Sultanes, Pericos advance; Rieleros tie series with Toros

Monterrey IF Agustin Murillo, during his 2015 stay in Japan

The Monterrey Sultanes and Puebla Pericos completed four-game sweeps of their respective Mexican League division semifinal playoff series Thursday night, the Yucatan Leones took the lead after Game Three of their tilt following Wednesday's rainout in Leon and the fourth-seed Aguascalientes Rieleros tied their series with LMB North champion Tijuana with a big win at home in Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez.

Agustin Murillo's two run single in the sixth inning paced Monterrey's 6-3 series-clinching win in Monclova as the Sultanes advanced to the LMB North championship series, Andres Meza and three relievers combined to blank Quintana Roo, 2-0, as the Pericos scored twice in the ninth to break up a scoreless contest in Cancun, Jose Aguilar's two-run homer highlighted a three-run second in Yucatan's 5-1 win at Leon to take a 3-to-0 lead in that set and a two-run Jose Vargas double was the centerpiece of Aguascalientes' go-ahead, three-run sixth in a series-knotting 3-2 win over the Toros.

With two opening-round series concluded, two games are on the schedule Friday night as Yucatan plays at Leon while Tijuana concludes their three-game visit to Aguascalientes.

Monterrey 6-12-0, MONCLOVA 3-7-0
W-J. Reyes (1-0).  L-M. Lara (0-1).  Sv-Obispo (2).  A-8,500.  T-3:25.
The Sultanes and Acereros were in a 1-1 deadlock until the top of the sixth inning, when Monterrey scored three times to take the lead for good en route to a 6-3 win.  Walter Ibarra singled in Jesus Montero in the second to give the visitors the first run of the game, but Monclova tied it up in the fourth when Carlos Quentin came in from third on Tim Torres' two-out safety.  Veteran infielder Agustin Murillo broke the game open with a two-run single up the middle in the top of the sixth for Monterrey, with Ibarra adding another run-scoring single to post the Sultanes a 4-1 advantage.  The Acereros made it a one-run game in the bottom of the frame when Jose Amador's tripled plated one score and a Torres single brought in another, but that's as close as Monclova got.  Daniel Mayora had two singles and a double to drive in two runs and score another for Monterrey, who completed a four-game sweep.  Jorge Reyes gave up three runs in 5.2 innings for the win.  Mauricio Lara (5.2 IP, 4 ER) took the loss for the Acereros.

AGUASCALIENTES 3-7-2, Tijuana 2-6-1
W-Romero (1-0).  L-M. Serrano (0-1).  Sv-E. Salas (1).  A-5,899.  T-3:02.
The surprising Rieleros, who lost 7 of 9 games to Tijuana during the regular season (including two series sweeps), evened up their division semi set with the Toros with a 3-2 Game Four win at home.  Starters Horacio Ramirez of Tijuana and Aguascalientes' Francisco Moreno traded zeros through four innings before the Toros' Jose Guadalupe Chavez singled in Juan Apodaca with the game's first run in the top of the fifth.  The Railroaders took the lead in the sixth when Jose Vargas' double brought in two runs and a Cristhian Presichi single scored Vargas from second, giving the hosts a 3-1 lead.  Cyle Hankerd's two-out solo homer in the eighth brought Tijuana within a run.  The Toros had two runners on base in the ninth with one down when Roberto Lopez belted what looked to be a sure homer until Dave Sappelt made a leaping catch at the right field wall for the second out.  Edwin Salas then got Oscar Robles to hit a game-ending groundout to second.  Presichi singled twice to lead the Rieleros' seven-hit attack while Apodaca and Corey Brown both hit two singles for Tijuana.  Moreno gave up one run in five innings to earn the win.

Puebla 2-10-0, QUINTANA ROO 0-8-2
W-J. Felix (1-0).  L-Barron (0-1).  Sv-Heath (2).  A-5,306.  T-3:07.
The Pericos closed out their sweep of the Tigres with a 2-0 Game Four shutout during which Puebla starter Andres Meza blanked Quintana Roo on six hits over 5.1 innings and relievers Mario Morales, Julio Felix and Deunte Heath carried the whitewash to its conclusion.  For his part, Tigres hurler Misael Siverio threw six scoreless innings, allowing six hits.  The scorer was unbothered until the top of the ninth, when Puebla's Hector Garanzuay singled in the game's first run and Cesar Tapia came in from third on Sergio Perez' fielder's choice groundout to Tigres reliever Raul Barron.  Heath retired the hosts in order with two strikeouts on 19 pitches to seal the win for the Pericos.  The series sweep serves as delicious irony for Puebla fans who saw 20+ members of their 2016 pennant winners transferred to Monclova in the offseason after owner Gerardo Benavides bought the Acereros, who were founded in 1974 by Benavides' grandfather.  The loaded Steelers ended up getting swept by Monterrey while manager Tim Johnson's scrappy Pericos move on to the LMB South title series.

