in the border city, giving the Bulls a 2-0 lead in their best-of-7 set.

Saturday will be an off day as both series shift to Puebla and Monterrey, respectively, for Game Three action Sunday.  No pitching matchups have been announced for either contest.


YUCATAN 7-9-1, Puebla 6-14-1
W-Fr. Rodriguez (1-0).  L-Morales (0-1).  SV-Belisario (1).  A-12,000.  T-3:30.

Puebla took an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning and built their advantage to 5-2 until the bottom of the sixth, when Yucatan scored five runs to go ahead, and the Leones never looked back in a 7-6 win over the defending champs in Merida Friday.  The Pericos had won Game One at Parque Kukulkan on Thursday.

The Pericos got things going early, scoring runs on doubles by Issmael Salas and Ricky Rodriguez in the first off Leones starter James Russell to go up, 2-0.  Yucatan got one run back in the second on Juan Francisco's leadoff homer and one more in the third on Diego Madero's RBI single to knot the score in the third, but the visitors plated three tallies in the fourth to regain the lead.  Puebla loaded the bases with one out against Russell, who gave up a go-ahead single to Alberto Carreon before being replaced on the mound by Alejandro Soto, making his first appearance for Yucatan since July 29.  After Julio Borbon brought in Jon Del Campo with a sacrifice fly, Soto hurt his own cause by dropping a two-out popup by Carreon as Sergio Perez (who was running on the pitch) motored in from third.

Puebla held their three-run lead until the sixth, when the first three Yucatan hitters got on base to chase Pericos starter Josh Outman.  Reliever Mario Morales was welcomed into the game by a two-run double by Sebastian Valle, bringing in.  With two on and two out, Diego Madero lofted a homer to left, giving the Leones a 7-5 lead.  The visitors closed the gap to one run in the eighth when a fielder's choice grounder to second by Carreon scored Cesar Tapia, but Yucatan closer Ronald Belisario got the final out of the inning and pitched a scoreless ninth with Jesus Arredondo grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Onetime Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who's been a starter in Yucatan this year, pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the win for the Leones while Morales' bad fifth inning tagged him with the loss.  Madero finished the night with three hits and four RBIs for the winners while Valle had a pair of hits, two ribbies and a run.  Salas had three hits for Puebla, scoring one run and driving in another, and Del Campo contributed two doubles and a run for manager Tim Johnson's Pericos.

With the series tied at one game apiece, the two teams will play Game Three Sunday in Puebla.


TIJUANA 7-10-0, Monterrey 1-5-0
W-H. Ramirez (1-0).  L-A. Castro (0-1).  A-17,021.  T-2:57.

The Toros registered their second one-sided win over visiting Monterrey Friday, but this one was closer than the final score implies.  Tijuana starter Horacio Ramirez fell behind, 1-0, in the top of the first inning when Ramon Rios scored for the Sultanes on a Luis Juarez sacrifice fly, then settled into a pitchers duel with his Monterrey counterpart, Angel Castro, as Rios' counter stood as the only score of the game heading into the bottom of the sixth.  Then the potent Toros offense went to work.

Isaac Rodriguez led off the frame with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jose Guadalupe Chavez and scampered to third when Castro uncorked a wild pitch to Roberto Lopez.  Castro then plunked Lopez to put runners at the corners, bringing up Corey Brown, who singled Rodriguez in to tie the game while Lopez moved to second.  Castro walked Cyle Hankerd to fill the bags and Jorge Cantu followed with a two-run single to left, giving the home team a 3-1 lead.  That was all for Castro, who was replaced by Nick Struck on the hill.  The Oregonian rewarded Monterrey skipper Felix Fermin by retiring Dustin Martin and Juan Apodaca to end the inning.

Tijuana essentially put the game away with a four-run eighth inning against Sultanes closer Wirfin Obispo.  Apodaca hit a two-run, ground-rule double with one out, then scored himself when Alex Liddi belted a two-run homer to left, bringing the score to 7-1.  It was left to Toros closer Jason Urquidez to take the mound in the top of the ninth, and while the Californian did allow a two-out double to Juarez, he induced Daniel Mayora into a groundout to Chavez at short to end the contest.

Ramirez earned the win for Tijuana as the ex-MLBer went seven innings and only allowed that single run in the first, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out four.  Castro was saddled with the loss, showing three earned runs on five hits for his 5.1 innings of work.  Rodriguez had three hits for the Toros while Brown had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.  Juarez had two of Monterrey's five hits, including a double and his RBI sac fly.  A Tijuana crowd of 17,021 looked on, giving the Toros over 30,000 in attendance for Games One and Two.

The series shifts to Monterrey for Sunday's Game Three as the Sultanes try coming back from a 2-games-to-0 deficit.

Toros eliminate Aguascalientes; division championships next

Tijuana outfielder Dustin Martin

Dustin Martin singled in Chris Valencia with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning and closer Jason Urquidez held Aguascalientes scoreless in the ninth, striking out the final two Rieleros batsmen, as the Tijuana Toros scored a 4-3 comeback win over the Railroaders Sunday night in front of 17,608 fans in the border city.

The victory gives the Toros a 4-games-to-2 first round playoff series win over Aguascalientes and a ticket to the Mexican League North Division championship series against Monterrey.  Yucatan and defending champs Puebla will square off in the LMB South championship set.  Both series will open Thursday night.

TIJUANA 4-10-1, Aguascalientes 3-8-1
W-Sandoval (1-0).  L-Merritt (0-1).  Sv-Urquidez (3).  A-17,608.  T-3:02.

