RIELEROS’ VARGAS AT 26 HOMERS AFTER 3-HR GAME

Aguascalientes Rieleros 3B Jose Vargas

            Aguascalientes Rieleros third baseman Jose Vargas has opened a sizeable lead in the Mexican League’s home run title chase after a recent stretch during which the Californian crashed seven longballs in a six-game stretch last week, including three homers in a four-inning span against Leon last Saturday night in a wild 15-11 Railroaders loss to the Bravos.

           A gathering of 1,866 at Estadio Alberto Chavez Romo in Aguascalientes looked on at the Ventura College product and former White Sox farm hand socked a solo shot off Leon veteran Walter Silva in the fifth frame, followed by three-run dingers against Normand Mendoza in the sixth and Nicolas Heredia in the eighth, respectively, to run his season total to 26 homers to augment a .390 batting average with 50 RBIs over the first 44 games of the season as the Liga passed the first 1/3 of its 2019 schedule.

            Former Orioles five-tool prospect Felix Pie socked a pair of homers and drove in five runs for the Bravos, who won despite allowing 11 runs on 14 hits (which indicates exactly why the Bravos are just 19-25 on the season despite a starting lineup that boasts .300+ batters at all nine slots in the order.  Pie ended the weekend with a .461 average to top the LMB, his 16 homers are tied with teammate Matt Clark and two others for fourth in the circuit and his 57 RBIs are third in the league behind co-leaders Vargas and Clark.

Leon’s .330 team batting average trails only Monterrey’s .336 mark among the 16 Liga teams but the Bravos’ 8.15 team ERA is dead last and suggests that manager Tony Aguilera might be better served replacing his pitchers with a batting tee atop home plate while sending out a fourth outfielder instead (on either side of the wall.  The most effective Leon hurler thus far has been 38-year-old Manny Acosta, a onetime Braves and Mets pitcher whose 3-1 record and three saves suggest he’s throwing a little better than his 5.60 ERA indicates.

It’s been that kind of year in the LMB, which has apparently resurrected its longstanding reputation as a hitter’s have with 12 teams batting .304 or more and al but Tabasco averaging at least one homer per opening.  The offensive explosion has meant pitchers are proving Newton’s Third Law (“For every action…”) with 13 teams allowing five or more runs per game.  Even traditionally pitching-rich Yucatan has not been immune from the Curse of the Franklin Ball.  The Leones are usually hovering just above a 3.00 team ERA but this year the Merida club is showing a 5.38 ERA, and it’s a sign of the times that they’re still fourth in the circuit.  Fans who love 1-0 pitcher’s duels haven’t had much to cheer about in the 2019 version of the Mexican League.

MONCLOVA, OAXACA TAKE LEADS IN TIGHT LMB DIVISION RACES

            As the Mexican League approaches its ninth week of the current season, we’re starting to see some separation between contenders and pretenders for its eight playoff berths, with a couple of spirited battles for the LMB’s regular season division titles to spur fan interest. 

Campeche Piratas OF Jay Austin

The 32-13 Monclova Acereros stumbled a bit on the first leg of their six-game road trip in the South by losing two of three to Tabasco in Villahermosa before winning two of three in Campeche, including a 4-3 loss in the Walled City as Jay Austin’s walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth plated Jose Guadalupe Chavez with the game-winning run.  Despite the tough loss, the Steelers sport the Liga’s best record at 32-12 to hold a 1.5-game lead over 31-14 Tijuana in the LMB North.  Defending champion Monterrey sits two games behind the Toros at 29-16 while 26-19 Dos Laredos is fourth, four games up on 22-23 Saltillo.

            

            The 27-18 Oaxaca Guerreros have won five in a row (including three-game weekend sweep in Saltillo) to sneak past Mexico City in the LMB South to lead the 26-18 Diablos by a half-game.  Mexico City won two of three games apiece in series at Saltillo and Laguna during last week’s northern road trip but Friday’s defeat in Torreon was enough to drop the Red Devils out of first.  Puebla (25-20) sits two games out of the top slot and a nice battle has developed for the fourth and final playoff slot between 21-24 Yucatan and 20-25 Leon.

            Felix Pie of Leon is batting .461 to hold a commanding 52-point lead over Mexico City’s Emmanuel Avila.  Jason Vargas’ 26 homers for Aguascalientes are tops in the loop, four head of Monclova slugger Chris Carter’s 22.  The former NL home run champ went long once in both Tabasco and Campeche last week.  Leon’s Matt Clark has 61 runs batted in to lead Vargas by one.  Dos Laredos outfielder Johnny Davis has a good lead in stolen bases with 28, 12 more than Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca.  A darkhorse in the SB race is Leon outfielder Jeremias Pineda.  The speedy Dominican has only played 17 games for the Bravos after missing a month of the season, but he’s a perfect 12-for-12 in swipes over the 17 games he has played in to tie Campeche’s Jay Austin for fourth, but is a player who can pile up the SBs in a hurry.

