YAQUIS TOP MOCHIS IN GAME 7, VS. JALISCO IN FINALS

After dropping the first two games of their Mexican Pacific League playoff semifinal series in Los Mochis, the Obregon Yaquis fought back and won the final two tilts of the set (also on the road) to beat the Caneros, 4 games to 3, reaching the championship series against Jalisco, who topped Mazatlan in five contests in the other semi matchup.  As might be deduced, however, the Yaquis didn't win the easy way.

Obregon Yaquis pitcher Francisco Rodriguez

Obregon was able to tie the series at two games apiece by winning last Monday and Tuesday.  In Game Three at Nuevo Estadio Yaquis, Jose Aguilar lined a single to center field off Andres Avila to score Yordanys Linares from second in the bottom of the tenth inning for a walkoff 4-3 win over the Caneros.  Obregon carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the ninth before Rudy Amador, Esteban Quiroz and Leandro Castro each socked solo homers off Yaquis closer Maikel Cleto to tie the game and set the stage for Aguilar's heroics in the next frame.  Obregon knotted the series one night later with a 2-0 shutout over the Caneros with Francisco Rodriguez and three relievers combining on a 3-hitter.  Rodriguez, who pitched for the Los Angeles Angels in 2010 and 2011, gave up two hits in 5.1 frames for the win as Victor Mendoza's two-run single in the bottom of the first against Mochis starter Danny Rodriguez provided all the scoring Obregon would need.  The Caneros regained the series lead on Wednesday with a whitewash of their own, a 4-0 triumph behind the pitching of Ariel Pena (who scattered three hits and struck out 10 over six innings) and three relievers.  Diory Hernandez' RBI double in the bottom of the fourth broke a scoreless tie and Saul Soto rapped a two-run single to give Los Mochis a 3-0 lead while Jonathan Jones added a leadoff homer one inning later for insurance.  Hernandez and Quiroz had three hits each for the winners while Dustin Martin had two of the Yaquis' five hits.

The series shifted to Los Mochis, where the Caneros needed just one win to punch their ticket to the finals.  They never got it, as Obregon won Friday's Game Six by a 4-3 count to tie the semis at three games each.  The Yaquis scored all four of their runs in the top of the first off Yoanis Quiala, who gave up a two-run double to Mendoza in a 32-pitch inning.  Los Mochis plated three scores of their own in the third off Yoanner Negrin with Quiroz providing the key blow with a two-run single.  Negrin settled down and eventually earned the win while Quiala absorbed the loss.  Santiago Gutierrez pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit relief in defeat for the Caneros after replacing Quiala in the second.  The Yaquis, who missed the postseason the previous two winters, advanced to the finals by winning Saturday's Game Seven, 6-2, as Rodriguez tossed 5.1 innings of two-run ball for his second win in five nights.  Obregon built an early 3-0 lead against Caneros starter Jaime Lugo, although the first two were unearned via a wild pitch and an error, and steadily pulled away.  Linares, Julio Valdez and Isaac Paredes combined for six hits, four runs and two RBIs to account for all the Yaquis' scoring as Obregon capped their series comeback with two consecutive wins away from home.

Jalisco Charros infielder Jose Amador

The Yaquis will face a well-rested opponent in the Jalisco Charros, who reached their first LMP title series in five winters after beating Mazatlan in five games.  After Jalisco won the first two games in Mazatlan, the Venados won a rain-delayed Game Three, 7-3, in Guadalajara.  The contest was tied at 2-2 Monday night before rain forced the game to be carried over to Tuesday, when Mazatlan posted four runs in the fifth as Ramon Rios and Asael Sanchez had run-scoring singles and Edson Garcia contributed a two-out, two-run single off Jalisco hurler Manuel Flores.  Rios finished with three hits (two of them doubles), two runs and two RBIs in what would be the Venados' lone win of the series.  The Charros' Japhet Amador powered a two-run homer off Irwin Delgado in the second. 

Jalisco then won the next two games at home, starting with Wednesday's 6-3 triumph thanks to a five-run bottom of the first (four scores coming with two out, two on an Agustin Murillo fly ball to right that was muffed by Edson Garcia, allowing Amador and Henry Urrutia to cross the plate.  Jalisco's Orlando Lara pitched six innings and allowed one run for his second win of the series while batterymate Gabriel Gutierrez socked a solo homer off Venados starter Konner Wade in support.  Sebastian Valle and Anthony Giansanti both went deep for Mazatlan.  The Charros closed out their semi in Thursday's Game Five, 10-6, as Jalisco overcame an early 2-0 deficit by scoring runs in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.  Jose Amador (no relation to Japhet) paced the 15-hit Horsemen attack by going 3-for-5 with a pair of two-run homers while Murillo also belted a longball for the winners.  Valle and Giansanto homered again for Mazatlan in defeat while Rios added three hits and two ribbies.

After Obregon and Jalisco closed out their Final Four wins, both took part in a reinforcement draft Saturday.  The Yaquis took a pair of second basemen in Los Mochis' Quiroz and Mazatlan's Rios while the Charros took starting pitchers Manny Barreda from Culiacan and Los Mochis' Quiala.  Quiroz is perhaps more versatile than Rios, with about as many games at third base and shortstop as at second, and he would give Yaquis manager Sergio Gastelum more options.  Barreda was not chosen in the previous two reinforcement drafts despite finishing second to Jalisco's Elian Leyva, the LMP Pitcher of the Year, with a 2.65 ERA.  He started one game for the Anzoategui Caribes in the Venezuelan League semifinals last week, getting rocked by the Caracas Leones for four runs on six hits in 1.1 innings, but returned to North America after the Caribes were eliminated.

The MexPac championship series will open Monday night in Guadalajara at 9:15 Eastern as the Charros host Obregon.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Championship Series
Game 1  Monday, January 21 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco
Game 2  Tuesday, January 22 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco
Game 3  Thursday, January 24 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon
Game 4  Friday, January 25 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon
Game 5  Saturday, January 26 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon*
Game 6  Monday, January 28 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco*
Game 7  Tuesday, January 29 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco*
*-if necessary.  All times Eastern.


MANNY RODRIGUEZ REPEATS AS LMP MVP, LEYVA PITCHER OF YEAR

LMP Most Valuable Player Manny Rodriguez

Jalisco Charros second baseman Manny Rodriguez has been selected as the Mexican Pacific League's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season and the third time in his winterball career.  The 36-year-old Guasave native earned 74 of 117 votes, or 63.25% of ballots cast by journalists covering the LMP.  Los Mochis outfielder Leandro Castro came in a distant second with 15 votes (12.82%), followed by league batting champ Francisco Peguero of Hermosillo with 13 votes (11.11%), Obregon slugger Jesus Valdez (11 votes, 9.40%) and Navojoa's LMP home run king Jovan Rosa (4 votes, 3.42%).

Rodriguez was eighth in the MexPac with a .313 batting average and led the loop with 52 RBIs, his 80 hits were one behind Hermosillo's Jasson Atondo, he tied Castro for third in the LMP with 13 homers and matched Los Mochis' Isaac Rodriguez with 41 runs scored (ten behind leader Alonzo Harris of Navojoa).  With his third MVP trophy, the Jalisco team captain now trails only the legendary Hector Espino, who won six such awards over his MexPac career.

LMP Pitcher of the Year Elian Leyva

The LMP league office has named other award-winners for the 2018-19 regular season, including Rodriguez' teammate Elian Leyva as Pitcher of the Year.  Although the Cuban-born Leyva did not receive a single MVP vote, the Charros' right-hander led or tied for the circuit lead in several pitching categories including wins (6), earned-run average (2.02), strikeouts (67) and WHIP (1.08).  He became only the fifth man in MexPac history to cop the Pitching Triple Crown and the last since Francisco Campos of Mazatlan turned the trick in 2003-04.  Leyva, who was called to rest last week by the Atlanta Braves before MLB spring training opens next month, easily outdistanced the POY field with 90.60% of votes cast on 106 of 117 ballots cast by cronistas, while Culiacan's Manny Barreda and Jaime Lugo of Navojoa each picked up four votes and another Mayos pitcher, Marco Carrillo, earned the final three.

LMP Reliever of the Year Casey Coleman

Culiacan closer Casey Coleman earned 99 of 117 votes (84.62%) to win Reliever of the Year honors after leading the LMP with 22 saves, breaking the Tomateros' old mark of 21 set by Jose Silva in 2007-08.  Coleman turned in a microscopic ERA of 1.24 while striking out 37 batters and walking only five over 36.1 innings pitched in 34 appearances.  The ex-Cubs pitcher, whose grandfather and father both pitched in MLB All-Star games during their respective careers, far outdistanced his nearest competitors; Mazatlan's Brandon Cunniff and Los Mochis's Jose Valverde (himself a former MLB All-Star) each picked up seven votes.