Yucatan 5-8-0, LEON 1-3-0
W-Samayoa (1-0).  L-Lively (0-1).  A-6,238.  T-2:25.
One night after Wednesday's rainout in Leon, Yucatan built a 4-0 third inning lead and went on the top the Bravos, 5-1, to take a 3-games-to-0 lead in their LMB South semifinal series.  The Leones went up 3-0 in the top of the second inning when Yuniesky Betancourt's run-scoring sacrifice fly was followed by a two-out, two-run homer by Jose Aguilar off Leon starter Mitch Lively.  Yucatan's Leo Heras led off the third with a double, then came in on Diego Madera's single to put the Lions up four runs.  The Bravos' lone tally came in the bottom of the fifth when Niko Vasquez doubled off Yucatan starter Jose Samayoa and scored one out later on a Miguel Torrero single.  Ricky Alvarez' solo homer in the ninth provided the Leones their final margin of victory.  Samayoa carried a no-hitter into the sixth to earn the win as the righty combined with three relievers to limit Leon to three hits on the night.  Lively gave up four runs on seven hits in 6.2 frames to absorb the loss.  The Liga's regular season RBI champ Alvarez homered and doubled, scoring twice for the Leones.

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE
Yucatan (Castellanos, 7-5, 4.73) at Leon (Silva, 8-9, 3.07)
Tijuana (C. Hernandez, 10-2, 2.67) at Aguascalientes (del Rosario, 4-6, 3.71)
Stats are from regular season. Matchups provided by Puro Beisbol.

Rieleros halt TJ win streak at 16; Vargas, Soto split 4 HRs

Aguascalientes DH/1B Saul Soto

Jose Vargas and Saul Soto each swatted a pair of homers Friday night to power the Aguascalientes Rieleros to a 10-3 victory over Tijuana, stopping the Toros' Mexican League season-best winning streak at 16 games.  The borderites had swept five consecutive series (four against LMB South foes plus a huge midweek set against Monterrey) before the Railroaders ended the skein in front of 5,127 fans at Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez in Aguascalientes.

The Rieleros were trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.  Soto and Vargas led off the bottom of the second with back-to-back homers off Tijuana's Manny Barreda, making his first start since a July 16 no-hitter against Tabasco. The Toros got one run back in the third when Chris Valencia singled Roberto Lopez in from third, then took the lead in the top of the fourth on RBI singles by Alex Liddi and Gabriel Gutierrez.  Aguascalientes then regained the advantage for good with four runs in the bottom of the frame as Vargas passed TJ's Corey Brown for the LMB lead with his 23rd homer on another solo blast and the hosts got consecutive run-scoring safeties from Gennaro Andrade, Dave Sappelt and Richy Pedroza to go up 6-3 and the rout was on.

Ironically, Soto (who'd go on to belt his second homer of the night in the sixth, a two-run shot) led off the fourth by grounding out and closed it by popping out to Jorge Cantu at first.  By swatting his 10th and 11th homers, the nine-time All-Star reached double figures in roundtrippers for the seventh consecutive season and the 14th time in 16 seasons.  Soto hit the 250th homer of his 20-year Liga career July 15 in Leon and surpassed 1,000 RBIs earlier this season.  A career .304 batsman, the Los Mochis native (who turns 39 on August 11) is hitting .330 this year.

Vargas and longtime veteran outfielder Cristhian Presichi, who was celebrating his 37th birthday, each had four hits for Aguascalientes while Sappelt contributed three.  A career .313 hitter, Presichi is in his 18th LMB season.  Barreda absorbed his seventh loss in eleven decisions after giving up six runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings.  Roy Merritt gave the Rieleros a decent start in allowing two earned runs in 4.1 entradas, but it was Roby Romero (5-2) who got the win after going 1.1 frames in relief.

The Toros rebounded from Friday's loss with a 6-3 win Saturday behind Horacio Ramirez' seven innings of two-run pitching before the Rieleros closed the series Sunday by holding off Tijuana 6-5 (although Brown tied Vargas by whacking HIS 23rd homer) to win two of three against manager Pedro Mere's 71-30 team.  Mere has been mentioned as a potential candidate to become the Jalisco Charros' helmsman during the upcoming Mexican Pacific League winterball season, set to start in October.  Edgar Gonzalez has stepped down as skipper in Guadalajara to take a front office position with the team.