 

Tijuana Toros P James Russell

           Both Josh Lowey of Monclova and Monterrey’s Edgar Gonzalez have eight wins to tie for the Liga lead in that category.  Lowey shut out Campeche over 5.1 innings in last Friday’s 4-2 Acereros road victory to go to 8-0 to match Gonzalez, who’d improved to 8-0 two nights earlier for the Sultanes in Cancun with a 4-2 triumph over the Tigres.  Yucatan’s Cesar Valdez is right behind the co-leaders with a 7-0 record.  James Russell of Tijuana blanked the Tigres over six frames in Cancun last Friday to lower his ERA to 1.94, making the son of ex-MLBer Jeff Russell the lone Mexican League starter at less than 2.00 while improving to 5-1.  Oaxaca’s Ruddy Acosta is 34 points back in second at 2.28, a rather remarkable figure for a starter with a 1-2 record for a division-leading team.  In fact, Acosta didn’t win his first game of the season until his 14-3 victory in Saltillo last Saturday, 44 games into the schedule.  Yasutomo Kubo of Leon still leads the LMB with 69 strikeouts, 13 more than Alex Delgado of Oaxaca.  Monclova’s Carlos Bustamante leads Saltillo’s Rafael Martin in saves, 13 to 12.

Cuarto Bat WRITER'S TOP 6 MEXICAN BALLPARKS (PART 5)

A writer for Mexican baseball website Cuarto Bat, Yasser Trujillo, posted a column in April about his picks for the top six ballparks in the Mexican and Mexican Pacific leagues.  Here is the third part of a series in which we bring you a translated version. You'll find their site at CuartoBat.com, where fans can download a free copy of their February magazine.

2.  NUEVO ESTADIO YAQUIS, OBREGON

Nuevo Estadio Yaquis, Obregon

            The contrast that exists in the Yaqui Territory is worth mentioning.  Once Ciudad Obregon ends and the visitor drives for five minutes on a small road, the home of the Yaquis is erected.  It is a majestic scenario surrounded only by an asphalt road, dirt and an occasional rancheria.  It is the ideal location to avoid conglomerations but, in turn, far from presuming surroundings that invite tourism.

           Possessing an impressive and original external metal design, it immediately refers to the one used at Estadio BBVA, home of Liga MX soccer’s Monterrey Rayados.  The front of the Tribe’s lair consists of eight columns that symbolize the seven Yaquis peoples of the region and the proud eighth: The Yaquis Nation.

            It has an internal corridor of 270 degrees, in which access to the outfield is not allowed unless you have a ticket for that section.  It has a huge official store where you can almost anything to do with the local team.  To access the ballpark, there are automated turnstiles to present your physical ticket or via your cell phone.  There are televisions in each column, a free Wi-Fi network, and a huge screen with 4K definition.  It also has a large food court consisting of about 30 stores with varied offerings, including two a la carte bars/restaurants overlooking the playing field.  There is also a Hal of Fame with legendary trophies and uniforms, luxury boxes and even a gym on the second floor.

            Obregon has in their ballpark a beautiful scenario endorsed by Major League Baseball where, win or lose, the team has hired a musical group for after each game.  So what happens on the ground will always stay there, while the dancing and parties always accompanies everywhere.  A serious candidate to be the best stadium in Mexican baseball.


NOTE: I'm in The Philippines until June 20 and the internet here is spotty, so BBM may be interrupted for the next three Monday.  However, as no less than Douglas MacArthur said a few years ago, "I shall return."  MacArthur was in the Philippines at the time, too, although the stakes were just a trifle higher for him.

Flurry of activity as Tuesday LMB trade deadline passes

Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle

Tuesday marked the final day that Mexican League teams can make trades or sign free agents to their active rosters with one month remaining in the regular season, and fans of such transactions were not disappointed.  Dozens of players were either traded, brought in or cut loose throughout the LMB, and rather than go through the entire eye-glazing list, let's take a look at some of the key transactions made before the July 11 deadline passed.