Aguascalientes took an early 2-0 lead by scoring single runs in the first and second innings against Toros starter Miguel Pena.  Richy Pedroza lined a one-out single to right field in the opening frame and came all the in from first one out later when longtime vet (and former Rieleros player-manager) Saul Soto rapped a double to left to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.  In the second, Eliezer Ortiz drew a two-out walk off Pena but, with Dave Sappelt batting, appeared to be picked off for the third out.  However, a throwing error by TJ first baseman Jorge Cantu during the ensuing pickle allowed Ortiz to take second.  Sappelt then punched a single through the left side of the infield to bring Ortiz home.

The Toros tied the game at 2-2 by posting single runs of their own in the third and fourth innings.  With Dustin Martin occupying first base, Isaac Rodriguez tapped a double-play grounder to Rieleros starter Yohan Flande, who threw to Pedroza covering second for the first out but Pedroza's relay to Jesse Castillo was off the mark and allowed Rodriguez to scamper to second.  Jose Guadalupe Chavez, who had a great series at the plate, then drove Rodriguez with a single up the middle.  Chavez went 14-of-24 (.583) at the plate over the six-game set, scoring six runs and driving in seven more.  Tijuana's second run came a bit more directly when Corey Brown lofted a solo homer to right off Flande to even the score.

Aguascalientes regained the lead in the sixth on a Carlos Rodriguez solo homer after Pena had opened the inning by whiffing Jose Vargas and Cristhian Presichi, but the contest was knotted back up at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Alex Liddi lined a leadoff homer to left off Rieleros reliever Roy Merritt, a Southern University alum who'd pitched 6.1 solid innings against the Toros in a start four nights earlier.  Liddi displayed a couple of shimmy-shake moves while circling the bases that won't bring him an invite to "Dancing With the Stars" but delighted the Tijuana fans regardless.  Merritt was pulled just before Liddi's next plate appearance in the eighth, but the Texan hurler may file Liddi's trip around the bags in his memory banks for next season.

The game-winning run came in the bottom of the eighth when Cyle Hankerd led off the inning by drilling a double to center.  Valencia was brought in as a pinch-runner to replace Hankerd while Alfredo Amezaga was sent up to the plate as a pinch-hitter for former Florida Marlins teammate Cantu and laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Valencia to third.  Merritt then intentionally walked Juan Apodaca to pitch to Martin, a dangerous hitter but only going 2-for-21 in the series when he strode to the plate.  The strategy failed, as Martin lined a single to left, scoring Valencia from third to put the Toros up by a 4-3 count.  Urquidez then came on in the ninth and after allowing a single by pinch-hitter Edson Garcia, got both Sappelt and Pedroza looking to end the game and series, collecting his third save in Tijuana's four wins in the process.

Chavez finished with a 3-for-4 night at the plate while Hankerd had two hits for the winners.  Aguascalientes, who'd overachieved all season with a dollar-store roster cobbled together by manager Homar Rojas, got two hits apiece from Pedroza and Julian Castro but the Rieleros were unable to overcome the Brown and Liddi homers as well as their own defensive miscues along the way.  Pena went 5.2 innings on the mound for Tijuana, allowing three runs on seven hits, but the win went to reliever Juan Sandoval, who tossed a scoreless eighth before Martin's heroics made him the pitcher of record.  Merritt took the defeat for Aguascalientes after giving up two runs in 2.1 frames out of the bullpen.  Urquidez earned a save in all three of his appearances for the Toros, allowing only Garcia's single and one walk while striking out eight Rieleros in 3.1 innings of work.

Manager Pedro Mere's Toros will now face the Monterrey Sultanes in a rematch of last season's LMB North championship series.  That set, won by Tijuana, lit a match under Monterrey owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz over the Toros' use of Mexican-American players that became a full-blown schism in the offseason.  With Maiz now in the background after selling half the team to the Grupo Multimedios in February, the level of volatility should be ratcheted down a notch but in the Mexican League, one never knows for sure.  We'll all find out starting Thursday.

Molina having standout year in Veracruz, ERA now at 1.41

Veracruz pitcher Nestor Molina

Let's start this story with a proven fact: No matter where he's pitched, Nestor Molina has been a winner.  Throw out a 6-12 season in 2012 while pitching for the White Sox organization, and the Venezuelan right-hander has posted a winning record every year since his pro baseball debut in 2007, with a career MiLB record of 60-28 in his eleventh summer.  Along the way, Molina was a postseason All-Star in the Class A Florida State League after going 10-3 with a 2.58 ERA for the Blue Jays' Dunedin affiliate in 2011 (his first year as a starter) prior to being sent to the Pale Hose that winter in a swap of minor leaguers.  He hasn't backed into that career .682 winning percentage either, registering a 3.13 ERA over 230 appearances, 92 of them starts.

Even with an impressive background like that, the 28-year-old Molina has dialed it up at least one notch this year pitching for the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila.  Molina raised his 2017 Mexican League record to 10-1 after shutting out Tabasco over six innings last Saturday en route to a 3-2 Red Eagles victory in Villahermosa, limiting the Olmecas to four singles while striking out four batsmen.  It marked Molina's tenth straight win after losing an April 8 home game to Leon despite a decent start in which he gave up two Bravos runs in six innings.  Consistency has been a hallmark, with only one of 18 starts not being a "quality" outing when Molina let in four Durango runs on eleven hits in six frames during a May 11 no-decision.  Every time out, he gives the Rojos del Aguila a chance to win.

Last weekend's win over Tabasco lowered Molina's earned-run average to 1.41 on the season, more than a full run better than Tijuana's Carlos Hernandez at 2.44.  His ERA stood at 2.54 after that rocky start against Durango, but he has lowered it in each of his next nine starts over the past two months.  In that stretch, Molina's ERA has been a microscopic 0.42 with with 47 strikeouts and 17 walks over 66 innings.  Molina is second in the Mexican League in strikeouts with 90 whiffs in 121.1 innings, trailing only Monclova's Josh Lowey's 108 punchouts.

