Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta: Day One Report

Hermosillo DH Jose Amador

The Mexican Baseball Fiesta kicked off its final weekend of play in 2017 Thursday night with a pair of games at Tucson's Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium featuring three Mexican Pacific League teams.  The Obregon Yaquis opened the four-day, eight-game event with a convincing 9-1 win over Mexicali in the seven-inning first contest while a team of Cincinnati Reds prospects pulled off a 5-3 comeback win over the Hermosillo Naranjeros in the nightcap.

Former Phillies outfielder Cedric Hunter lofted a solo homer with two out in the top of the first as his Obregon Yaquis went on to pull away from the defending MexPac champion Aguilas.  Felix Pie led off the game getting plunked by Mexicali starter Francisco Rodriguez, but was cut down at second when Obregon centerfielder Yordanys Linares made a diving catch of an Irving Falu Texas Leaguer and threw a strike to second baseman Paul Leon, who calmly tagged Pie to complete the double play.  Hunter then took Rodriguez deep into the right field bullpen.

Pie got a measure of revenge one inning later by lashing a two-run single off Rodriguez to give the Yaquis a 3-0 advantage, to which Falu added another run by rapping a sharp single to right that brought Armando Araiza in from third.  Mexicali scored their lone run in the bottom of the fourth when former Yankees farmhand Josh Romanski drilled a liner off Obregon reliever David Reyes' right leg, scoring C.J. Retherford from third as the ball rolled into foul territory. Romanski is a former pitcher who hit .324 for Winnipeg last summer in the independent American Association.  Reyes was taken out of the game after that play and his status is unknown.

The Yaquis essentially put the game in their hip pockets in the top of the sixth when Paul Leon stepped up with the sacks loaded and belted a bases-clearing double against Mexicali reliever Edgar Gomez that rattled high off the center field wall, bringing the Obregon lead to 7-1.  The Tribe concluded the night's scoring in the top of the seventh inning when Alex Liddi rapped a two-run double to left that brought in subs Jonathan Aranda and Andres Martin.  It was left to Edwin Fierro to hold the Aguilas scoreless in the bottom of the frame to seal the win.

Wily veteran Pablo Ortega looked anything but 40 years old in tossing three scoreless innings on two hits to earn the win for the Yaquis.  Rodriguez took the loss for Mexicali after getting touched for three runs on four hits in the first two entradas.  Aguilas reliever Edgar Osuna was razor-sharp by retiring all nine batters he faced over three innings.  Osuna struggled to an 0-5 record last summer for Yucatan in Mexican League play after being shipped to the Leones from Union Laguna (for whom he was 5-4) as part of the Ricky Alvarez trade, so the 29-year-old lefty from Mazatlan is seeking some redemption this winter.  Alvarez is a teammate of Osuna's in Obregon.

The nightcap between Hermosillo and a team of Cincinnati Reds minor leaguers was much closer, if not quite as interesting until the end.  The Reds manufactured a run in the top of the first when Stuart Fairchild drew a walk from Naranjeros starter Hector Galvan, stole second without a throw from catcher Alejandro Flores and then motored in on Taylor Trammell's single.  Trammell was cut down trying to advance to second when Flores took the wide throw from the outfield and burned another throw to Carlos Gastelum, who tagged Trammell for the second out of the inning.  Cincinnati's 2015 first-round draft pick, Tyler Stephenson, struck out swinging to end the threat.

Hermosillo tied the game back up in the bottom of the first when speedy rightfielder Norberto Obeso tripled off the wall in right center and scored on Gastelum's groundout to short to make it a 1-1 contest.  The Orangemen regained the lead in the top of the second the old-fashioned way, when 2016-17 LMP Most Valuable Player Jose Amador blasted a Jonathon Crawford offering off the top of the 18-foot wall in back of the Hermosillo bullpen in left.  Hermosillo went up 3-1 later in the inning when a Jorge Flores groundout to third brought in Jose Cardona with a run.

And that's how the score remained until the top of the seventh and final inning, when the Reds erupted for four runs on as many hits and an error as Cincinnati batted through the order against reliever Rafael Cordova.  After Cassidy Brown led off with a groundout to short, the Reds got three consecutive hits:  A Miles Gordon single, a Joe Sansone double and a two-run single by Carlos Rivero to tie the score at 3-all.  The Naranjeros ran into more trouble when Jorge Flores mishandled a Shed Long grounder to short to put runners on the corners.  Fairchild then singled Rivero home to give Cincy a 4-3 lead and Long scooted in from third to make it 5-3 when Trammell's lazy fly ball to left was dropped.  Cordova got the final two outs of the inning but the Naranjeros went down in order in the bottom of the seventh with pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez striking out swinging to end the game.