The deal that drew the hottest reaction was the trade of the rights to catcher Sebastian Valle from Tabasco to Yucatan in exchange for pitcher Juan Delgadillo, infielder Kristian Delgado and two more players prior to the 2018 season.  The 26-year-old Valle played for Mexicali in last winter's Caribbean Series, putting the Aguilas into the semis by belting a walkoff homer in a 5-1 win over Venezuela's Zulia Aguilas in a battle of Eagles before catching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic in Guadalajara.  The former Phillies prospect was signed as a minor league free agent by Seattle in the offseason but has spent almost the entire season on the disabled list, making one July 6 plate appearance in a rehab assignment with the Mariners' Arizona Rookie League team before his release two days later.

A Los Mochis native who has never played in the Mexican League, Valle has hit .253 with 74 homers over 822 games in his minor league career.  His LMB rights have been held by the Olmecas, who've had their own problems even without paying what will likely be a good salary for a catcher of Valle's status in Mexico, so the Olmecas jumped at the chance to add a veteran pitcher like Delgadillo (a son of Villahermosa in his 13th LMB season with 77-66 career record, including a 5-1 mark this year) and the versatile Delgado, who plays three positions and has hit .239 this year for both Tabasco and Union Laguna, where he played eight games on loan.

"Foul!," cried Monterrey Sultanes part-owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz, who came out of his season-long hibernation to complain to LMB president Plinio Escalante and president-in-waiting Javier Salinas that the Sultanes had a deal worked out with Tabasco to obtain Valle's right.  The LMB responded quickly, replying that there is no record of such an arrangement in the Liga's Mexico City offices and that the Olmecas' swap with Yucatan would hold.  Not that the Sultanes ended up standing still, signing All-Star third baseman Daniel Mayora (who was released by the financially imploding Durango Generales on Monday) and inking free agent first baseman-catcher Jesus Montero, a onetime top Yankees prospect who was released by the Orioles organization in late June after three injury-plagued months at AAA Norfolk.  Mayora, of course, fell one game short of tying the Mexican League record of 36 consecutive games with a hit and is among the LMB batting leaders with a .367 average.  Montero, who hit .260 with 15 homers and 62 RBIs for Seattle in 2012, will give the Sultanes a powerful bat and suspect glove.

Monclova was also busy up to the deadline.  The Acereros signed former major leaguers Carlos Quentin and James Loney as free agents while placing second baseman Tim Torres on the reserve list.  Quentin, who briefly played in the Puebla outfield last summer, appeared in two MLB All-Star Games and hit 154 homers in 834 games over nine big league campaigns (including a .288/36/100 season for the White Sox in 2008) .  Loney has eleven years of experience as an MLB first baseman, seven with the Dodgers, after finishing sixth in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2006.  He has a career average of .284 with 108 homers.  Torres spent nine years as minor leaguer in four organizations, playing in the 2010 Southern League All-Star Game, before making his LMB debut with Oaxaca in 2015.  A versatile Oral Roberts product who can play seven positions, Torres hit .348 in 32 games for Tabasco and Monclova before being placed on reserve.

Other player moves included the signing of free agents OF Eliseo Aldazaba (Mexico City), OF Jeremias Pineda (Veracruz), IB-3B Alex Valdez (Saltillo) and 3B Eudor Garcia (Tijuana).  The most notable of that foursome may be Valdez, who hit 30 homers and drove in 100 last year for Monterrey and added 12 more longballs for the Sultanes this summer.  He represented Carmen at the LMB All-Star Game in both 2014 and 2015 and brings five-year Liga totals of .296/112/424 to the Saraperos lineup.  Unlike the power Valdez will add to the Saltillo batting order, Pineda is all about speed.  The Gulf Coast League's MVP in 20112, the 26-year-old Dominican was an All-Star for Veracruz in 2015, where he hit .285 with a Liga-leading 60 steals.  He's since spent time in the Marlins system before his release from AA Jacksonville on July 3.  Aldazaba belted 41 homers with 138 RBIs for Campeche over the 2014 and 2015 campaigns and will give the Diablos a reliable vet in the outfield.

The most intriguing pickup may be Garcia in Tijuana.  The 23-year-old El Paso native spent four years in the Mets system after being picked in the fourth round of the 2014 draft before being let go in late June.  While Garcia has been slowed by injuries, he's shown a good bat with gap power.  His signing will allow Toros manager Pedro Mere the chance to rest retiring veteran infielders Jorge Cantu and Oscar Robles by shifting Alex Liddi to first base and inserting Garcia at third.  In the postseason, that will matter.