Although the Veracruz roster has past and present All-Stars like first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor and outfielder Luis Suarez, Molina is clearly the main reason the Red Eagles have passed the Quintana Roo Tigres into third place in the punchless LMB South with a 37-43 record.  Although being six games under .500 is nothing to write home about, Veracruz might be battling to keep out of the division cellar if manager Eddy Castro couldn't send Molina to the mound every five games.  Instead, they're positioning themselves for the playoffs after finishing sixth in the LMB South in 2016.

Veracruz is one of the Liga's oldest baseball cities.  The Rojos del Aguila predate the Mexican League by more than two decades, making their debut in 1903.  The team is the oldest in the circuit, with six LMB pennants since 1937 while such baseball greats as Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo (who led the Red Eagles to titles in 1937 and 1938), Santos Amaro, Roberto Ortiz, Al Pinkston, Pilo Gaspar, Ramon Arano and Miguel Fernandez have worn Veracruz jerseys.  Jorge Pasquel, who briefly challenged the hegemony of Major League Baseball in the 1940's, was a Veracruzano.  While it's unlikely anyone in the LMB South will challenge Yucatan in the postseason this year (although defending champion Puebla has shown some signs of life lately), Nestor Molina will likely carry the Rojos del Aguilas on his back to their first playoff berth since 2013.

Things have heated up considerably in the North, where Tijuana loosened Monterrey's season-long grip on first place by sweeping the Sultanes at Estadio Monterrey in a midweek series last week before going into Monclova for a weekend series with the red-hot Acereros.  Monclova won the first two games of the series to stretch their winning streak to ten games before the Toros took Sunday's closer, 1-0, as Monclova starter Miguel Pena combined with three relievers for a six-hit shutout.  Corey Brown's fifth-inning double off hardluck Acereros starter Mauricio Lara drove in Isaac Rodriguez with the game's lone run as Pena's record rose to 8-2 while his ERA fell to 3.12.  For their part, Monterrey dropped the first two games of their home series with Mexico City before bouncing back Sunday to blank the Diablos Rojos, 8-0.  Angel Castro tossed seven innings of three-hit ball to go to 10-3 on the season and Ramon Rios cracked a fifth-inning grand slam off Diablos Rojos starter Efren Delgado in the Sultanes win.

The result of all this activity is that Tijuana maintains a tenuous half-game lead over Monterrey while Monclova has moved to three-and-a-half games back in third.  The Aguascalientes Rieleros hold fourth place after winning their first eight games in July before dropping a 5-4 decision to Laguna at home Sunday.  Puro Beisbol editor/columnist Fernando Ballesteros calls the Railroaders "dangerous" because they have more pitching depth than most LMB teams along with solid everyday players like MVP candidate Jesse Castillo, ageless All-Star Saul Soto, outfielder Dave Sappelt and newcomer third baseman Michael Wing, who's hit .441 with five homers in his first 20 games in Rieleros togs.  Suffice to say, nobody wants to face this team in the playoffs.

With former Durango outfielder Yadir Drake and his .385 batting average gone to Japan, the Cuban (who'll barely qualify for the batting title) set the bar for the rest of the Liga's hitters to catch up to.  At this point, Drake's lead in the batting race appears safe.  His former Generales teammate, Daniel Mayora, has moved into a tie with Monterrey's Chris Roberson for second place on the table with .367 averages.  Mayora missed a couple weeks with an injury shortly after his 35-game hitting streak ended, but he's gone 6-for-14 (.429) over three games since his July 6 return.  Tijuana's Brown homered Thursday and Saturday to become the first LMB batsman to reach 20 homers for the season, two ahead of Monclova's Matt Clark and Raniel Rosario of Saltillo.  Brown has also gone 12-of-14 on stolen base attempts and while his .292 average will hamper his MVP aspirations, the former Oklahoma State star has been a linchpin in the Toros lineup this summer.  Yucatan first baseman Ricky Alvarez' 86 RBIs are 12 ahead of Monclova second sacker Manny Rodriguez' 72, while Acereros outfielder Justin Greene is running away with the stolen base title (couldn't resist) with 38 swipes, well ahead of Mexico City speedster Carlos Figueroa's 23.

As mentioned, Veracruz' Molina (10-1/1.41/90K) is on his way to a career year and should be considered the frontrunner for Pitcher of the Year honors by keeping an at-best mediocre Red Eagles team in the playoff hunt.  However, there have been a number of top pitching efforts in the 2017 LMB season.  Former Mets farmhand Octavio Acosta of Mexico City won at Monterrey, 8-1, Saturday for his Liga-leading eleventh win.  The 11-1 Acosta has an ERA of 2.71 with 82 strikeouts in 99.1 innings pitched.  Besides Molina, Monterrey's Castro, Yohan Flande of Aguascalientes and Yucatan ace Yoanner Negrin (2016's Pitcher of the Year) have all reached the 10-win threshold.  Monclova's Lowey is well out in front of Molina in the strikeout derby by a 108-90 margin and Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo has overtaken Durango's injured Tiago da Silva in the saves department.  Obispo has preserved 22 Sultanes wins while da Silva had 20 saves for the Generales before going on the shelf following a two-inning stint at Tijuana on June 11.

Coming up in the Mexican League, it'll be a crossover week as all eight LMB North teams do battle with counterparts in the South.  The most intriguing midweek series appears to be scheduled for Puebla, where the Pericos will host Aguascalientes in a matchup of teams positioning themselves for postseason runs.  The best series next weekend is slated for Torreon, where Union Laguna welcomes Yucatan as both teams owned by the Arellano brothers clash.  It'll be the first game back at Estadio Revolucion for Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez, who was traded to the Leones late last month, touching off a firestorm of criticism among Laguna fans and lower attendance at subsequent Vaqueros home games.  The numbers may rise next weekend but a festive mood is unlikely.