LMP Rookie of the Year Jasson Atondo

Continuing the trend of non-competitive awards balloting, Hermosillo second baseman Jasson Atondo received 92 of 117 votes (78.63%) to walk away as this winter's Rookie of the Year.  Besides leading the MexPac with 81 hits, Atondo finished second to teammate Francisco Peguero in batting with a .351 mark after topping the table for a number of weeks before a late-season fade.  Atondo also finished fifth in runs scored with 39.  Navojoa pitcher Jose Isidro Marquez, son of the Mexican League's all-time saves leader, finished second to Atondo with 10 votes (8.55%), followed by Los Mochis middle reliever Daniel Duarte's eight votes (6.84%) and seven votes (5.98%) for Obregon setup man Jesus Aguamea.

LMP Manager of the Year Sergio Gastelum

The voting was much closer for Manager of the Year, which was eventually won by Obregon's first-year skipper Sergio Gastelum, who received 40 of 107 votes to come in at 37.04%.  Gastelum led Oaxaca to a surprise appearance in the Mexican League's Serie del Rey last fall in his managerial debut before the Guerreros fell to Monterrey in the title set and his work with the Yaquis implies that his initial success as a dugout boss with the Guerreros was no fluke.  Gastelum replaced Oscar Robles early in the 2018-19 season with the Yaquis at 3-6 and went on to lead Obregon to a 34-23 record over the 57 games he managed as the Tribe posted the best overall record in the LMP regular season and qualified for the postseason for the first time in three years.  Hermosillo skipper Bronswell Patrick came in second to Gastelum with 29 votes (26.85%), Jalisco manager Roberto Vizcarra was third with 18 votes (16.67%) and Culiacan's now-former manager Robinson Cancel was fourth by picking up 12 votes (11.11%).  Los Mochis helmsman Victor Bojorquez, who has done some great work for the Caneros himself, placed fifth with nine votes (8.33%).


ACAYUCAN TOPS XALAPA FOR LIV CROWN; BOTH QUALIFY FOR L.A.S.

Acayucan Tobis outfielder Yadir Drake

The Acayucan Tobis defeated the Xalapa Chileros, 7-2, Sunday afternoon at Estadio Emiliano Zapata in Oluta (an Acayuca suburb) in the seventh and deciding game of the Veracruz Winter League championship series.  No details of the game were available at BBM's post time. 

The victory gives the Tobis their second consecutive winterball league title and third in the past four seasons.  Acayucan won the Veracruz State Baseball League pennant last year in that circuit's second and final campaign under the guidance of former Brewers pitcher Narciso Elvira, who founded the loop in 2016 after the original LIV shut down operations due to financial difficulties.  Elvira's LVEB also struggled to make ends meet before the reconstituted LIV returned this winter under the leadership of sisters Regina and Fabiola Vazquez Saut.  Many baseball veterans played in the league this winter after Elvira's circuit relied almost entirely on younger (and less-expensive) players for two years, although the LIV retained the LVEB's practice of scheduling games only on weekends.

The Tobis and manager Felix Tejeda, a former Dodgers farmhand and Campeche Piratas reliever, found themselves in a tough spot right off the bat by dropping the first two games of the series at home, losing a 7-5 contest to Xalapa on January 5 and allowing two runs in a heartbreaking 8-6 loss on January 6.  Acayucan fought back the following weekend by scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning in a 11-5 road victory over the Chileros on January 11 but found themselves on the brink of elimination one day later after absorbing an 8-1 defeat.  The Tobis stayed alive and sent the series back to Acayucan by plating five runs in the first inning en route to a resounding 14-4 win in Xalapa as Heber Gomez blasted a grand slam while Yadil Mujica, Rogelio Noris and Eliseo Aldazaba combined for nine hits, five runs and three RBIs to narrow Xalapa's advantage in the best-of-7 set to one game.

The Tobis tied the series at three game apiece Saturday with a 4-1 Game Six win in Acayucan's Estadio Luis Diaz Flores.  The Mexican League's 2017 batting champion, Yadir Drake, had a big night for the Tobis by driving in fellow Cuban Yadil Mujica with the game's first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, doubling in another run in the bottom of the third and launching a solo homer to left in the seventh.  Eleven-year LMB veteran Yancarlo Angulo produced Xalapa's lone run of the game in the top of the ninth by  Tobis starter Jorge Quinones got the win by pitching 5.1 shutout innings while holding the Chileros to two hits.  Rookie Daniel Lobata took the loss for Xalapa.

According to the Latin American Series website, both the Tobis and Chileros will move on to co-host the event's eighth edition.  The six-team, 18-game tournament is scheduled to be played in four ballparks in the state of Veracruz.  The LAS is considered one tier below the Caribbean Series among international winterball events.  The Tobis and Chileros will play league champions from Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama and first-time entrant Argentina.  Curacao, which sent their top team last year, is sitting out this winter's tournament, hence the invite to the LIV runners-up.

Three games will be played on opening day Saturday: Xalapa vs. Panama at Beisborama 72 in Cordoba (a former LMB ballpark) at 1PM local as well as a 2PM doubleheader at Veracruz' Beto Avila Park with Colombia vs. Nicaragua followed by Acayucan vs. Argentina.  The title game is scheduled for February 1, most likely at Beto Avila Park, another former Liga venue with the largest capacity of the four facilities at 7,782 seats. and the site of the first Serie Latinoamericana in 2013.  The 27-year-old stadium served as home this winter for the LIV's Veracruz Rojos, who narrowly missed the postseason.

JALISCO KAYOS DEFENDING CHAMPS WITH ONE BLOW

Jalisco Charros catcher Gabriel Gutierrez

Usually when you're batting with two out in the top of the ninth inning and your team has yet to secure their first hit in the game, you're in survival mode, simply trying to break up the no-no and avoid being on the receiving end in the record book.  That's enough to worry about right there.

Jalisco's number nine batter, catcher Gabriel Gutierrez, faced such a situation last Tuesday in Culiacan, with the added pressure of his plate appearance coming late in a scoreless Game Six playoff contest.  With Stephen Cardullo standing on second after drawing a walk from Tomateros closer and LMP saves champion Casey Coleman and then stealing a base, Gutierrez lofted a Coleman delivery to right that Sebastian Elizalde couldn't reach and motored into second for the first Charros safety of the night, driving in Cardullo with the go-ahead run.  Sergio Romo then came in for Jalisco and retired the Culiacan side on eleven pitches to seal the 1-0 win for Chad Gaudin (who pitched a scoreless eighth) and send the Charros on to the Mexican Pacific League semifinals with the 4-games-to-2 series win.  On the other hand, the defending champion Tomateros face many questions heading into the offseason after entering this edition of the playoffs as the top seed and instead firing manager Robinson Cancel after falling behind, 3 games to 1, and failing to score a run in their final game after winning a 5-2 Sunday contest in interim skipper Ramon Orantes' debut. More on that in a few paragraphs.

Los Mochis third baseman Rodolfo Amador

Los Mochis also closed out their series with Hermosillo in six games by taking a 3-1 road win last Tuesday night as Rodolfo Amador's two-run homer off Naranjeros starter Dennis O'Grady in the top of the second to give the Caneros a lead they'd never relinquish.  Jaime Lugo and three relievers combined on a four-hitter to carry Los Mochis into the semis while Hermosillo packed their bags for the season.  The coup de grace to the surprising early playoff exits for Culiacan and Hermosillo (a combined 27 MexPac pennants) was delivered last Tuesday with Obregon's 6-5 win over Mazatlan, courtesy of Yaquis pinch-hitter Leo Heras' walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the ninth off Venados' closer Brandon Cunniff.  The Obregon triumph evened the series at three games apiece, assuring Wednesday's Game Seven loser a semifinal berth as the lucky loser by virtue of those three wins.  By the way, Mazatlan won Game Seven, 3-2, as Justin Greene's three-run homer in the top of the third gave Venados starter Irwin Delgado and four relievers enough cushion for a somewhat anticlimactic series win.

Diory Hernandez homered for Los Mochis Friday

The LMP Final Four opened Friday in Los Mochis, where the Caneros were hosting Obregon.  The home team overcame a 4-3 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the third frame with Diory Hernandez belting a two-run homer off Yaquis starter Arturo Lopez as Los Mochis went on to cop a 10-6 win.  Hernandez had blasted a three-run bomb off Lopez in the first to put the Caneros ahead 3-1 and he went on to lead off the fourth with a double before coming in on an Esteban Quiroz longball.  Los Mochis went up by two games by topping Obregon, 5-2, Saturday night. The Caneros broke an 0-0 tie in the fifth with four runs, two on Jonathan Jones' double and two on Josuan Hernandez' single, in support of Yoanis Quiala's (7 IP, 1 R, 2 H) third quality start of the postseason.  Quiala is now 2-0 with an 0.90 ERA in 20 innings after going an unremarkable 3-5 and 4.37 for the Caneros during the regular season.  The series will shift to Nuevo Estadio Yaquis in Obregon for Monday's Game Three.