One more notable roster move was the placement on the 60-day disabled list of catcher Iker Franco by the Quintana Roo Tigres.  A five-time All-Star for the Cancun team who was MVP of the 2011 LMB Championship Series, the 36-year-old Franco had hit just .157 in 17 games for the Tigres before he was shelved for the season Tuesday.  Franco played sparingly in 2015 and 2016 and is nearing the end of a solid, workmanlike career as a tough customer behind the plate and opportunistic batter.  His 14-year Liga totals include a .269 average with 112 homers and 531 ribbies.

Veracruz sells OF Jeremias Pineda to Marlins

On the heels of a successful season of winterball in which he played a key role for the Mazatlan Venados in winning both the Mexican Pacific League playoffs and the Caribbean Series, 25-year-old outfielder Jeremias Pineda's rights have been sold by the Mexican League's Veracruz Rojo Aguilas to the Miami Marlins for the coming summer season.  Pineda subsequently signed a three-year contract with Miami.

The switch-hitting Dominican batted .292 for the Deer during the regular season, leading the MexPac in runs scored (50) and stolen bases (31 of 36 attempts) while coming in second to Mexicali's Welington Dotel in hits with 80 in 68 games.  While Pineda struggled in the Serie del Caribe by going just 3-for-20 with no steals, he contributed mightily to the Venados' 80-4 win over Puerto Rico's Santurce on February 5 by singling, doubling, tirpling, scoring three runs and driving in two more as Mazatlan clinched a berth in the CS semifinals.

Pineda made his Mexican League debut with Veracruz in 2015 and was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak season for the Red Eagles, who finished 48-65 to finish last in the LMB South.  Pineda was third on the squad with a .292 batting average (the team was last in the Liga with a .262 mark) while topping the circuit with 60 steals.  On the other hand, he led the LMB with 17 times caught stealing and was second in strikeouts with 104 so his first summer in Mexico fell short of idyllic.

The Marlins are the third MLB organization to have Pineda in their system.  The 5'11", 190-pounder nicknamed "The Jet Blue" signed a free agent contract as a 20-year-old with Boston for the 2011 season and split that year between the Red Sox' Rookie clubs in the Dominican Summer League and Gulf Coast League, hitting a combined .188.  He spent the entire 2012 campaign in the GCL, during which he was traded to the Twins.  Pineda fared much better that time around with a .365 average and 23 steals in 52 games.  He then spent two more years in the Minnesota system with Class A Cedar Rapids and Rookie Elizabethton but hit below .240 both seasons and had his problems in the field as well before being released following the 2014 season.

When announcing finalization of the sale to Miami, El Dictamen of Veracruz reports that Red Eagles chairman Jose Antonio Mansur said, "Pineda came with us to spring training last year in Tucson, showed very well and won a spot on the roster.  We thought that, because he's young, we'd take it step-by-step but you see the results: He won the stolen base title for both of Mexico's leagues and now he's going to the Marlins, which reaffirms us as an organization open to the advancement of our players."

Just in case, Veracruz will retain Pineda's rights in the Mexican League should he return south of the border.

Venados end CS first round at 4-0; to play Cubans in semis

Leadoff batter Jeremias Pineda (pictured) had a productive day at the plate, including one of four consecutive doubles during a six-run eighth inning, to pace the Mazatlan Venados' 8-4 win over Puerto Rico's Santurce Cangrejeros Friday as both sides wrapped up their first-round schedules.  With the win, Mazatlan finished the opening round-robin at 4-0 to earn the top seed at Saturday's semifinals in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

After the teams opened play by trading zeroes for two innings, Paul Leon put the Mexican Pacific League pennant-winners on the scoreboard in the top of the third when his grounder drew an errant throw into right field from Santurce third baseman T.J. Rivera (allowing Leon to take second), advanced to third on Ramon Urias' ground out to second and came in on a two-out Pineda line-drive single up the middle off Cangrejeros starter Hiram Burgos.

Venados starter Arturo Lopez fairly sailed through the first three frames before his defense pulled an epic fail in the fourth, allowing the Crabbers to take a 2-1 lead.  After Kennys Vargas flew out to lead off the frame, Leon mishandled a Rivera grounder to short for a error.  Henry Ramos then hit another grounder that Leon fielded cleanly and flipped to second sacker Ramon Urias to start a double play, only to have Urias miss the ball on the pivot.  Instead of the inning being over, Lopez served up a Danny Ortiz single to center that brought Rivera in with the tying run.

Then, as Lopez pitched to Joe Lozada, Santurce attempted a double-steal, drawing a throw from Mazatlan catcher Sebastian Valle that sailed high above second base into center field, allowing Ramos to pause briefly at third before lighting out for home and sliding in ahead of Justin Greene's throw to Valle for the go-ahead tally. Neither Puerto Rican run was earned but no further damage was done.