LMB hitters are still playing catchup to former Durango outfielder Yadir Drake's set-in-stone .385 batting average but the clock is ticking with nine games left in the regular season.  Monterrey's Daniel Mayora remains closest at .375 but the Durango exile hasn't played since going 1-for-6 against Veracruz on July 20. Mayora isn't on the Sultanes' reserve list and no cause for his absence has been discovered online. Aguascalientes' Vargas tops the home run list with 23 over 73 games, one ahead of Tijuana's Corey Brown's 22 longballs.  Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez reached the century mark in RBIs with an eighth-inning single in Leon last Thursday. He now has 102.  Rainel Rosario of Saltillo drove in runs in seven consecutive games (including a four-ribbie night Saturday in Monclova) to move into second behind Alvarez with 90 RBIs. Monclova centerfielder Justin Greene stole a base in Mexico City last Tuesday to bring his season total to 46 thefts, well in front of the 27 each of the Diablos' Carlos Figueroa and Christian Zazueta of Saltillo.  He also leads the loop with 21 times caught stealing.  Greene was given permission to go home to South Carolina to attend to family issues, but is expected back in time for the playoffs.

Octavio Acosta won his LMB-leading 13th game in 14 decisions for Mexico City in Durango Friday despite letting in five runs in 6.2 innings.  The Guasave righty has allowed eight runs over 12 innings in his last two starts, putting his ERA at 3.01 for the season.  Conversely, Veracruz' Nestor Molina allowed no earned runs in seven innings against Tabasco last Thursday, yet lost the 1-0 contest on an unearned first-inning run. Despite seeing his record drop to 11-2, Molina's ERA also fell to 1.54 for the year.  Molina recorded nine strikeouts to make it 113 whiffs in 140.2 innings for 2017, trailing only the 128 of Monclova's Josh Lowey.  Last season's strikeout king punched out nine Saltillo batters in seven innings of shutout pitching Saturday.  Monclova closer Chad Gaudin leads with 27 saves.  Gaudin had a rare bad outing Saturday trying to preserve the win for Lowey, instead giving up three ninth-inning runs to blow the save AND absorb the loss in a 6-5 defeat after the Acereros led 5-0 heading into the eighth inning.

Even after losing two of three in Aguascalientes, Tijuana still has a comfortable six-and-a-half-game lead over Monterrey in the LMB North standings and sit eight games ahead of Monclova while the Rieleros are solidly in fourth place, eleven games out of first.  Yucatan won two of three in Puebla over the weekend to open their LMB South lead over the defending champion Pericos to nine-and-a-half games.  Well behind the two leaders are the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila, who sit a half-game ahead of Quintana Roo in third place while Leon is two games back of the Tigres in fifth.

The LMB's most important upcoming midweek series takes place when Monterrey hosts Aguascalientes for three games.  The Rieleros will move on to Monclova Friday for a set with the Steelers, but the bigger trio of games may be in Mexico City when the Diablos Rojos welcome Union Laguna to Estadio Fray Nano. The Diablos and Vaqueros are in a down-to-the-wire battle for fifth place in the North, earning a one-game playoff at the division's fourth-place finisher (currently the Rieleros) for an LMB semifinal berth.  Tijuana and Yucatan clinched postseason slots over the weekend.

MEXICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS as of July 31, 2017
LMB North: Tijuana 71-30, Monterrey 64-36, Monclova 62-37, Aguascalientes 60-41, Union Laguna 53-47, Mexico City 52-48, Durango 41-59, Saltillo 40-59.
LMB South: Yucatan 60-36, Puebla 53-48, Veracruz 43-54, Quintana Roo 42-54, Leon 40-56, Campeche 38-59, Oaxaca 36-63, Tabasco 35-63.

BBM Winterball 2015-16 Review, Part 2

Mexico’s “second” winter circuit, the Veracruz Winter League, played a short regular season that involved the LIV’s six teams playing 30-game schedules in December before embarking on January’s playoffs.  The Paso de Ovejas Campesino won the season title with a 19-10-1 record, two games up on the Acayucan Tobis at 15-10-1.  The Tobis went on to win the pennant by beating Xalapa in five games in the championship series, breaking the Los Tuxtlas Brujos’ string of four consecutive flags.

After winning their first title in ten LIV winters, Acayucan represented Mexico at the Latin American Series in Managua against champions from Panama, Colombia and host Nicaragua.  The Tobis posted a strong 9-3 opening day win over Colombia’s Barranquilla Caimanes on January 26 before dropping their final two round-robin stages games and losing a 1-0 semifinal play-in game against Barranquilla despite tournament rules clearly stating than in the event of a tie, the nod would go to whoever had won their first-round matchup.  

Veteran baseballist Cristhian Presichi, a longtime Mexican Leaguer, led the loop’s batters with a .407 average for Paso de Ovejas, Tuxtla Gutierrez’ Carlos Rodriguez was tops with 7 homers and 32 ribbies.  Campesinos hurler Angel Araiza and the Tobis' Juan Grijalva topped the loop with 4 wins each, Los Tuxtlas' Joel Payamps turned in an 0.82 ERA and Raul Carrillo of Palenque posted 39 strikeouts.