Friday's Jalisco-Mazatlan series opened about a half-hour after the Caneros-Yaquis tilt, with the visiting Charros picking up single runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings to help Orlando Lara and the Jalisco bullpen shut out the home Venados, 3-0.  Manny Rodriguez went 3-for-4 for the Charros, socking a solo homer in the first off Mazatlan's Casey Harman to give Lara & company all the runs they'd need.  Saturday's game resulted in another Jalisco shutout, this time by a 2-0 count as the Venados scoreless streak reached 24 innings (including the final six entradas of last Wednesday's win in Obregon).  Once again it was Rodriguez providing the key blow as the Charros' MVP candidate's single in the top of the third scored Gabriel Gutierrez and Alonzo Harris with the game's only runs.  The two teams moved to Guadalajara for Monday's Game Three with Jalisco holding a 2-games-to-0 advantage.


TOMATEROS FIRE MANAGER CANCEL DURING PLAYOFF SERIES

Former Culiacan manager Robinson Cancel

It's not unusual in baseball for a team's offseason housecleaning after a disappointing season to begin with the firing of their manager.  It's quite another thing when the skipper is canned in the middle of a first-round playoff series while the season is still very much alive, if only for a couple more days.  The latter was the case when the defending Mexican Pacific League champion Culiacan Tomateros jettisoned helmsman Robinson Cancel following an embarrassing 11-1 loss to Jalisco in Guadalajara on Saturday, January 5.  The win gave the Charros a 3-games-to-1 lead in a series they'd close out three nights later with a 1-0 Jalisco win to send over 19,000 disappointed Culiacan fans home until next October.

The 42-year-old Cancel was a Major League catcher for Milwaukee, the New York Mets and Houston over four callups in a 20-year professional career.  He spent his first eight summers in the Brewers system before moving on to stints in five other MLB organizations, two independent leagues and Mexican League stops in Monterrey and Minatitlan before his retirement in 2014 after a season of winterball with the Carolina Gigantes in his native Puerto Rico.  He began his managerial career in 2015 with the Gulf Coast League Braves, finishing 11th with a 27-33 record for Atlanta's Rookie league entry.  Cancel then led the Danville Braves to a fourth-place finish in the Appalachian League's East Division in 2016 with a 31-36 mark before spending 2017 coaching in the Rockies system.  Cancel returned to managing with the Asheville Tourists in the Class A South Atlantic League last summer, taking the team to a 64-73 record and fifth in the Southern Division.

Cancel raised the Tomateros' fortune after being hired November 3 to replace Lorenzo Bundy as manager.  Bundy's first term in Culiacan lasted eighteen games, during which the champions started 8-10 out the gate and struggled to find cohesion under the veteran skipper.  Culiacan went 13-4 the rest of the first half to finish first at 21-12, then posted a 12-11 record for fifth place in the second half to end the regular season with a 33-23 overall ledger, tied for best with Hermosillo.  The Tomateros picked up 12.5 playoff points, most in the LMP and good for a number one playoff seeding.  Culiacan won the opener of their first-round series with Jalisco, but then the Charros won the next three and that was all for Cancel.

His successor, former Mexican League star infielder Oscar Robles, managed the Tomateros to a 5-2 win over the Charros on January 6 in Guadalajara before dropping a 1-0 heartbreaker at home before a packed house in Estadio Tomateros to end the series and season.  Robles, who was fired as Obregon's manager in late October after only nine games, was subsequently hired on as a bench coach in Culiacan.  He manages the Tijuana Toros during the summer.


XALAPA ONE WIN AWAY FROM VERACRUZ WINTER LEAGUE FLAG

Xalapa Chileros shortstop Kristian Delgado

The Xalapa Chileros crushed defending champion Acayucan, 8-1, Sunday in the Veracruz Winter League championship series as a reported 3,000 fans at the Chileros' Parque Deportivo Colon looked on.  Shortstop Kristian Delgado led the victors with a two-run double in the first inning and a solo homer in the third en route to a four-RBI night.  The win gives the Chileros a 3-games-to-1 lead in the best-of-7 finals heading into Monday afternoon's Game Five in Xalapa.


Xalapa opened the title set with a pair of wins in Acayucan, starting with a 7-5 triumph on January 5 as Eduardo Arredondo and Yancarlo Angulo each had two hits and two RBIs for the Chileros.  Rogelio Noris homered for the Tobis in a losing cause.  The Chileros took another road win one day later, 8-6, as Angulo singled, homered and drove in three runs, although he did get caught stealing a base.  Angel Francisco Rivera led Acayucan with a pair of hits, including a late two-run homer, but Kevin Lamas' two-run longball in the top of the ninth broke a 6-6 tie and Xalapa held on for the win.

Acayucan fought back with an 11-5 win last Friday in Xalapa.  Luis Angel Santos' bases-loaded triple with two out in the top of the third gave the Tobis a 5-2 lead, but it took a five-run ninth to give the defending champions some breathing room in the end.  Veteran outfielder Eliseo Aldazaba's three-run homer opened up an 11-4 Acayucan lead and while the Chileros did score on Oscar Soto's leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth, Tobis closer Jose Wilfredo Ramirez retired the next three batters to close out the game and close the gap with Xalapa at 2-games-to-1.

The Chileros opened the gap by a game with Sunday's 8-1 win.  Besides Delgado's heroics at the plate, Kevin Flores (a longtime Yucatan Leones infielder during the summer) drove in Angulo with a first-inning single and doubled home Alan Garcia in the fifth.  Another longtime LMBer, Marco Quevedo, earned the win in relief for the Chileros, tossing five-and-two-third innings after coming in for starter Daniel Lobato with one out in the first and allowing one run on two hits, striking out six.  Acayucan reliever Jose Almarante raised an eyebrow or two in the seventh when, with two out, he hit three consecutive Xalapa batsmen to fill the bases.  Almarante not only avoided any charged mounds, he stayed in the game, retired Alan Espinoza on a fielder's choice grounder to escape unscored upon and then pitched a scoreless eighth (although he plunked a fourth Tobis batter).

If the Tobis win Monday's Game Five at Xalapa's Estadio Colon (and they did, 14-4, as Heber Gomez hit a grand slam for the winners), the series will shift to Acayucan for Game Six on Saturday afternoon at Estadio Luis Diaz Flores.  If needed, a Game Seven would be played Sunday afternoon at Estadio Emiliano Zapata.

BBM 2017 Summer Awards: Batter of the Year

Saltillo outfielder Rainel Rosario

There hasn't been a lot to cheer about with the Saltillo Saraperos lately.  It wasn't that long ago that they were one of the Mexican League's flagship franchises, winning four LMB North titles between 2004 and 2010, copping the pennant in 2009 and 2010.  The Sarape Makers were boffo at the box office as well in that timeframe, averaging over 10,000 fans per game in 2005 and 2006 and annually ranking among the Liga's attendance leaders.

Times changed in 2013, however, when owners Grupo Ley sold the Saraperos to Alejandro Garza Diaz (who, in turn, sold the franchise to Antonio Nerio Rodriguez two years later).  Although Saltillo has remained among the LMB's attendance leaders throughout, the team has gradually declined from their 2013 North Division regular season title, finishing seventh in 2016 and 2017.  In addition, the franchise has had financial problems and is reportedly one of many in the Liga on the verge of financial insolvency.  In short, the picture in Saltillo is anything but pretty.

Thank goodness for Rainel Rosario.

A journeyman outfielder whose stints in the Cardinals and Red Sox organizations bookended a two-year stay in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp, Rosario's first year in Mexico was a resounding success.  The 28-year-old Dominican led the Saraperos with a .336 batting average in 2017 while topping the LMB with 26 home runs and finishing second to Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez with 104 RBIs.  Rosario was especially devastating at home, battering opposing pitchers for a .398 average and 20 homers in 54 games at Estadio Francisco I. Madero.  He enjoyed a torrid July by recording a .455 average with 5 roundtrippers and 27 ribbies in 99 at-bats over 26 games.  Rosario was a sure bet when batting with runners in scoring position, going 59-for-119 (.420) with 7 homers and an amazing 76 RBIs in such situations.  Right-handed pitchers suffered the brunt of inflicted damage by being knocked around by the right-handed hitter for 19 homers and 80 RBI in 306 at-bats.

Like last summer's BBM Batter of the Year, Diory Hernandez of Aguascalientes, nobody could've anticipated those kinds of numbers from Rosario in Saltillo.  After signing with St. Louis as a 17-year-old free agent in April 2006, the 6'1" 190-pounder spent seven summers in the Cardinals system and never hitting more than nine homers or driving in one season.  His first four years were spent playing Rookie league ball and he eventually rose as high as AA Springfield in the Texas League (where he hit .214 over 22 games in 2012), but Rosario never reached whatever potential the Cards saw when he was signed.

After sitting out the 2013 season entirely, Rosario made his way to the Far East with Hiroshima of the Central League, Japanese baseball's senior circuit, for 2014.  He had a standout rookie season with the Carp that year, hitting .336 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 69 games, but his sophomore year wasn't as successful as his numbers plummeted to .258/2/12 in 42 contests for 2015.  Still, he did well enough to return to MiLB in 2016 after signing with Boston in June.  After going 0-for-7 in two games with AAA Pawtucket, Rosario was sent to AA Portland and hit .254 with a pair of homers in 101 games over the remainder of the season.  After the Sox allowed his contract to expire in November, Rosario signed on with Saltillo one day before the Saraperos' 2017 season opener at Monterrey.