Toros sweep Sultanes in Monterrey, take LMB North lead

The Tijuana Toros knew they had an opportunity as difficult as it was enormous when they traveled to Monterrey for a three-game midweek series against the Sultanes.  Manager Pedro Mere's Toros had been looking up at Monterrey in the Mexican League's North Division standings all season, but Tijuana had whittled the Sultanes' lead down to two-and-a-half games by the time the set opened Tuesday.  The series gave the Bulls a chance to at least narrow the gap a bit, but they were facing a Monterrey team that leads the LMB in batting with a .315 average and had won seven games in a row, including road trip sweeps in both Campeche and Tabasco (where they endured lighting problems at Parque Centenario 27 de Febrero, where just 178 fans attended a doubleheader last Thursday).

The Toros not only accepted the challenge in front of them, they won all three games at Estadio Monterrey to pull a half-game ahead of the Sultanes in the standings.  Tijuana is now 54-26 (the best record in the Liga) while Monterrey fell to 53-26.  Monclova has been a few games back in third in the LMB North, but the Acereros have won their last eight games to pull four-and-a-half games out of the lead in what is shaping up to be a dandy division race over the last month of the regular season schedule.

Tijuana opened the series Tuesday with a 4-3 win as Dustin Martin's ninth-inning leadoff solo homer off reliever Thomas Melgarejo provided the difference.  Martin's blast gave TJ a two-run cushion that was enough to withstand a Monterrey rally in the bottom in the frame when closer Jason Urquidez gave up three hits, including an RBI single by Moises Gutierrez, and had runners on the corners with one out before striking out MVP candidate Chris Roberson and getting Ramon Rios to fly out to Corey Brown in center to end the contest with his 16th save.  Martin, who has struggled his way to a .250 batting average this season, went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice for Tijuana.  The loss wasted a 4-for-4 night for Sultanes' DH Luis Juarez, last winter's Mexican Pacific League batting champion who's hit .447 over his past ten games to raise his LMB season average to .299.  Toros starter Miguel Pena allowed two runs over six innings to go to 7-2 on the year while Angel Castro let in three scores over six frames for Monterrey to fall to 9-3.

The Toros held off Monterrey again on Wednesday night in a 4-3 win over the Sultanes.  Tijuana outhit the home team by a 13-6 margin, leaving ten runners on base, but the key hit of the night was a dribbler to the mound by Jose Guadalupe Chavez in the top of the sixth that enabled Roberto Lopez to come streaking in from third base to give the visitors a 4-2 lead.  Once again, the Sultanes came back to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth when Zoilo Almonte poked a single into right field with runners at the corners to score Walter Ibarra from third, but Urquidez had a 1-2-3 ninth and struck out the last two batters to preserve the TJ lead for his 17th save.  Chavez singled twice and doubled as the Toros' leadoff batter, scoring once in addition to his run-scoring safety and three other Tijuana batters had two hits apiece.  Ibarra and Leo German each had two of Monterrey's six hits (a German double was the Sultanes' lone extra-base hit) as Tijuana starter Manny Barreda (3-6) allowed one run on two hits over six innings, striking out seven.  Monterrey's Jorge Reyes (1-2) was scuffed for ten hits in five frames in the loss, but only let in two runs.

Tijuana had to go into overtime for Thursday night's 8-4 victory to complete the broom job.  The Toros scored single runs in the second (Oscar Robles doubling in Jorge Cantu) and third (Alfredo Amezaga socked a leadoff homer) as the MLB veterans gave the visitors a 2-0 advantage.  Juarez evened the game with a two-run homer in the fourth off TJ starter Horacio Ramirez, another MLB vet,  and then took a 4-2 led two entradas later when Almonte lofted a two-run bomb off Toros reliever Ricky Ramirez, who'd walked Rios to open the inning.  This time, it was Tijuana's turn to come back, scoring once in the eighth on Brown's leadoff homer (his LMB-leading 19th) and knotting the contest in the ninth when Chris Valencia came in from third when Ibarra bobbled a Robles grounder to short.  After a scoreless tenth inning, the Toros put four runs on the board in the top of the eleventh as Martin lined a two-run single off Marco Carrillo to cap the scoring.  Edwin Quirarte came in from the bullpen to retire the Sultanes in order to end the game and series with another Tijuana win.  Chavez, Brown and Robles all had three hits to key the Toros' 17-hit attack, with Brown scoring twice, while Almonte's homer and single represented two of Monterrey's eight hits.  Pedro Villareal pitched a scoreless ninth and tenth for the Toros to earn the win.  Marco Rivas gave up Tijuana's first two runs in the eleventh to absorb the loss for Monterrey.

One interesting aspect of the series was attendance at the 27,000-seat Estadio Monterrey.  The Sultanes lead all of Minor League Baseball in attendance with a 12,047 average per opening and drew 27,529 over the three-game series with Tijuana (all played in triple-digit temperatures), but only 5,232 turned out for Tuesday's game while 6,858 were on hand Wednesday before 15,439 were in the stands for Thursday's finale.  One Puro Beisbol columnist mentioned earlier this week that the Sultanes have regularly given away tickets this season to put more backsides in the seats, but were not giving out free ducats for the tilts with the Toros.  No word on whether the house was papered for the Thursday night game, but it serves as a cautionary tale for teams in any sport who let people into their games for free and hope to make more money on concessions and merchandise sales: After people get used to attending your games for nothing, you run the risk that they'll eventually believe that's what your games are worth.

The Toros will move on to Monclova Friday for a three-game series with the Acereros while the Sultanes welcome the Mexico City Diablos Rojos for a weekend set in Monterrey.

