Solano sharp in Aguilas win, title series tied after four games

Javier Solano (pictured) took a shutout into the seventh inning and Jason Bourgeois collected three hits, including a key two-run single, as the Mexicali Aguilas tied the Mexican Pacific League championship series after four games with a 6-1 home win over Los Mochis on Wednesday.  For the second night in a row, a full house crowd of 17,000 was on hand in Mexicali's Estadio B'Air.

MEXICALI 6-12-0, Los Mochis 1-6-2

Mexicali broke the ice by scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning.   Regular season bat king Luis Juarez led off with a single off Caneros starter Luis Niebla.  After After Agustin Murillo flew out to J.C. Linares, a Yordanys Linares (no relation) fly ball to left was botched by Eugenio Velez, resulting in Juarez making it to third base and Linares the batter ending up on second.  Xorge Carrillo then hit a grounder back to Niebla, who made the throw to first for the out as Juarez scored from third.

The Aguilas carried their narrow 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, where they put up three more runs on the board.  Niebla was still on the hill for Los Mochis and had pitched well to that point.  Ramon Rios led off for Mexicali with a grounder to third that Juan Carlos Gamboa was able to make the stop but couldn't get the throw to first in time as Rios beat out the infield single.  Chris Roberson followed by bunting in front of the plate and Niebla plucked the ball off the ground and threw it into the outfield.  By the time the ball was relayed back, Rios was on third and Roberson occupied second.  Jason Bourgeois stepped up and lined a two-run single to center, bringing in Rios and Roberson to put the hosts up by three.  Yuniesky Betancourt then drilled a double to right and the speedy Bourgeois motored in from first to bring the score to 4-0.

That spelled the end for Niebla, who was pulled for middleman Jon Sintes.  A 30-year-old West Florida product who pitched for Tabasco last summer, Sintes went on to record three outs without further damage. The Caneros responded with their first score of the night in the top of the sixth.  Velez led off by doubling to left off Solano, who was still working on a whitewash.  Velez completed the atonement for his second inning defensive miscue by roaring in from second on Isaac Rodriguez' single up the middle, beating Roberson's throw from center and plating the run.  Solano retired the next three batter to end the threat, then got the first two outs in the seventh before walking Sebastian Valle.  Aguilas skipper Roberto Vizcarra came out, waved in Efren Delgado from the bullpen and Solano walked off the mound to cheers from the hometown crowd. Delgado got Gamboa to ground to second for the final out.

Mexicali added another run in the seventh when C.J. Retherford lined a double to center off Sintes to score Betancourt, and the Aguilas went up 6-1 in the eighth as Carrillo, Rios and Roberson hit consecutive two-out singles, with Robo's safety driving in Carrillo.  Rios tried scoring on the same play but was nailed at the plate when Castro threw a strike from center to Valle, who applied the tag for the frame's final out.  

Solano pitched 6.2 innings for the win, allowing one run on five hits.  The former Dodgers minor leaguer has had a tough posteason for the Eagles, but looked good Wednesday in going to 2-3 in the playoffs.  Niebla allowed four runs in as many innings on seven hits in absorbing his second loss in four January decisions, but two of the runs were unearned and walked none as 45 of the Rockies farrmhand's 65 pitches went for strikes. Bourgeois finished with three of the Aguilas' 12 hits, driving in two runs and scoring once.  Saul Soto continued swinging the hot bat for the Caneros with the only two-hit game in the Mochis order.

Game Five is set for Thursday night in Mexicali at 7:30PM PST (0330 UTC).  Julian Arballo will get the start for Los Mochis while Miguel Pena will open the game on the mound for the Aguilas.

Mochis goes up 2-0 on Venados, other series tied 1-1

The Los Mochis Caneros pulled off a 6-4 comeback win over visiting Mazatlan Tuesday to take a 2 games to 0 lead in their Mexican Pacific League first round playoff series.  Elsewhere in MexPac postseason play Tuesday night, Mexicali won 7-6 in Navojoa to even that set at a game apiece while Hermosillo knotted their series with Culiacan after two games by taking a 6-4 road win.  Wednesday will be a travel day before Mazatlan, Mexicali and Hermosillo host Game Threes of their respective series on Thursday night.