Will Rainel Rosario be able to repeat this year's breakthrough numbers in 2018?  History would indicate otherwise.  After all, Diory Hernandez went from being the offensive linchpin in Aguascalientes in 2016 to being released by the Rieleros on May 14 and again by Union Laguna six weeks later even though he hit .300 for both teams, so who knows?  In the end, in a 2017 season that saw a bit of resurgence for Mexican League batters after pitchers had enjoyed recent unaccustomed success in a loop known for decades as a hitter's league, Rosario's campaign in Saltillo gets BBM's nod as being the best among a number of qualified candidates for our Batter of the Year award.  Let's just hope his follow-up year goes better than Diory Hernandez' did.

BBM BATTER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Winter 2015-16  Jose Amador, Hermosillo
Summer 2016    Diory Hernandez, Aguascalinetes
Winter 2016-17  Manny Rodriguez, Culiacan
Summer 2017    Rainel Rosario, Saltillo

Rieleros take 2 of 3 from Sultanes in weekend home series

Baseball in Aguascalientes has never been an easy sell.  The central Mexico city of about a million metropolitan area residents first fielded a Mexican League franchise in 1975 and local fans were rewarded with a pennant three years later when the Rieleros defeated Union Laguna in five games to win the LMB championship, but the game itself has always held a somewhat peripheral existence there.  The original Rieleros lasted 25 seasons before moving to Puebla after the 1999 campaign to become the current incarnation of the Pericos.  The Cordoba Cafeteros moved to Aguascalientes in 2004 and the Rieleros II put in four seasons before the team was moved to Nuevo Laredo and became the reconstituted Tecolotes following the 2007 season.

The third iteration of the Rieleros appeared in 2012 as an expansion team and are in the midst of their sixth LMB season.  That 2012 team surprised everyone by finishing second in the North Division with a 59-49 record and advancing to the title series before losing to Veracruz in seven games.  Since then, however, Aguascalientes has failed to qualify for the playoffs the past four season while annually finishing in the bottom half of the attendance tables with crowds usually in the 3,000 range.  Then you have curious decisions such as the one in which reigning Liga RBI champion Diory Hernandez was released by the team last month despite a .300 batting average after 23 games before getting hurt in late April.  Hernandez was signed Saturday by Union Laguna and had five hits (including a homer) over the weekend for the Vaqueros.  Oops!

Even so, this year's edition of the Rieleros has been more competitive than in recent seasons and if their recent home series against Monterrey (holders of the best record in the league) is any indication, Aguascalientes may host its first playoff game in five years when the postseason opens in ten weeks.  The Rieleros won their first two games against the Sultanes to briefly pass Mexico City for fifth place in the LMB North before dropping Sunday's finale, but their 30-27 record is good enough for a fifth-place tie with the Diablos, two games behind Laguna for the fourth and final playoff berth.

The set opened Friday with a 7-3 Rieleros win as Monterrey starter Javier Solano was chased after allowing six runs on eight hits over five innings.  Ags catcher Carlos Rodriguez, who's hitting .316, launched a three-run homer off Solano in the third to open a 5-1 lead and the Railroaders never looked back.  Saturday's game resulted in another 7-3 win for the Rieleros, this time off LMB wins leader Angel Castro, who was pulled with one out in the sixth after allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks after allowing a three-run bomb by third baseman Jose Vargas that broke a 3-3 tie.  Aguascalientes came back to Earth Sunday in a 10-5 loss to the Sultanes as Luis Juarez' two-run homer keyed a four-run Monterrey seventh, but the point was made that the Rieleros can't be overlooked this year.  Attendance was up at 9,000-seat Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez, too, with more than 13,000 attending the series and more than 4,000 on hand for each game.  Although the Sultanes are one of the Liga's better road draws, overall turnstile numbers are up in Aguascalientes this year.

The Rieleros have an interesting roster with veterans like Rodriguez, 1B Jesse Castillo (who's having an MVP-type season), ageless DH Carlos Soto and recent acquisition OF Dave Sappelt, batting .355 since signing as a free agent a month ago.  Pitching is not a team strength, with Merritt the top pitcher in a mediocre rotation, but the addition of Jose Valverde (who has 288 career saves in MLB) has definitely bolstered the bullpen.  Valverde (pictured) has a pair of wins and eight saves to go with a 2.43 ERA.  No other reliever in the Liga boasts his credentials.  It's a little premature to start printing playoff tickets, but to write off Aguascalientes as an also-ran for a fifth straight year would come at one's own peril.  This is not a bad team.

Even with the series loss, Monterrey still leads the MB North at 38-17, four and a half games ahead of 34-22 Tijuana in second.  The Toros are starting to feel a little heat from 33-23 Monclova and 32-25 Union Laguna, while Aguascalientes and Mexico City are on the playoff position periphery.  Among the North's eight teams, only Durango and Saltillo are below .500 and the Generales are playing well enough to make some teams ahead of them nervous.

Conversely, the LMB South is a trainwreck once you get past division leaders Yucatan.  The Leones are cruising along at 34-20, which would put them second in the North, but nobody else is even break-even.  Quintana Roo is second at 26-27, a half-game ahead of 27-29 Puebla and two games up on surprising Veracruz, who hold fourth at 25-30.  At present, five LMB South teams are in contention for three remaining playoff berths behind Yucatan, with only Tabasco and Leon out of the picture for now.  The Olmecas and Bravos have had their respective shares of off-field miseries as well, with the Bravos facing a possible in-season expulsion over their apparent failure to pay league fees this year after the franchise moved there from Reynosa (which was a basket-case franchise last year as well).  More on that later this week.

Durango's Yadir Drake (.397) has seen his batting average drop below .400, but is still leading LMB hitters, eight points ahead of Chris Roberson of Monterrey.  Drake is part of a three-way logjam for the home run lead with Tijuana teammates Alex Liddi and Corey Brown, all showing 14 roundtrippers.  Drake has hit five homers since May 26.  Ricky Alvarez productive year for Laguna continues, with the first sacker topping the circuit in RBIs (62) to augment his .339 average and 11 homers.  Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene stole three bases over the weekend to reach 30 swipes for the campaign, twelve steals ahead of Mexico City's Carlos Figueroa.  Figueroa, a Diablos outfielder, carries 220 pounds on his 5'8" frame, conjuring an image that doesn't invoke a typical speedster, but he's only been caught three times in 21 attempts.

Among pitchers, Oaxaca's Irwin Delgado held Yucatan to one run over seven innings Sunday to earn his eighth win of the year.  The 8-2 Delgado has won his last four starts to tie Monterrey's Angel Castro for most triumphs in 2017.  Delgado's 2.29 ERA is second only to Veracruz' Nestor Molina's 2.09 figure in that category while his 74 strikeouts are seven up on Monclova's Josh Lowey in the K Derby.  After a workmanlike but unheralded eight years of pitching in the LMB, Delgado (a 5'9" lefty) is in the driver's seat for Pitcher of the Year honors.

The top two upcoming midweek series are both in the North, with Monclova visiting Aguascalientes for three games while Laguna hosts Tijuana in Torreon.  Next weekend will feature defending champion Puebla traveling to Cancun for a set with the Tigres with second place in the South on the line.  Another series that might not have raised an eyebrow weeks ago will be in Tijuana starting Friday when the Toros welcome Durango.  TJ was a preseason favorite among some while Durango was a candidate to not even reach the starting gate, but the Generales have won 7 of their past 10 games and are 19-20 away from home.  In short, Toros skipper Pedro Mere has a couple of tough series ahead this week.

MEXICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS (as of 5 June 2017)

LMB NORTH: Monterrey 38-17, Tijuana 34-22, Monclova 33-23, Laguna 32-25, Aguascalientes 30-27, Mexico City 30-27, Durango 25-32, Saltillo 24-31.

LMB SOUTH: Yucatan 34-20, Quintana Roo 26-27, Puebla 27-29, Veracruz 25-30, Oaxaca 24-31, Campeche 24-32, Tabasco 20-35, Leon 19-37.

NOTE: For unknown reasons, I'm not being allowed to post anything in the comments section below articles on BBM. I'm not ignoring anyone but I can't reply either. If you've got a question or comment you'd like a response to, just contact me directly at BaseballMexico @ live.com. I really do answer. -Bruce

Wally Backman fired in Monclova; will Tim Johnson take over?

When Wally Backman was hired last winter to manage the Monclova Acereros, all that was missing was a betting line from Las Vegas oddsmakers on how long the former Mets infielder would stay.  Speculation was that Backman, who's had success managing teams (including Vegas) in both affiliated and independent minor leagues, was viewing Monclova as little more than a placeholder until he got another offer from a team in the States.

USA Today writer Bob Klapisch quoted Backman at the time as saying, "I would take it in a minute.  What I'm worried about is being out of sight, out of mind.  If I go to Mexico, I'll be out of sight from the people I'm trying to connect with."  After new Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides transferred several key players to Monclova from his 2016 champions in Puebla, the Steelers were considered a favorite to win the Mexican League's North Division title and contend for the city's first LMB championship.  As manager, Backman was obviously a major component of Benavides' win-now philosophy.