Monterrey, Yucatan continue to lead LMB divisions

It's been a long time since BBM has done a team-by-team weekly wrap.  Five interrupted hours and 1,600+ words after starting to write this, I remember why. It takes a pretty fair amount of time to write capsules for 16 baseball teams.

Even so, it was fun to take a closer look at who's been doing well (or not so well) in the Mexican League as it approaches the midpoint of the 2017 season, with the All-Star Game in Campeche just three weeks away.  Monterrey and Yucatan continue to lead their respective divisions (with both teams opening their leads a bit), there are still 60 games to go in the regular season schedule and if there's anything to be learned about baseball in Mexico in general, it's to expect the unexpected...in other words, there's a lot of season left to play.

With that in mind, let's look at who's doing what at the 50-game mark of the LMB season:

LMB NORTH

MONTERREY (36-13) won 4 of 6 road games in Puebla and Leon to stretch their lead over second-place Tijuana to 4.5 games.  CF Chris Roberson (.380/10HR/35RBI) continues to hit well, as does LF Zoilo Almonte (.361/10/38).  3B Agustin Murillo is batting .360 in 25 games after an injury delayed his season debut until April 28.  Angel Castro beat Leon Saturday to run his LMB-best record to 8-0.  He's won eight straight starts but allowed four earned runs in each of his last three outings.

TIJUANA (32-18) continues to hold second place after winning two of three against the Tigres in Cancun over the weekend.  OF Cyle Hankerd (.339/10/42) is quietly putting together a very strong year in the shadows of Toros power hitters OF Corey Brown (.312/13/51) and 3B Alex Liddi (.269/12/44).  Brown still leads the LMB in homers despite not hitting one out in two weeks.  Tijuana leads the LMB in team ERA without a dominant pitcher, although closer Jason Urquidez (2-0/0.47) is 10-of-10 in save situations.

MONCLOVA (29-21) has won 7 of 8 games since manager Wally Backman was replaced by Jorge Loredo, including two of three in Puebla last weekend.  SS Amadeo Zazueta leads Acereros batters with a .358 average.  2B Manny Rodriguez (.351) has 6 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 steals.  Monclova has four pitchers with 4 wins each.  Jose Oyervides (4-1/3.52) and Mauricio Lara (4-3/3.64) have looked good, but Josh Lowey (4-4/4.58) has won just 1 of his past 5 starts.  Chad Gaudin has 15 saves and a 2.06 ERA.

LAGUNA (29-22) is on a five-game win streak after sweeping Campeche over the weekend.  1B Ricky Alvarez (.332/10/57) had a 4-hit night Friday and leads the LMB in RBIs, but 2B Anderson Hernandez (.344) is just 6-for-37 over his past 10 games.  OF Ethan Chapman (.265/14 steals) is writing a season diary for Sports Spectrum, a Christian magazine.  P Dustin Crenshaw (6-2/4.03) lost at Veracruz last Tuesday, but pitched well his last three start. Edgar Osuna is 0-3 this month after winning his first five starts in April.

AGUASCALIENTES (27-24) split their six-game homestand against Oaxaca and Veracruz last week, beating the Rojos Aguilas two of three in a weekend series.  1B Jesse Castillo (.373) has hit .335 or better the past three seasons with the Rieleros and is among the LMB leaders in homers (12) and RBIs (52).  OF Dave Sappelt has hit .365 in 21 games after he was released by Tabasco in April.  P Roy Merritt (4-1/3.10) has been solid and ex-MLB P Jose Valverde (2-2/2.70/8 saves) has shored up the Aguascalientes bullpen.

MEXICO CITY (27-24) has gone 3-6 over their last three series after threatening to move up in the standings earlier this month.  Vet OF Ivan Terrazas (.343) is looking to top .320 for the eighth time in sine summers with the Diablos while SS Ramon Urias (.326/9/41) is in the midst of a career year.  Ace P David Reyes (3-5/4.88) and former Rookie of the Year Juan Pablo Oramas (1-2/5.84) have both struggled but unsung Octavio Acosta (5-1/3.21) and vet Arturo Lopez (5-1/4,37) have picked up some of the slack.

SALTILLO (21-28) manager Orlando Sanchez was fired earlier this month.  The Saraperos won four games at home against Veracruz and Oaxaca last week under new skipper Fernando Elizondo.  2B Luis Borges (.374) has cooled considerably after leading the Liga with a .417 average two weeks ago but 1B Max Ramirez (.397) is second in the LMB. OF Justin Greene (.343) leads the league with 25 steals.  Ps Frankie de la Cruz (4.29) and Danny Rodriguez (4.63) each have 5 wins, Neither has set the world on fire.

DURANGO (21-30) has won 9 of their last 12 games, winning all four series in the process.  The Generales blew out Tabasco, 23-5, Friday night at home as DH Jairo Perez (.352) went 5-for-6 with two homers and nine RBIs.  OF Yadir Drake (.401/11/45) leads the Liga in hitting as the Cuban refugee is becoming the LMB's feel-good story of the year.  Closer Tiago da Silva (2.28/18 saves) has been the only consistent Durango pitcher as fans across Mexico have apparently embraced the hard-luck team.


LMB SOUTH


YUCATAN (31-18) took 2 of 3 against both Tijuana and Mexico City last week in Merida to strengthen their grip on the Southern Division, drawing nearly 34,000 for the Diablos series.  LF Jesus "Cacao" Valdez (.356) and 2B Jordany Valdespin (.349) top the team's batting table, but this is a typical Leones club with more pitching and defense than offense.  P Yoanner Negrin (6-2/3.79) hasn't dominated as he did in 2016, but Jose Samayoa (6-0/2.25) has been a revelation, winning four straight starts since joining the rotation.