Amador finished the night 2-for-3 with his homer but no other Naranjero batter had more than one hit.  Gordon and Rivero led the Reds with two singles apiece as the visitors collected nine hits to Hermosillo's two.  Dauri Maureta earned the win out of the bullpen for Cincinnati with a perfect sixth and seventh while Cordova took the loss.

Day Two of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta on Friday will feature the Reds taking on Mexicali at 5:30PM while the nightcap has Hermosillo and Obregon tangling in a renewal of the MexPac's version of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

Los Mochis, Mexicali win classic Game Sevens, will play for LMP pennant

Sebastian Valle's two-run double was the key blow in a three-run seventh inning as Los Mochis punched their ticket to the Mexican Pacific League championship series Thursday night with a 3-1 home win over Culiacan.  The Caneros will face Mexicali, who reached the title series thanks to a Herculean performance from closer Jake Sanchez (pictured), who pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless relief as the Aguilas outlasted Hermosillo, 4-3, in 16 innings.

LOS MOCHIS 3-6-1, Culiacan 1-8-2

This one was a pitcher's duel all the way, as Caneros starter Roy Merritt locked horns with his Culiacan counterpart, Zack Dodson as the two Texans traded zeros on the scoreboard through five innings. Tomateros rightfielder Joey Meneses led off the third with the game's first hit on a single, but died there as Merritt retired the next three batters in order.  Culiacan finally broke through with the first score of the night in the top of the sixth.  Veteran Jose Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez started things off with a one-out single, then moved to third when Ramiro Pena lashed a double to third.  After intentionally walking Eugenio Velez to load the bases, Merritt was replaced by Isaac Rodriguez, who plunked Issmael Salas with his first pitch to give Rodriguez an easy stroll home to put the Tomateros ahead, 1-0.  That was all it took for Mochis manager Luis Sojo to yank Salas and bring in Santiago Gutierrez.  After Gutierrrez got Oscar Robles to pop out in foul territory, Sojo then waved Jon Sintes in from the bullpen to end the inning on a Meneses fly out.

Dodson carried the lead into the bottom of the seventh, when the game turned.  After giving up a leadoff single to Leandro Castro on his 87th pitch of the night, Dodson was pulled by Cuiliacan skipper Che Reyes in favor of middleman David Goforth.  The Brewers righty was able to get Saul Soto to foul out to leftfielder Ryan Lollis but then walked Yosmany Guerra on five pitches to put two men on with Valle coming up.  The newly-acquired Mariners farmhand drilled a 2-and-1 Goforth offering into right field for a two-bagger to bring in Castro and Guerra, giving the Caneros the lead, with Valle advancing to third on a Rodriguez throwing error.  That was enough for manager Reyes, who called in MLB vet Oliver Perez to face pinch-hitter Sergio Garcia.  The Nationals right-hander struck out Garcia for the second out but was then tagged for a triple to right by Velez, with Valle crossing the plate to make it a 3-1 Mochis lead and that was all she wrote for the visitors.  Sergio Romo tossed two scoreless innings for his fifth playoff save to end the game and close the series for the Caneros.

Sintes was credited with the win for his perfect one-and-a-third innings of pitching, but the table was more than set by Merritt's 5.1 opening innings of work.  The seven-year Mets minor leaguer let up six hits with one runner scoring in a solid performance.  As good as the 31-year-old lefty was, Dodson may have been a little better as the one-time Pirates fourth-rounder allowed just two hits and two walks in six frames, allowing one run and striking out four.  Goforth took the loss for the Tomateros as another sellout crowd of 11,132 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra celebrated the Caneros moving one step closer to their first pennant since 2002-03.

MEXICALI 4-18-1, Hermosillo 3-12-1

The "other" semifinal was likewise a pitching-dominated matchup as Hermosillo and Mexicali took their fight into double overtime before the Aguilas finally shook off the Narajeros, 44-3, in 16 innings.  The contest looked like it might turn into a slugfest as both teams scored twice in the first inning.  Hermosillo  got on the board when O'Koyea Dickson singled in Jason Bourgeois and Carlos Gastelum came in on a Jose Amador safety, both off Aguilas starter Kameron Loe.  The Aguilas punched back when Chris Roberson led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a Yuniesky Betancourt double one out later.  Betancourt subsequently moved to third on a C.J. Retherford single and scored when Luis Juarez hit a sacrifice fly to right.