Backman has indeed left Monclova less than two months into the season, but not the way a lot of people (including himself) expected after he was fired last Friday with the Acereros holding a 22-20 record and fifth place in the LMB North.  In his defense, the team was not playing all that badly in what has been a very competitive division over the first eight weeks of the season, neither winning more than three consecutive games once nor suffering longer than one three-game skid either while averaging about six runs per contest with a team ERA of 4.43.  

However, there were two problems the fiery Oregonian couldn't overcome.  One was his inability to speak Spanish, something that can be a detriment to effectively managing a baseball team in Mexico (let alone writing about Mexican baseball, believe me).  Another is that while Benavides has spared little expense in collecting enough talent to elicit title talk among Liga observers, he is also a native of Monclova who now owns the team his grandfather, Harold Pape, formed in 1974 and keenly aware that no pennant flag has ever flown atop Estadio Monclova.  Managers in Mexico typically face much more pressure than their counterparts in other Class AAA leagues because the latter group are less concerned with winning than player development, but Backman worked under less margin for error than the 15 other Liga skippers who opened the season.

Although Backman has been replaced at the helm in Monclova by Jorge Luis Loredo, who hit .247 with 24 homers as an infielder for five LMB teams between 1987 and 2000 before embarking on a coaching career, at least one Puro Beisbol columnist has speculated that another former big league infielder, Tim Johnson, may end up with the Acereros job.  It's far from a far-fetched notion.  Benavides has shown a proclivity for hiring ex-MLBers to manage his teams (Cory Snyder and Von Hayes in Puebla, Backman in Monclova), Johnson has had success managing Toronto to an 88-74 record in 1998, copped two winterball titles for Hermosillo in the early Nineties and won the 1999 Liga pennant with Mexico City in his LMB debut.  He's currently managing in the Northern Mexican League's San Luis Algodoneros, who are 22-19 in the LNM and conveniently a farm team for both Benavides LMB clubs.  Johnson has effectively been blackballed from organized baseball after stories he told Blue Jays players about his exploits during the Vietnam War were proven false, but both his MLB playing and managing experience plus his track record in Mexico may be attractive to Benavides, who didn't hesitate to hire another controversial manager in Backman.  Time will tell.

The Acereros will have to pick up the pace soon, no matter who their helmsman is.  Monterrey has won three straight game (and 8 of their last 10) to run their LMB-best record to 30-11 under yet another former big league infielder, Felix Fermin.  Tijuana has stumbled a bit by losing four of their last ten contests to fall three-and-a-half games behind the Sultanes at 28-15.  After a halting start to their season, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (with an all-Mexican roster) have won eight eleven games to pull into third place with a 25-20 mark.  There are a number of reasons, but the season shortstop Ramon Urias is having may the the biggest.  Although he won't turn 23 until June 3, Urias is in his fourth season with the Diablos after spending two summers in the Rangers organization as a teen.  After an injury-plagued 2016 campaign, the 150-pound Sonora product is hitting .331 with nine homers in 43 games.  The Red Devils are battling Monclova, Union Laguna and Aguascalientes (who released last year's RBI champ and BBM Summer Batter of the Year Diory Hernandez last week without explanation and no more notice than a line on the Transactions list) in the middle of the pack.  Saltillo and Durango are both more than 14 games out of first in the LMB North.

Yucatan has leveled off a bit, winning five of their last ten, but that early cushion they build has come in handy as the Leones still have a five-game lead in the LMB South over Puebla with a 27-16 mark.  The 23-22 Pericos have gone 7-3 over their past ten tilts to take over second place from Quintana Roo (20-21).  The defending champs are 16-11 away from home (including a three-game sweep in Tijuana last week in a rematch of last year's Mexico Series) but only 7-11 in Estadio Hermanos Serdan.  Steadily-improving Veracruz, Campeche and Oaxaca are all within eight games of Yucatan with Leon and Tabasco bringing up the rear.

Saltillo's six-time All-Star second baseman Luis Borges leads the Liga with an even .400 average, ten points ahead of Monterrey centerfielder Chris Roberson (himself a four-time LMB All-Star and the 2014 Caribbean Series MVP).  Tijuana outfielder Corey Brown has homered just once since his two-dinger game at Aguascalientes on May 4, but his total of 13 roundtrippers is still tops in the loop by two over the Rieleros' Jesus Castillo and Toros teammate Alex Liddi.  Castillo's 49 RBIs top that category, with Laguna's Ricky Alvarez second at 47.  Justin Greene of Saltillo has 19 stolen bases, five more than Quintana Roo's Freddy Guzman.  Guzman's 14 swipes have come in 25 games since signing with the Tigres as a free agent April 23.

Monterrey pitcher Angel Castro survived a so-so start (4 earned runs, 11 hits over 7 innings) on Saturday at home against the Tigres to lift his perfect record to 7-0, becoming the first hurler to reach seven victories.  Dustin Crenshaw of Laguna tossed five shutout frames at Oaxaca last Tuesday to go to 6-1 for the season.  Durango won four of six games last week, all saved by Tiago Da Silva (as he has for every Generales victory in 2017).  Da Silva's 16 saves leads the LMB, four up on Monclova's Chad Gaudin and Jairo Asencio of Yucatan.  Mitch Lively and Walter Silva continue to do well for a weak Leon club.  The Bravos' 16-18 record hasn't prevented the pair from posting the top two ERAs in the Liga, with Lively at 1.98 and Silva registering a 2.15 on the scale.  The tandem has gone 7-4 for the newcomer team, who continue to struggle at the gate with an average attendance of 2,300 through 13 openings (15th in the 16-team circuit).  Conversely, Durango has overcome a myriad of problems, including a delayed home opener of their own, to draw an average of 3,616 to place eighth on the turnout table.

There'll be a pair of matchups highlighting upcoming midweek series when Monterrey visits Puebla and Tijuana travels to Yucatan Tuesday through Thursday.  Attention will be maintained on Puebla next weekend when the ascendant Pericos play host to Monclova in a duel between the two Benavides-owned ballclubs.

Rojas in hot water, to manage Aguascalientes in '17

Yes, another story about a managerial change in Mexican baseball.  Like Aunt Minerva's fruitcake, the topic is a gift that keeps on giving and regiving and regiving. This time, it's Homar Rojas' turn. Again.

Rojas (pictured at right with GM Jose Luis Garcia), who was fired a month ago as skipper for the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros, has signed on to manage the Aguascalientes Rieleros of the Mexican League.  He thus becomes the 30th manager in Aguascalientes team history, which dates back to 1975, including two four-year absences beginning in 2000.  The current edition joined the Liga as an expansion team in 2012, reaching the playoffs that year for the only time in their current five-year existence.

The 52-year-old Rojas is a Nuevo Leon native who broke into pro ball as a catcher with Monterrey in 1982, embarking on a 23-year career that included four years in the Dodgers organization in the late Eighties.  When he retired as a player following the 2004 season, playing 1,487 games in 19 LMB campaigns and compiling a .291 average with 138 homers.  His offseason came with the Mexico City Tigres in 1986, when he hit .319 with 23 homers before signing with the Dodgers in the offseason.

Rojas began his managerial career in 2005 with Oaxaca, with whom he spent his last seven campaigns as a player.  After four years at the helm of the Guerreros, during which they went 202-226, he moved to Reynosa and spent another four seasons running the Broncos, who turned in a 214-213 mark between 2009 and 2012.  After one year in Campeche (47-63 in 2013), Rojas was the dugout boss in Monclova from 2014 through this summer.  He was 176-145 with the Acereros, including the LMB North title in 2015 for a 12-year career ledger of 639-647. Research has not turned up whether Rojas left Monclova by choice or invitation. Despite his ouster in Jalisco last month, Rojas has had more luck managing in winterball, winning MexPac pennants with Obregon in 2007-08 and Hermosillo in 2009-10.

He'll have his work cut out for him with the Rieleros, whose lineup boasted BBM Summer Batter of the Year Diory Hernandez (.319 with 23 homers and an LMB-best 97 RBIs), who led the team to fourth-place finishes in batting (.292), homers (98), ribbies (554) and stolen bases (89).  Pitching was another story, however, as the Rieleros came in 12th in the circuit with a 4.97 ERA, finishing the season with a 53-58 record with veteran DH Saul Soto serving as player-manager following Marco Romero's firing in July.  Aguascalientes finished ninth in attendance, drawing 153,048 fans to 9,000-seat Parque Alberto Romo Chavez over 53 openings for an average of 2,888 turnstile clicks per night.

By the way, a loose translation of "aguascalientes" from Spanish to English is "hot waters," in case the headline was a puzzler.

2016 BBM Summer Awards Pitcher of the Year: Yoanner Negrin, Yucatan

The Yucatan Leones posted the best record in the Mexican League this summer with a 77-33 mark (winning 35 of 52 road games) before advancing to the LMB South Division Championship Series against eventual champions Puebla.  While BBM Manager of the Year Willie Romero had some timely hitters like in his everyday lineup like Jesus Valdez, Luis Alfonso Garcia and Corey Wimberly, the Leones were clearly a pitching-dependent team in 2016.  And no pitcher in the Liga was more dependable than starter Yoanner Negrin.