PUEBLA (25-26) dropped a pair of important home series to Monterrey and Monclova to go 2-4 last week. Former A's 1B Dan Johnson (.375) has hit 5 homers in 12 games while ex-MLB OF Endy Chavez (.355) and last year's bat champ C Cesar Tapia (.349) are hitting well but pitching has been problematic, Josh Roenicke (5-3/3.20) notwithstanding. Former Monclova manager Wally Backman is now Von Hayes' bench coach.  The Pericos would be seventh in the LMB North, which says it all about the LMB South.

QUINTANA ROO (23-25) is hard to figure out.  In the past two weeks, the Tigres have swept a series in Monclova, dropped three in Monterrey, won two at home against rivals Mexico City and lost two to Tijuana in Cancun.  Q-Roo's offense is anemic: Last in the LMB with 22 homers, last at 3.94 runs per game and 15th with a .262 average. 3B Brian Hernandez (.339/4/35) and 2B Carlos Gastelum (.333) need help. The pitching's fine, though, fourth in the Liga with a 4.07 ERA. Ageless Pablo Ortega (5-2/2.89) continues to amaze.

VERACRUZ (23-27) lost 4 of 6 games in Saltillo and Aguascalientes last week, but the Rojos Aguilas have won 12 of their last 19 games to climb to fourth.  One reason is newcomer 1B Balbino Fuenmayor (.335/9/32 in 32 games), who's injected power into a lineup of slap-hitters.  Another is RF Luis Suarez (.310), a 20-year vet and lifetime .321 hitter coming off a pair of .242 seasons.  3B Juan Martinez (.324/5/26) has helped, too.  P Nestor Molina (5-1/2.33) leads the Liga in ERA to lead an overmatched mound staff.

OAXACA (22-28), owner Alfredo Harp Helu's "other" team (and, like their counterparts in Mexico City, fielding an all-Mexican roster), hit a rough patch earlier this month by losing 8 of 10 contests between the 11th and 21st before splitting six games last week.  CF Alan Sanchez (.330/4/23), C Erick Rodriguez (.326) and vet DH Mario Valenzuela (.274/6/22) head the offense.  Irwin Delgado (7-2/2.39/69K) has been the top pitcher, with 6'6" Ruddy Acosta (2-3/2.23) throwing well this month after coming off the disabled list.

CAMPECHE (21-30) has lost five in a row (all on the road, including a sweep in Laguna) after starting last week with a win in Durango.  SS Paul Leon (.353/4/24) and 2B Yosmany Guerra (.306) give the Piratas a good keystone duo while 1B Frank Diaz (.302/9/38) and 3B C.J. Retherford (.282/6/26R) provide power from the infield corners.  The pitching no better than so-so.  Rolando Valdez (4-3/3.97) has been the best starter with Francisco Campos (0-2/3.55) hurt most of the year and Oscar Rivera (0-6/6.17) ineffective.

TABASCO (17-33) hasn't done any better under manager Marco Antonio Guzman than they did under Che Reyes.  Waiving OF Dave Sappelt while adding ex-MLB IFs Ronny Cedeno and Carlos Triunfel didn't work out. Signing free agent 2B Jordany Valedspin (.372/32R in 33 games) HAS worked, while OF Alex Romero (.368) and DH Sandy Madera (.340/5/29) are having good years.  None of the 24 pitchers who've thrown for the Olmecas have won more than twice.  In short, another long year in Villahermosa.

LEON (17-34) lost six in a row before surprising LMB-best Monterrey, 6-4, Sunday at home as 2B Carlos Valencia homered after coming off a 50-game drug suspension.  Vet 3B Miguel Torrero (.293) and ex-Phils OF prospect Leandro Castro (.279/10/33) are hitting well and SS Niko Vazquez (.297) has been solid after missing three weeks to injury.  P Mitch Lively (4-1/1.88) was inexplicably moved to the bullpen by manager Luis Rivera after one bad start.  Walter Silva (3-4/2.83) has pitched better than his record shows.

Sultanes win eighth straight as Castro goes to 6-0

The Monterrey Sultanes bashed Durango pitchers for 24 hits and put together a seven-run fourth inning en route to a 15-9 win over the Generales Sunday afternoon at Estadio Francisco Villa in Durango.  The win was the eighth in a row for the Sultanes, who swept the series to take sole possession of first place in the Mexican League North Division with a 28-9 record, including a current win streak of eight games in a row.  Durango fell further into last place in the LMB North at 12-27.

Monterrey starter Angel Castro (pictured), who briefly pitched for Oakland in 2015, picked up the win to go to 6-0 on the season, becoming the first LMB pitcher to cross the six-win threshold.  Castro fairly sailed through the first five innings, tossing shutout ball over the first four frames before giving up a single run in the fifth.  At that point, however, the Sultanes had scored 11 runs so there was little to worry about.  Monterrey had sent twelve batters to the plate in that big fourth inning, scoring seven runs on six singles, two errors and a walk in a baseball version of death by a thousand cuts.  However, Castro ran into his own troubles in the bottom of the sixth, an inning in which eleven Generales hitters came up to bat and plated eight runs to close Durango's deficit to two.

Daniel Mayora opened the sixth by homering off Castro to straightaway center field.  After Jairo Perez reached base on a fielding error by Monterrey third baseman Moises Gutierrez, Yadir Drake singled Perez to second and Jesus Loya's safety up the middle brought Perez home to make it an 11-2 game.  Castro struck out Humberto Castro (no relation) swinging for the first out, then was replaced by Edgar Torres with two runners on after tossing 104 pitches in Castro's first start after a 135-pitch complete game against Laguna on May 9.  Torres continued the struggle, giving up two run-scoring singles, hitting a batter, tossing a wild pitch and serving a three-run homer to Henry A. Rodriguez without recording an out before Monterrey skipper Felix Fermin had seen enough and waved in Marco Carrillo, who got the final two outs after the Sultanes' lead had been cut to 11-9.  A four-run ninth inning keyed by Said Gutierrez' two-run double brought Monterrey's advantage to 15-9 and it was left to closer Wirfin Obispo to retire the Generales without a run in the bottom of the ninth for his sixth save in seven opportunities.