The 2-2 score held until the top of the fifth, when Dickson lofted his third homer in two nights into the left field bleachers off a Barry Enright serving, but the hosts came back in the seventh on Yordanys Linares' two-out single to left that plated Ramon Rios.  Linares tried taking second on the hit but was thrown out by Dickson in left. After that, it was nothing but goose eggs on the board inning after inning as the game ended at 2:33AM local time.  The contest finally concluded in the bottom of the 16th, beginning with Roberson's leadoff single off Hector Galvan.  The ex-Phil then advanced to second on a Jon Del Campo sacrifice bunt, took third when Betacourt singled and eventually scored the semi-winning run when LMP bat champ Luis Suarez poked a bases-loaded single to right off Hermosillo reliever Wilmer Rios.

Loe was touched for five hits and two runs in the first, only getting one batter out.  One-time Braves prospect Edgar Osuna pitched 3.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball after relieving Loe, but it was closer Jake Sanchez who reached back for Mexicali with an outing that legends are made of.  The 2013 Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year entered the contest in the top of the eighth and pitched into the 15th, blanking the Orangemen over 7.2 frames on two hits and two walks while racking up eleven K's in a 116-pitch performance.  Javier Solano took over for Sanchez and was credited with the win, but the mound belonged to the Cal Baptist product Thursday night as 13,110 fans were in the stands at Estadio B'Air when the game began.

Enright had a fair start for Hermosillo, giving up three runs in 6.2 innings with no walks.  Six relievers combined to held the Aguilas scoreless until the end.  Galvan suffered the loss despite 3.1 otherside good innings in which he let up only two hits and struck out two.  Betancourt and Juarez each had four of the Aguilas' 18 hits while Amador finished with four hits of his own.

Big inning propels Pericos to win, 3-1 title series lead

A four-run outburst in the fourth inning put Puebla ahead for good and starter Hector Galvan (pictured) and three relievers combined to toss shutout ball over the final eight frames as the Pericos went on to beat Tijuana, 5-1, Sunday in the Mexican League Championship Series at Puebla's Estadio Hermanos Serdan with a sixth consecutive sellout crowd of 12,112 looking on.  With the win, the Parakeets took a 3-games-to-1 lead in the Serie del Rey in their quest for their hometown's first LMB pennant in 30 years.

The Toros took a 1-0 lead in a crazy top of the first inning.  After walking leadoff batter Jose Guadalupe Chavez and inducing Alex Romero to foul out to Pericos left fielder Nyjer Morgan, things started getting weird when Olmo Rosario stepped up to the plate for Tijuana.  Galvan threw a wild pitch to Rosario that allowed Chavez to scamper to second, then a delivery that eluded catcher Cesar Tapia gave Chavez the green light to advance to third.  It was left to Rosario to loft a fly ball that fell to earth in front of center fielder Willy Taveras for a single, bringing in Chavez with what turned out to be the Toros' only run.  Dustin Martin and Carlos Valencia also singled to load the bases before Oscar Robles grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Pericos knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Jose Rodriguez' grounder found its way to left field to bring Morgan in from third, but it was the fourth inning that effectively put the game away for Puebla.  Rodriguez opened the inning by being plunked Tijuana starter Miguel Pena, moved to third on a Daric Barton double and (after Pena walked Tapia to load the bases) came in on an infield single by Ruben Rivera.  Alberto Carreon then stroked a two-run double to give Puebla a 4-1 lead.  Rudy Amador grounded out on a comebacker to Pena on the mound with no more runs coming in, but that was enough for Tijuana manager Pedro Mere.  Mark Serrano was brought in to face Oscar Sanay, who nubbed an infield single to third that brought Rivera in from third before Morgan ended the inning by lining to first sacker Roberto Lopez for an unassisted double play to end the inning and (in effect) the game, as nobody scored the rest of the way.

Taveras went 3-for-5 to lead the Pericos' nine-hit effort while Carreon recorded his third straight two-hit game to raise his playoff batting average to .360.  Rosario collected two of Tijuana's six hits.  Galvan ended up allowing the Toros' lone run on five hits over his five innings of work to take the win, scattering five safeties.  Pena absorbed the defeat to fall to 0-2 in the playoffs, giving up six hits, hitting two batters and walking another in 3.1 frames.  He was charged with all five Puebla runs.  One day after the two teams combined for six homers in Game Three, neither side hit one out Sunday.

The Pericos will try to clinch Puebla's first Liga pennant since 1986 and fourth since 1925 on Monday while the Toros try to keep the Serie de Rey alive and send the proceedings back to Tijuana for Games Six and Seven.  Lefty Horacio Ramirez will be on the hill for the Toros while fellow portsider Orlando Lara will start for Puebla.  The first pitch is scheduled for 8:00pm ET.

PUEBLA 5-9-0, Tijuana 1-6-0 (Puebla leads series, 3 games to 1)
W-Galvan. L-M. Pena. T-2:46. A-12,112.