The two sides swapped two more scoreless frames before the Venados knotted the score in the top of the seventh when Pineda lined a two-out triple past Santurce centerfielder Ramos, then came in on Greene's bunt single down the third-base line to make it a 2-2 game.  Greene then took second with his third stolen base of the CS, but Alex Liddi popped out to first baseman Neftali Soto in foul territory to end the inning.

After Jesus Barraza blanked the Cangrejeros in the bottom of the seventh, Mazatlan kicked open the flood gates by sending ten batters to the plate en route to six runs on as many hits.  The frame was highlighted by consecutive doubles from Cyle Hankerd, Urias, Pineda and Greene, with Hankerd's and Urias' two-baggers driving in two runs apiece.

Bolstered by the 8-2 lead handed over to them, Barraza and three other relievers combined to hold Santurce to one run in the eighth and one more in the ninth, a drop-off from the Mazatlan bullpen's three previous outings but good enough for Barraza to be awarded the win while wrapping up the Venados' fourth straight triumph in Santo Domingo this week.

Pineda, Greene and DH Javier Vazquez each had three of Mazatlan's 15 hits, with Pineda (who'd gone 0-for-8 before Friday's game) scoring twice and driving in two runs while Greene batted in two more.  Although he wasn't the pitcher of record, Lopez gave manager Juan Jose Pacho six strong innings, allowing no earned runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking none.  Efrain Nieves bore the brunt of Mazatlan's eighth-inning outburst, allowing all six runs in two-thirds of the frame for the loss.

The win clinches the top seed for the 4-0 Venados in Saturday's semifinal, one game better than Venezuela's Aragua Tigres at 3-3 and two up on Santurce's 3-3 mark.  Ciego de Avila needed eleven innings to nudge host Escogido, 4-2 Friday night, giving the Cubans a 1-3 first round record and the final berth in the semis while the Dominicans finished 0-4.  Aragua plays Santurce at 3:00PM ET in Saturday's first game while Mazatlan meets Ciego de Avila in the 7:50PM nightcap.

Run holds through nine as Venados win Game Three

The Mazatlan Venados pushed one run across the plate in the bottom of the first inning and made it stand through the rest of their 1-0 shutout of the Mexicali Aguilas in Game Three of the Mexican Pacific League championship series.  The Venados took a 2-games-to-1 lead in the set with the win, which took just two hours, 21 minutes to complete.

After Mazatlan starter Andres Meza (pictured) blanked Mexicali in the top of the first inning, Jeremias Pineda led off the bottom of the frame for the Venados with a liner up the middle into center field.  After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Greene, Pineda sped in to score on Agustin Murillo's seeing-eye single over second base.  On the play, Aguilas centerfielder Chris Roberson threw a strike to first baseman C.J. Retherford after Murillo rounded first toward second, and Retherford threw the ball to shortstop Ramon Urias, who applied the tag for the out, but the damage was done.

Meza then trotted out to the mound for the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, retiring nine batsmen in a row at one point before allowing consecutive singles to Yuniesky Betancourt and Alex Liddi in the fourth (the only two hits he gave up) before retiring Roberson to end the inning followed by a 1-2-3 fifth before calling it a night.  Meza struck out five Aguilas batters and walked none, throwing 38 of his 50 pitches for strikes en route to his third playoff win.

Mexicali made one last-ditch effort in the eighth when Ramon Urias led off with a ground-rule double down the left-field line off Sergio Valenzuela, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Jon Del Campo.  Walter Ibarra then sent a hard-hit grounder in the gap between first and second that would've scored Urias from third, but Mazatlan first sacker Cyle Hankerd made a diving stop to his right, looked Urias back to his base and tagged first to put Ibarra out.  Steven Hensley then came in for Valenzuela and struck out Retherford swinging to end the threat.  Hensley pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth playoff save.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Aguilas, especially starter Hector Daniel Roriguez, who was brilliant in the first complete-game outing in three rounds of postseason play.  Rodriguez went all eight innings on the hill for Mexicali, scattering five hits (none for extra bases), walking none and striking out six while throwing seven scoreless frames after the fateful first.  Pinedas had two of those hits for the Venados.  Liddi had two hits for the Aguilas, who had seven on the night but none when it mattered as Mexicali was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Game Four will be Sunday in Mazatlan.

MAZATLAN 1-5-1, Mexicali 0-7-1
W-A. Meza (3-1).  L-H. Rodriguez (2-1).  T-2:21.  A-15,400.