Castro's stat line was anything but pretty (5.1 innings, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 earned runs), but he got the one stat that trumps anything a sabermetrician can come up with: The W, his sixth of the campaign.  Five other LMB pitchers have five wins.  Yucatan ace Yoanner Negrin, Laguna teammates Dustin Crenshaw and Edgar Osuna were unable to pick up a win last week with a similar fate befalling Saltillo's Frankie de la Cruz (who has lost his last two decisions after starting out 5-0).  Negrin's Leones moundmate, Juan Delgadillo, earned his fifth win last Tuesday by hurling five shutout entradas at Campeche to go to 5-1.

Among other LMB pitchers, Leon teammates Walter Silva and Mitch Lively have pitched better than their seventh-place team's record (15-24) indicates and hold the top two berths on the ERA table, Silva at 1.62 and Lively at 1.98 as the only two starters in the Liga with a sub-2.00 ERA.  They've combined for a 7-3 record, which at least implies where the Bravos would be without them.  Oaxaca lefty Irwin Delgado struck out seven Puebla batters over six innings in a loss to the Pericos last Thursday to maintain the lead in strikeouts with 50 in as many innings.  Monclova's Josh Lowey turned in a standout start against a powerful Laguna lineup Saturday night in Torreon, whiffing six Vaqueros over seven shutout innings of three-hit ball to bring his K total to 47 in 44 frames.  Yucatan closer Jairo Asencio has caught up to tie Durango's Tiago da Silva for the saves lead with 12 apiece.  Asencio made 43 appearances out of the bullpen for four MLB teams between 2009 and 2013, but was 0-for-1 in saves opportunities.

One has to feel for da Silva, who's saved every win Durango has picked up this season but hasn't had much opportunity for that with the cellar dwellers.  One bright spot for the Generales is that despite the myriad of problems the franchise faced after moving to Durango from Ciudad Carmen in the offseason (many of them self-inflicted), the team has drawn better than expected crowds since finally playing their first home game two weeks ago after playing their first 27 games on the road.  The Generales drew 11,327 fans for their three-game home set with Monterrey over the weekend to bring their season total to 32,547 over nine games, an average of 3,616 that ranks eighth in the 16-ream circuit.  Conversely, the LMB's other newcomers in Leon rank next-to-last on the attendance table with an average of 2,300 per opening.

Luis Borges of Saltillo has overtaken Monterrey's Chris Roberson for the top slot in the LMB batting race.  The veteran second baseman went 2-for-4 against Tijuana Sunday to raise his average to .417 for the season, two points ahead of Roberson's .415.  Union Laguna second sacker Anderson Hernandez is third at .387.  Tijuana's Corey Brown hit his first homer in ten days Sunday at Saltillo to bring his Liga-leading total to 13, two more than teammate Alex Liddi and three up on both Roberson and Jesus Castillo of Aguascalientes.  Brown has also been duelling with Laguna's Ricky Alvarez for the RBI lead, with the latter holding a 46-45 advantage after the weekend.  Castillo is just behind in third with 44 ribbies.  Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene had a great week on the basepaths, stealing six bases over his last six games to bring his season swipes total to 17, well ahead of the 10 apiece by Laguna's Ethan Chapman, Quintana Roo's Freddy Guzman, Dustin Martin of Tijuana and Saltillo shortstop Christian Zazueta.

While Monterrey holds first place in the LMB North with a 28-9 record, Tijuana is only a game-and-a-half behind at 27-11.  The two combatants have created a bit of breathing room between themselves and the rest of the pack, with Monclova and Union Laguna seven games out of the lead at 22-17.  Five of the LMB North's eight teams have winning records while Aguascalientes is a game below .500 at 19-20.  In the LMB South, on the other hand, Yucatan is the only team with more wins than losses.  The Leones have won seven of their last ten games to bring their season mark to 25-13, good enough for a seven-game bulge over 18-20 Oaxaca and 17-19 Quintana Roo.  Defending champion Puebla and Campeche are tied for fourth with identical 18-21 records.

In upcoming games, the biggest midweek series will feature a battle of divisional leaders when Yucatan visits Estadio Monterrey for three games against the Sultanes.  The Leones will move to Monclova Friday to open a series against the Acereros in what looks to be the most intriguing set next weekend.

MEXICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS (as of May 15, 2017)
LMB NORTH: Monterrey 28-9, Tijuana 27-11, Monclova 22-17, Union Laguna 22-17, Mexico City 21-18, Aguascalientes 19-20, Saltillo 15-22, Durango 12-27
LMB SOUTH: Yucatan 25-13, Oaxaca 18-20, Quintana Roo 17-19, Campeche 18-21, Puebla 18-21, Veracruz 17-21, Leon 15-24, Tabasco 12-26

Pitchers Osuna, De La Cruz, Crenshaw each record 5th wins

Although April only ended Sunday and the Mexican League is just over four weeks into its 2017 season, three Liga pitchers have already attained their fifth wins of the young campaign.  Union Laguna moundmates Edgar Osuna (pictured) and Dustin Crenshaw are joined by Saltillo starter Frankie de la Cruz as the LMB's co-wins leaders heading into the month of May.