The 32-year-old Cuban righty registered one of the best campaigns for pitchers in recent memory, winning 18 of 19 regular season contests.  His lone loss came May 1 against Puebla at home in Merida, a 5-4 defeat in which Negrin allowed five runs on 10 hits and three walks over 5.1 innings.  Otherwise, he was as automatic as the sunrise, winning all but three no-decisions for his 21 other starts.  Negrin's 18 wins were the most since Danny Rios went 18-5 for Union Laguna in 2001 (throwing an incredible 19 complete games among his 26 starts that year).

Negrin ended the schedule with 141.1 innings pitched, striking out 92 batsmen (tied for ninth in the LMB) and walking 37.  He tossed four complete games, three of them shutouts (both league highs), and his 1.07 WHIP was third behind Monclova's departed Josh Lowey and hard-luck Acereros starter Hector Velazquez. Negrin kept it up in the postseason, winning three of four starts (including two wins over Campeche in the first round).  In 24.2 playoff innings, he flashed a 1.86 ERA with 15 strikeouts.

Yoanner Negrin Perez was born April 29, 1984 in Havana.  According to an August interview with the Merida-based Sipse website, Negrin said he loved baseball as far back as he could remember, crediting his father for helping him learn the game.  After first playing first base and shortstop, he tried pitching at age 13.  "I was rather bad," he laughed.  "I kept giving up walks.  I was on the team because my dad was the manager."  He improved to the point of beginning his Cuban National Series career at 17 with a Havana team and moving on to Matanzas at 20.  After a few seasons in the winter league, however, Negrin grew frustrated by his lack of opportunity to even try out for the powerful National Team and decided to leave the island and seek a better chance in baseball and life elsewhere, ending up in Miami.

The Chicago Cubs signed him as a 27-year-old free agent in 2011.  Negrin spent most of the next five summers in the Cubs' minor league system, with loans to Mexican League teams in Tabasco during the 2012 and 2014 seasons, showing well both times.  He suffered an elbow injury in 2015, however, and after rehabbing in Class A Eugene and AAA Iowa, Negrin was loaned to Yucatan in June and has remained since.

Similar to BBM Batter of the Year Diory Hernandez of Aguascalientes, nobody could have foreseen Negrin's incredible 2016 season.  His five-year MiLB career record after the 2015 season was a pedestrian 19-21 in 129 appearances (44 of them starts), although he had a respectable 3.67 ERA and was 8-for-12 in saves opportunities out of the bullpen.

If Lowey had remained in Monclova instead of signing in July with the Korean Baseball Organization's KT Wiz (where he's 3-5 with a 5.98 ERA after his 12th start Tuesday), he would have been in the running for this award.  Lowey was 13-3 with a LMB-leading 1.65 ERA when he departed and his 131 K's still led the loop. Puebla closer Chad Gaudin had a great year for the Pericos, saving 33 games and winning two more with a 1.64 ERA in 44 trips from the pen.  However, there's just no way you can choose anyone but a guy who goes 18-1 over a 110-game season (projecting to 26 triumphs over 162 contests) and wins two more in the playoffs to make it an even 20.  This one was easy.  Finally.

2016 BBM Summer Awards Batter of the Year: Diory Hernandez, Aguascalientes

Although the Mexican League has held a well-deserved reputation as a hitter's league for decades, 2016 was a little quieter than usual.  Sure, you had your usual LMB clubs with team batting averages topping the .300 mark, but there were only two of them this year as both Mexico City and Monterrey finished at .303. Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia led the Liga with a .386 average, but the most remarkable offensive performance of the year came from a rarely-noticed shortstop on an even less-noticed team.

Baseball was first played in Aguascalientes in 1902, but pro ball didn't arrive until 1953, when the city hosted a team in the Class A Mexican Center League for the first of 22 seasons under several nicknames (but most often known as the Tigres, after their LMB parent).  Aguascalientes entered the Mexican League in 1974 and has had a spotty record since, winning the pennant in 1978 but leaving for Nuevo Laredo in 2008, only to return in 2012.  Aguascalientes is an industrial city and state capital of 1.27 million inhabitants, and the Rieleros' ballpark (the 9,000-seat Parque Alberto Romo Chavez) will turn 80 in 2018, making it the oldest ballpark in the Liga.  Attendance is usually middle of the pack or lower, with 153,058 clicking the turnstiles over 53 games this year to rank ninth of 16 teams in a down year at the gate in most cities.  Given what he was surrounded with, Diory Hernandez' year at the plate becomes even more of a miracle.

Hernandez is the 2016 BBM Summer Batter of the Year after a remarkable season in which he hit over .400 in April before settling with a final .319 while leading the LMB with 97 RBIs.  His 23 homers tied Saltillo's Eliezer Alfonzo and Quintana Roo's Alex Liddi for third in the Liga while his 77 runs scored tied teammate Brian Burgamy for third.  Hernandez also finished in the Top Ten for hits (tied with Monterrey's Chris Roberson for 9th with 133), total bases (3rd with 224) and slugging percentage (10th at .537).  What makes those number so remarkable are the ones that preceded them.

The 32-year-old Hernandez is a native of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, a city of 191,000 known as the "Cradle of Shortstops" and home to 76 future major leaguers, including Hernandez.  A shortstop (of course), the six-footer signed with Atlanta in 2003 and kicked around the Braves' system six years before making his big league debut in 2009.  Hernandez yo-yo'd between Atlanta and AAA affiliate Gwinnett for three summers (hitting .157 in 75 games in the bigs) before splitting the 2012 campaign between Oklahoma City and Iowa of the AAA Pacific Coast League.  By this time he'd evolved into a utility infielder with a little speed and pesky hitter who'd bat anywhere between .250 and .300 or a little higher, but never hitting more than seven homers or topping 68 RBIs in a single year.

Hernandez arrived in Mexico to play at Campeche in 2013, missed 2014 altogether and opened 2015 in Veracruz before coming to Aguascalientes with no discernible difference at bat. Going into the 2016 season, he was a career .270 hitter in the minors with just 46 homers and 382 ribbies over 914 games covering 13 seasons. His 2016 output with the Railroaders increased his career homer total by 50 percent and his RBI count by another 25 percent.

Aguascalientes missed the postseason as usual, coming in sixth in the LMB North at 53-58, 19 games out of first place and 9 out of the final berth with veteran catcher Saul Soto taking over down the stretch as the Liga's first player-manager since Willie Romero with Yucatan in 2012.  In other words, chaos as usual.  But none of that takes away from Diory Hernandez' miracle year.

Yucatan finishes 77-33 for LMB best record, playoffs start Tuesday

The Yucatan Leones dispatched the defending champion Quintana Roo Tigres, 5-2, Sunday in Merida to end the regular season with a Mexican League-best 77-33 record and number one seed throughout the playoffs.  The postseason gets underway Tuesday night with four games.

Veteran hurler Jonathan Castellanos (pictured) gave the Leones five innings of one-hit shutout pitching before leaving with a 5-0 lead.  Although the Tigres scored singletons in both the seventh and eighth frames, Yucatan closer Pedro Hernandez tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to finish with his 18th save of the campaign.  The 34-year-old Castellanos' record rose to 11-3 as the righty has reached double-digit win totals in four of his last five LMB summers.  Leones left fielder Jesus Valdez cracked his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Tigres starter Fernando Miranda (7-7) in the third. Quintana Roo left fielder Roman Pena doubled and plated a run in the eighth to end the game's scoring.

Puebla won, 6-1, at Oaxaca Sunday to finish four games behind Yucatan in the South Division at 74-38.  Quintana Roo dropped to 68-45 with the loss but had already wrapped up third place while Campeche cruised to the fourth and final LMB South berth with a 57-51 mark.  Tabasco, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Carmen finished out of the money in that order.

In the Liga's Northern Division, Monterrey won five of their last ten games to end the regular season with a 72-39 record, three-and-a-half games up on second-place Monclova (69-43).  The Sultanes put five runs on the scoreboard in the fifth inning and went on to beat Laguna, 10-6, Sunday before a crowd of 21,649 at Estadio Monterrey.  Second sacker Ramon Rios socked a solo homer for the Sultanes, who were trailing 6-4 heading into the bottom of the fifth.  Monterrey drew an average attendance 12,783 over 54 home games, easily leading all of Minor League Baseball.

Laguna's loss to the Sultanes meant a fourth-place finish for the Vaqueros (63-50), who came in a game-and-a-half behind 64-48 Tijuana.  Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Saltillo and Reynosa all get first dibs at the golf course.  The last-place Broncos in particular endured a forgettable 24-88 season (dropping a 4-3 game at Monclova Sunday) while drawing fewer than 2,000 fans per home game at Estadio Adolfo Lopez Mateos.

The playoffs get underway Tuesday night with four games.  In the LMB North semifinals, Laguna will be at Monterrey while Tijuana visits Monclova; in the LMB South semis, Quintana Roo travels to Puebla and Campeche heads east to Merida to face the Leones.  Seventh games (if needed) will be played on Wednesday, August 24.