LOS MOCHIS 6-11-0, Mazatlan 4-4-0

J.C. Linares and Leandro Castro hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the sixth inning while Eugenio Velez and Saul Soto added key longballs later to lead the Caneros' 11-hit attack against Mazatlan.  Linares, Velez and Soto each finished with two hits as 10,353 watched at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada in Los Mochis.

Venados first baseman Carlos Munoz crushed a three-run homer off Caneros starter Manny Barreda in the fourth inning to put Mazatlan ahead 3-1.  After Linares and Castro tied the game at 3-3 with their next-door-neighbor homers in the sixth, the Venados regained the lead in the top of the seventh on a homer from venerable shortstop Heber Gomez. In the bottom of the frame, Velez (pictured) went deep for two runs to put Mochis ahead for good and Soto added an insurance solo shot to cap the Caneros' three-run seventh and end the night's scoring.

Despite being touched for four runs over seven innings, Barreda gor the win for the Caneros, striking out six along the way.  Reliever Matias Carrillo Jr. took the loss for Mazatlan after giving up Munoz' homer.  Carrillo has had an interesting winter.  After showing an 8.64 ERA with 8 walks in 11 appearances with Obregon, he landed in Mazatlan, where he had a 1.50 ERA and no walks in 10 trips from the bullpen.


Mexicali 7-11-3, NAVOJOA 6-12-3

C.J. Retherford belted a tiebreaking solo homer to left in the top of the seventh inning and joined his Mexicali teammates in holding Navojoa scoreless over their last three frames as the Aguilas held on for a 7-6 win before 10,497 onlookers at the Mayos' Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria Tuesday.

Mexicali was trailing 1-0 before breaking out for four runs in the top of the fourth as batting champ Luis Juarez doubled in Retherford and Agustin Murrillo.  The host Mayos roared back for five runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth. The usually sure-handed Chris Roberson had a play that he won't soon forget, misjudging an Alejandro Gonzalez fly ball for one error aand then making an errant throw from center field.  When the dust settled, two Navojoa runs had scored.  Quincy Latimore later lined a single up the middle that brought in two more Mayo runs to make it five for the frame and a 6-4 Navojoa lead.  The Aguilas chipped away with single runs in the fifth and sixth to knot the score, setting the stage for Retherford's winning blast in the seventh.

After Mexicali starter Kameron Loe was reached for six runs (three unearned) in 4.2 innings, former Braves prospect Edgar Osuna came in with the Mayos leading 6-5.  Osuna pitched 1.1 shutout frames to earn the win, couresty of Retherford's homer.  Navojoa reliever Jesus Garcia, who served the fateful pitch to Retherford, was also tagged for the loss.


Hermosillo 6-10-2, CULIACAN 4-9-2

Tim Torres smacked a two-run homer to key a three-run sixth inning that stretched visiting Hermosillo's lead to 6-1, and the Naranjeros shrugged off a three-run eighth by Culiacan to outlast the Tomateros, 6-4, on Tuesday night.  A crowd of 16,561 aficionados at Estadio de los Tomateros went home disappointed.

Hermosillo took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third, Efren Navarro providing the heavy artillery with a two-run double to key the entrada.  Ryan Lollis singled in Jose Manuel Orozco to put Culiacan on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, but Torres' fence-clearing shot to right one inning later ultimately put the game out of reach for the home team. The Naranjeros bullpen had a nightmarish eighth as three relievers endured a three-run frame that saw Jose Manuel Rodriguez score on an infield error and Joey Meneses trot in from third on Ali Solis' bases-loaded walk to bring the score to 6-4.  Meneses opened the inning's scoring with an RBI single and his crossing the plate ended it.

Starter Barry Enright gave Hermosillo 5.1 strong innings, letting in one run on four hits with three strikeouts.  Edgar Gonzalez took the loss for Culiacan after giving up a leadoff double by Dustin Martin and an RBI single by O'Koyea Dickson to stake the visitors a 5-4 lead.  Nationals farmhand Rafael Martin earned the save after issuing Solis' bases-loaded walk in the eight by working through a scoreless ninth.