Osuna and Crenshaw are two reasons the Vaqueros  are in a virtual three-way tie with Monterrey (17-8) and Tijuana (18-9) for first place in the LMB North with an 18-9 record.  Although Laguna's battering-ram offense led by 1B Ricky Alvarez (.390 with 8 homers and 40 RBIs) and 2B Anderson Hernandez (.390) has given their pitching staff a lot of cushion, the 5-0 Osuna has more than held up his end of the bargain by winning all five of his starts and leading the LMB with an ERA of 1.61 over 28 innings.  The 29-year-old lefty from Mazatlan won his most recent start last last Thursday by holding the potent Monclova offense scoreless on five hits in five innings in a 6-5 win at Estadio Monclova during which rookie manager Ramon Orantes left Vaqueros closer Esmailin Caridad in for the entire bottom of the ninth as the Acereros posted all five of their runs on six hits and had a man on first with one out before Antonio Lamas tapped into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play.

Crenshaw has needed the Union Laguna offensive support more in compiling his 5-1 record in six starts, although he did toss a five-hit shutout against visiting Durango last Friday in a 9-0 whitewash in Torreon, of course (since the fading Generales still have yet to play a home date).  Crenshaw's season ERA of 4.74 isn't the most impressive but when you have a lineup averaging .315 and 7.85 runs per game, you've got some elbow room to work with.  Crenshaw has exhibited good control by issuing just five walks in 38 innings.  The 6'5" righty attended South Alabama and spent four years in indy ball and was 14-2 for St. Paul of the American Association before joining the Vaqueros last season (going 8-2 with a 2.20 ERA in 12 starts).

Meanwhile, de la Cruz has spun his magic for a Saltillo team that was 13-12 before Sunday's game in Aguascalientes.  The 33-year-old Dominican right-hander is in his 16th year of pro ball, spending MLB time along the way with Detroit, Florida, San Diego and Milwaukee between 2007 and 2011.  The well-travelled de la Cruz has also pitched in Japan and Italy (turning in a 3-4 record and 2.65 ERA in Nettuno last summer) before signing with the Saraperos one day before their season opener.  He put together five quality starts out the chute for Saltillo and his 2.08 ERA was eighth on the Liga table before he was pounded for eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in five innings in a 10-5 loss in Aguascalientes.  He's now at 3.40 per nine.

While three teams are locked into the LMB North lead, 16-10 Yucatan has opened a two-and-a-half game advantage over 14-13 Puebla in the LMB South while 13-13 Oaxaca is three games back.  Both Liga newcomers have struggled of late, as Durango has lost seven of their last ten games to fall to last in the North at 11-16 while Leon's 2-8 mark over their most recent 10-game stretch dropped the Broncos into seventh place in the South with a 10-17 record.

Monterrey centerfielder Chris Roberson has regained the Mexican League batting table lead with a .443 average, two points up on Saltillo second baseman Luis Borges.  Tijuana outfielder Corey Brown has homered in five straight games and six of his last seven to take the Liga lead in that category with 10 on the season, just ahead of Toros teammate Alex Liddi's nine longballs.  Brown is also second in the circuit with 38 RBIs, trailing only Laguna first baseman Ricky Alvarez' 41.  Saltillo outer gardener Justin Greene still leads the LMB with 10 stolen bases (Laguna outfielder Ethan Chapman and Tijuana's Dustin Martin both have seven), but Greene hasn't swiped a bag in his last five contests.

As mentioned, Osuna, Crenshaw and de la Cruz each have five wins going into the May calendar while Osuna tops the loop in ERA.  Oaxaca's Irwin Delgado, a 5'9" lefty from Mexicali, struck out eight Quintana Roo batters over 6.2 innings in a Friday night win at home against the Tigres to surpass Monclova's Josh Lowey for the strikeouts lead by a 39-35 margin (de la Cruz is third with 31).  Durango closer Tiago da Silva saw his string of eleven saves in as many appearances at the start of the season snapped, but his eleven saves still top the list by three over Jairo Asencio of Yucatan.

Among the eight month-opening series scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, the biggest will take place in Torreon when Union Laguna hosts Monterrey in a battle of LMB North co-leaders.  The Sultanes then return home to Estadio Monterrey for a weekend set with the other current co-leader, the Monclova Acereros.  The most-anticipated series of the week may be in Durango, where the vagabond Generales may finally play their home opener against Monclova Tuesday after spending the entire first month of the season living out of their suitcases while renovations on Estadio Francisco Villa have lurched on.  Manager Joe Alvarez' showed much pluck at the schedule's outset but have shown signs of road wear recently.  Here's hoping the Generales finally get to play in front of fans in Durango and start living normal lives (in a baseball sense).  As easy as it's been to poke fun of the people running the team, it's been hard to watch players and coaches endure the odyssey they've faced through no fault of their own.  How do you not root for these guys?

Mexican League standings as of May 1, 2017
NORTHERN DIVISION: Monterrey 17-8, Tijuana 18-9, Laguna 18-9, Mexico City 15-12, Monclova 14-13, Saltillo 13-13, Aguascalientes 13-14, Durango 11-16
SOUTHERN DIVISION: Yucatan 16-10, Puebla 14-13, Oaxaca 13-13, Campeche 11-16, Veracruz 11-16, Quintana Roo 10-15, Leon 10-17, Tabasco 8-18

LMB Schedule for May 2-4, 2017
Monclova at Durango, Monterrey at Laguna, Mexico City at Saltillo, Tijuana at Aguascalientes, Puebla at Tabasco, Veracruz at Quintana Roo,  Campeche at Leon, Oaxaca at Yucatan

LMB schedule for May 5-7, 2017
Aguascalientes at Mexico City, Laguna at Durango, Monclova at Monterrey, Saltillo at Tijuana, Campeche at Puebla, Oaxaca at Quintana Roo, Veracruz at Yucatan, Tabasco at Leon