Baseball Mexico will provide daily scores and highlights throughout the Mexican League playoffs.  Check back often.


Final 2016 Mexican League Standings

NORTH DIVISION: Monterrey 72-39, Monclova 69-43, Tijuana 64-48, Laguna 63-50, Mexico City 57-54, Aguascalientes 53-58, Saltillo 50-61, Reynosa 24-88.

SOUTH DIVISION: Yucatan 77-33, Puebla 74-38, Quintana Roo 68-43, Campeche 57-51, Tabasco 44-67, Veracruz 43-67, Oaxaca 42-70, Carmen 31-78.


Mexican League 2016 Playoffs 
Division Semifinals schedule

#1  TUE, 8/16:  Campeche at Yucatan, Quintana Roo at Puebla, Laguna at Monterrey, Tijuana at Monclova
#2  WED, 8/17:  Campeche at Yucatan, Quintana Roo at Puebla, Laguna at Monterrey, Tijuana at Monclova

#3  FRI, 8/18:  Yucatan at Campeche, Puebla at Quintana Roo, Monterrey at Laguna, Monclova at Tijuana
#4  SAT, 8/19:  Yucatan at Campeche, Puebla at Quintana Roo, Monterrey at Laguna, Monclova at Tijuana

#5 SUN, 8/19:  Yucatan at Campeche, Puebla at Quintana Roo, Monterrey at Laguna, Monclova at Tijuana

#6 TUE, 8/16:  Campeche at Yucatan, Quintana Roo at Puebla, Laguna at Monterrey, Tijuana at Monclova
#7 WED, 8/19:  Campeche at Yucatan, Quintana Roo at Puebla, Laguna at Monterrey, Tijuana at Monclova

Games in italics scheduled if necessary


Negrin finishes 18-1, Tapia wins batting title

Following his 2-1 win over Puebla on August 7, Yucatan pitcher Yoanner Negrin had one start remaining with an opportunity to bring his season wins total to 19 last Friday at home against Quintana Roo.  However, Leones skipper Willie Romero shuffled his rotation to give Jonathan Castellanos the final regular season start and rest Negrin for the playoffs.  As a result, Negrin finished 18-1 for 2016 to lead the Mexican League in wins.  The 33-year-old Cuban lost only one of 22 starts, a 5-2 decision to Puebla in Merida on May 1, over three months ago.  Negrin went 15-0 the rest of the way and complied a 2.29 ERA with three shutouts to lead the loop in that category (nobody else had more than one whitewash).

Former Monclova ace Josh Lowey built insurmountable leads in ERA (1.65) and strikeouts (131) before signing a $200,000 contract with Korea's KT Wiz in mid-July to win both Triple Crown titles.  Lowey has found the going tougher across the Pacific, lasting just one-and-one-third innings in his most recent start last Thursday against the SK Wyverns and coughing up three earned runs to see his record fall to 2-3 while his ERA in the KBO rose to 10.26 in five starts.  Lowey's former Acereros moundmate, Arcenio Leon, picked up five saves in the final week to end the regular season with 36 in 42 opportunities.

Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia became the first backstop to win the LMB batting title since 1987 by going 7-for-15 over his last four games to finish at .383.  Orlando Sanchez of the old Puebla Black Angels turned in a .415 mark 39 years ago, one year after former big leaguer Willie Mays Aikens hit a modern Liga record .454 for Puebla in 1986.  Monterrey third baseman Alex Valdez led the circuit with 30 homers, Aguascalientes shortstop Diory Hernandez held on to win the RBI crown with 97 (his previous high was 68 ribbies in a career that began in 2003) while Saltillo outfielders Justin Greene and Christian Zazueta shared stolen base honors with 39 swipes apiece.


Mexican League Individual Statistical Leaders

BATTING
Games:  112  Emmanuel Avila, Mexico City
Hits:  145  Justin Greene, Saltillo
Doubles:  31  Ricky Alvarez, LAG; Cyle Hankerd, MXC; Chris Roberson, MONT
Triples:  10  Ruben Sosa, Laguna
Homers:  30  Alex Valdez, Monterrey
Runs:  80  Chris Roberson, Monterrey
Runs Batted In:  97  Diory Hernandez, Aguascalientes
Batting Average:  .383  Cesar Tapia, Puebla
On-Base Percentage:  .459  Ruben Sosa, Laguna
Slugging Percentage:  .662  Cesar Tapia, Puebla
On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage:  1.093  Cesar Tapia, Puebla
Stolen Bases:  39  Justin Greene, Saltillo; Christian Zazueta, Saltillo

PITCHING
Games:  65  Fabian Williamson, Monclova
Innings Pitched:  141.1  Yoanner Negrin, Yucatan
Complete Games:  4  Yoanner Negrin, Yucatan
Shutouts:  3  Yoanner Negrin, Yucatan
Wins:  18  Yoanner, Negrin, Yucatan
Saves:  36  Arcenio Leon, Monclova
Holds:  24  Mario Meza, Yucatan; Fabian Williamson, Monclova
Hits Allowed:  162  Demetrio Gutierrez, Aguascalientes
Strikeouts:  131  Josh Lowey, Monclova
Bases on Balls:  57  Michael Nix, Aguascalientes
Earned Run Average:  1.65  Josh Lowey, Monclova
Walks+Hits per Innings Pitched:  0.93  Josh Lowey, Monclova

Monterrey takes LMB North lead, Yucatan chasing Puebla in South

The Monterrey Sultanes overtook fading Monclova as the Mexican League's North Division leaders while Yucatan closed the gap on South leaders Puebla during the first week following the LMB All-Star Break.

Monterrey won two of three games in Puebla and copped two wins at Oaxaca before Sunday's contest with the Guerreros was suspended by rain with the score at 6-6 after five innings.  In the meantime, Monclova won two games at Tabasco before dropping the third game in that set and moving on to Veracruz, where they were swept by the last-place Rojos Aguilas.  The Sultanes ended the weekend with a 38-21 record, two games up on the 36-23 Acereros.  Aguascalientes is third in the LMB North at 36-26 while Laguna holds fourth with a 32-27 mark, a half-game ahead of 32-28 Tijuana.

Yucatan is still in second place in the LMB South, but the Leones helped themselves with a 4-2 week capped by a three-game sweep of a road series in Tijuana.  Starter Jonathan Castellanos went six innings in a 5-0 one-hitter over the Toros Friday as Yucatan touched up 45-year-old Tijuana starter Rafael Diaz (pictured) for four runs in 4.1 frames.  Earlier this season, Diaz became the only pitcher in Mexican League history to record 100 wins, 100 saves and 1,000 strikeouts for his career.

While Yucatan was doing well away from home, Puebla was struggling at home, losing four of six games at Estadio Hermandos Serdan to Monterrey and Reynosa.  Losing two of three to the Broncos while allowing 18 runs was an especially hard pill for the Pericos to swallow.  Ex-MLB hurler Kyle Farnsworth got the win in Reynosa's 8-3 win on Friday.  Heading into Monday's travel day, Puebla was still atop the LMB South at 40-19 (best in the league), but Yucatan is now two-and-a-half games behind at 38-22.  Defending champion Quintana Roo is third at 36-34 while Campeche is in fourth at 30-29, ten games behind the leaders.

Puebla will be in Monclova for an important series beginning Tuesday, while Yucatan hosts Aguascalientes and Monterrey is at home for three against 23-37 Tabasco.


HERNANDEZ SOCKS 3 HOMERS IN GAME AGAINST CAMPECHE

Just when it looked like Aguascalientes shortstop Diory Hernandez' unexpected power output in the first half of the season was an illusion after all, the 32-year-old Dominican cranked three homers and drove in seven runs during the Rieleros' 10-2 win over the Campeche Piratas Friday at Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez.  Hernandez hadn't gone deep since May 14 against Saltillo and had lost his league leadership in homers until he sent deliveries from three different Campeche pitchers over the wall, including homers in both the seventh and eighth innings. He sliced an RBI double as well en route to a 4-for-4 night.

The explosion put the former Braves infielder back atop the LMB tables with 15 roundtrippers for the season, one ahead of Quintana Roo's Alex Liddi, Monclova's Jose Ruiz and Alex Valez of Monterrey.  Hernandez continues to lead the Liga with 69 RBI's (Felix Perez of Monterrey is second at 51) while batting .339.  Prior to 2016, Hernandez had hit 49 homers over 13 pro seasons and never more than seven in one campaign.  Now he's a legitimate MVP candidate.  Maybe it's the water...he DOES play in Aguascalientes.

Other Mexican League offensive leaders include Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia with a .379 batting average and Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene with 20 stolen bases.  Among pitchers, Tijuana's Hector Ambriz still leads the LMB with a 1.23 ERA, but the ex-MLBer hasn't appeared in a game for three weeks and is no longer on the Toros' active roster.  Don't ask me why...I've spent 15 minutes trying to find out and came up empty.  Among pitchers who are still pitching, Monclova's Josh Lowey leads all three Triple Crown categories with 10 wins, 99 strikeouts and a 1.51 ERA.  Acereros teammate Arcenio Leon tops the loop with 22 saves.  Another Monclova hurler, Jose Oyervides (7-1, 1.72), had formed a terrific 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation with Lowey before breaking his hand during a losing confrontation with a locker room door on May 18.