There are two other winter pro leagues in Mexico.  While the Mexican Pacific League may be considered AAA in quality and the Veracruz Winter League regarded a AA circuit, the Mexican Winter League is the country’s Class A vernal loop while the Mexican League-operated Academy League goes from being an A league in summer to a Rookie league for the winter.

The Mexican Winter League, or LIM, rose from the ashes of the now-defunct Northwest Baseball League, a Nayarit-based confederation that folded last year after eight seasons.  The LIM, also overseen by the Liga (as is every play-for-pay league in Mexico outside the LMP), moved its six-team operation eastward toward Mexico CIty, mainly in the central Mexican states of Guanajuato and Aguascalientes.

The first winter of LIM competition saw the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (augmented by players contracted to the Oaxaca Guerreros) defeat the Salamanca Petroleros, 4 games to 3, in the playoff final.  Former Diablos outfielder VIctor Bojorquez managed Mexico City to a 40-22 record and a first-place finish during the regular season before longtime Red Devils shortstop Jose Luis Sandoval piloted the squad through the playoffs, culminating in Mexico City’s 9-5 Game Seven win over the Petroleros on January 20 in front of 4,669 at Estadio Fray Nano in the nation’s capital.

Guanajuato’s Manuel Cruz led the LIM with a .414 and 12 homers while Mexico City’s Jose Martinez drove in 47 runs.  Diablos hurlers Filiberto Baez and Jesus Anguamea tied for the league lead with 7 wins apiece, teammate Ariel Gracia was tops with 67 strikeouts and a 2.85 ERA.

Finally, there’s the Academy Rookie League, consisting of Mexican League prospects housed together at the LMB’s training facility near Monterrey.  The Academy League runs a more ambitious “Class A” schedule from late March through July, but the LIA, which consists of four shared teams and one solely stocked with youngsters under contract with Saltillo, runs a shorter eight-week slate of doubleheaders between October and December, with teams playing about 27 games each.  As in the LIM, a team shared by the Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca won the LIA crown by going 21-4-2.

Now that the dust has settled on a full plate of winter leagues and games, we can all allow ourselves a breath, but only a short one because spring training is getting underway and Mexico’s five summer pro leagues will be warming up before you know it.  That’s one of the beauties of Mexican baseball:  There is no such thing as an offseason.

Tobis win LIV crown, berth in Latin American Series

The Acayucan Tobis defeated the Xalapa Chileros, 2-1, Tuesday night to clinch the Veracruz Winter League championship series, 4 games to 1, and punch their ticket to next week's Latin American Series at Dennis Martinez National Stadium in Managua Nicaragua.  This marks the first pennant in the ten-year LIV history of the Tobis, a Tabasco Olmecas farm team, while breaking a string of four straight pennants for the Los Tuxtlas Brujos under manager Pedro Mere.

In Tuesday's deciding game, Jose Castaneda put Acayucan on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning by doubling in Pedro Diaz with the first run of the tilt.  Luis Fonseca tied it up at 1-1 by belting a solo homer for Xalapa in the bottom of the fourth.  The teams then swapped zeroes until Castenda cracked a bases-empty homer of his own in the top of the ninth off Chileros reliever Jon Sintes to put the Tobis on top, 2-1.  Raul Barron then tossed a scoreless ninth for Acayucan for the win and the flag.

Veteran Cristhian Presichi, who homered for Mexico against Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, won the LIV regular season batting title with a .420 average for the first-place Paso de Ovejas Campesinos, who finished with a 19-10-1 record (two games up on Acayucan's 15-10-1 mark) while Tuxtla Gutierrez' Carlos Rodriguez tied for the league lead with 7 homers and led the circuit with 32 RBI's.  Campesinos hurler Angel Araiza and the Tobis' Juan Grijalva topped the loop with 4 wins each, Los Tuxtlas' Joel Payamps turned in an 0.82 ERA and Raul Carrillo of Palenque posted 39 strikeouts.

The fourth Latin American Series will open in Managua on Tuesday, January 26 at 1:30PM local time when Acayucan faces either the Lorica Caimanes or Monteria Leones, who are locked up in the Colombian League title series (the Caimanes lead, 3 games to 1).  Nicaraguan host Rivas Gigantes will take on the Panamanian champs in the nightcap.  The Panama Nacionales lead the Metrolotican Aguilas, 2 games to 1, in their best-of-five battle for that berth.

The four teams will play a three-day, six-game round robin next Tuesday through Thursday.  After a day off on Friday, January 29, the second and third seeds will play a semifinal game on the 30th for the right to play the top seed Sunday the 31st for the Serie Latinoamericana crown.  Colombia's Monteria Leones the defending champion. The 2017 event will be held in Xalapa.