AMADOR WALKS OUT ON ACEREROS; MADERA CUT BY DIABLOS

It's a good thing for Monclova that their pitching has been near the top of the Mexican League because their All-Star Game MVP jumped ship shortly after the event was held last weekend in Monterrey.  According to La Aficion, infielder Jose Amador, who hit a key three-run homer in the North's 8-4 win over the South, failed to join teammates last Monday to travel to Tabasco for a road series and then turned in his "resignation" from the Acereros one day later, stating that he didn't "feel comfortable" with the club and wanted to be traded.  Instead, the team placed him on the reserve list.

Amador, who was chosen as BBM's Mexican Pacific League MVP last winter, had been playing with a broken middle finger which prevented him from taking the field defensively but allowed him to serve as designated hitter.  It was a strange move for the 16-year veteran, who was not having one of his best seasons despite his All-Star selection (.281/12/29 numbers over 53 games), but the 36-year-old was still a key member of a team battling for first place.  Rumors are that someone from another LMB team talked to Amador last weekend in Monterrey and offered a better deal, but that has yet to be proven.

Then there's the case of Sandy Madera.

Longtime readers of Baseball Mexico will recognize Madera as one of the better hitters in the LMB for the past several seasons after bouncing around the minors for a decade.  Madera led the league in batting with a .403 average for Puebla in 2014, finished second in 2010 and 2013 and has never hit below .320 over seven summers in Mexico.  While the 35-year-old Dominican was not picked for the All-Star Game last weekend, he was hitting .362 with 10 homers and 31 RBI's over 46 games for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos until he was released last Monday.

Unlike the Amador situation in Monclova, there was no explanation given when the Diablos cut Madera loose, but an independent source says the 6'2" designated hitter has been difficult to deal with during his time in Mexico and a look at his travel itinerary may bear that out:

During his first year in the LMB, Madera was traded by Saltillo to Yucatan with a month left in the 2010 season despite a .391 average for the Saraperos.  In 2011, Madera was realeased by the Leones in midseason after going .320/9/42 over 67 games in Merida.  He finished that year in Monterrey.  Then came three years in Puebla, with two very productive seasons and a so-so 2015 that ended with Pericos manager Matias Carillo so enamored of Madera that the latter was dealt to Reynosa last December for Paul Oseguera, a decent pitcher who'd gone 8-4 for the Broncos last year but yet to pitch an inning in 2016.  The Broncos only needed until February 22 to send Madera packing to Mexico City with no players moved to Reynosa in return.

This time, it took half a season for Diablos skipper Jose Luis Sandoval to get his fill of Madera, who was signed by Tabasco two days after his release from Mexico City.  Perhaps veteran Olmecas skipper Enrique "Che" Reyes (who was let go in May as manager in Oaxaca) will find a way to keep the talented Madera on the straight and narrow. History indicates otherwise.


Mexican League standings
North Division: Monterrey 38-21, Monclova 36-23, Aguascalientes 32-26, Laguna 32-27, Tijuana 32-38, Mexico City 30-29, Saltillo 27-31, Reynosa 17-42.
South Division: Puebla 40-19, Yucatan 38-22, Quintana Roo 36-24, Campeche 30-29, Oaxaca 23-35, Tabasco 23-37, Carmen 20-39, Veracruz 19-41.

Monterrey, Puebla hot; Reynosa, Veracruz not

The Monterrey Sultanes have won ten of their last eleven games to pull even with Monclova atop the Mexican League Northern Division standings.  Both have 30-15 records and a five-game lead over third-place Aguascalientes and Tijuana, who are 25-20.

The Sultanes completed a three-game weekend home sweep over Reynosa Sunday with an 11-3 win over the Broncos.  Starting pitcher Edgar Gonzalez gave up two earned runs to raise his season record to 5-1 for the Sultanes, who got four-hit nights from leadoff hitter Chris Roberson and former Yankees farmhand Zoilo Almonte to lead a 17-hit attack.  A throng of 22,349 turned out Sunday to bring the Sultanes' season average at the turnstiles to 14,118, easily tops in all of minor league baseball.  No other MiLB team is drawing double-figure crowds this season as the two-decade minor league boom appears to be edging into recession, meaning fans face less competition in the stands for t-shirts fired from a cannon.  Hey, you need a positive spin when most of your teams are dealing with declining attendance.

Being swept at Estadio Monterrey extended Reynosa's current losing streak to twelve games while dropping the Broncos' season mark to 12-32, worst in the Liga.  The team canned Rafael Castaneda as manager last week, replacing him at the helm with Hector Hurtado in time for Friday's series opener with the Sultanes.  Hurtado is somewhat of an anomaly among the four men brought in to manage LMB teams in May in that he's never run a Liga team.  Having spent 22 seasons as a catcher in Mexico followed by several more campaigns as a coach, however, Hurtado is no stranger to the game south of the border and losing his first three games indicates a seamless change with the Broncos.  Ex-MLB pitcher Kyle Farnsworth may be putting the football pads back on before long after turning in an 0-1 record with an 8.31 ERA in 13 relief appearances for Reynosa.

In the LMB South, Puebla continues to dominate with a Liga-best 32-12 record (winning an incredible 18 of 22 road games in the process) while pulling to a five-and-a-half-game lead over 27-18 Quintana Roo in the standings.  The Pericos did have a nine-game win streak snapped in Tabasco Sunday, losing 5-1 as Olmecas starter Logan Duran let in one run over eight innings in front of 978 souls in the stands at Villahermosa's Parque Centenario del 27 de Febrero.  It was the Parrots' second defeat in 22 games since April 27.  It's hard to put a finger on the source of Puebla's dominance thus far.  Their team batting average of .304 is tied with Monterrey for second in the circuit behind Mexico City's .319 mark, which certainly is a good place to start, but the pitching staff's collective ERA of 4.91 is eleventh in the 16-team loop.  Whatever the cause, the Pericos have found a way to win under skipper Matias Carrillo in 2016.  It's a long season, but if it ended today, Puebla would be prohibitive playoff favorites.  Things may be different by August.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Veracruz Rojo Aguilas lost a tough 3-1 contest to Oaxaca at home Sunday for their tenth straight defeat and 15th loss in 16 games. There were 2,056 spectators in the stands at Parque Beto Avila as Red Eagles starter Jose Pina turned in a great performance on the mound over eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits, but reliever Jesus Parela allowed two Guerreros runs in the top of the ninth to break a 1-1 tie.  It's almost as hard to put a finger on the lack of success for manager Lino Connell's team, but you can start with the offense (or lack thereof).  Outside outfielder Enrique Osorio's .344 batting average, no Veracruz regular is batting above .290 and the club just isn't scoring enough runs to help the pitchers, whose team ERA of 4.93 is just behind Puebla on the Liga tables.  With his team now at 13-32, Connell's seat may be getting unbearably hot, as we've already seen five LMB managers canned this year.

Catchers Cesar Tapia of Puebla and Eliezer Alfonzo of Mexico are 1-2 in the Mexican League batting race at .404 and .400, respectively, with Monterrey shortstop Walter Ibarra third with a .395 average.  Another shortstop, Aguascalientes' Diory Hernandez, still leads the circuit with 12 homers despite not hitting any longballs last week, but Quinata Roo's Alex Liddi is now just one behind at 11 while Liddi's Tigres teammate, Esteban Quiroz, and Monclova's Jose Amador are tied for third with 10 apiece.  Hernandez' 54 RBI's give him a comfortable lead in that statistical race over Quiroz' 42.  Justin Greene of Saltillo is tops in stolen bases with 17, four more than Puebla's Nyjer Morgan and five up on Monterrey's Roberson.

Among pitchers, Tijuana's Hector Ambriz has been in lockdown mode thus far with a 1.23 ERA after nine starts, but his 3-2 record implies a lack of support among Toros batsmen.  Monclova's Jose Oyervides (7-1, 1.72) and Josh Lowey (7-2, 1.84) are tied for the lead in wins along with Mexico City's David Reyes, while Lowey's 68 strikeouts over 58.2 innings tops the LMB in that category.  Lowey (pictured above) was the Mexican League's Pitcher of the Year in 2015, his third such award after winning POY honors for the Frontier League in 2011 and one year later in the American Association, both independent circuits.  Not bad for a guy who didn't focus on pitching until his Junior year at Mercer University.  Now 31, Lowey won't likely find his way to the Majors, but hopes Japan or Korea may be in his future.  Acereros teammate Arcenio Leon has 20 saves and a pair of wins in 26 relief appearances.

LMB STANDINGS (as of May 23, 2016)
North Division:  Monclova 30-15, Monterrey 30-15, Aguascalientes 25-20, Tijuana 25-20, Laguna 23-22, Mexico City 23-22, Saltillo 20-25, Reynosa 12-32
South Division:  Puebla 32-12, Quintana Roo 27-18, Yucatan 26-19, Campeche 23-21, Tabasco 19-26, Oaxaca 15-29, Carmen 15-30, Veracruz 13-32