Gastelum drives in three as Hermosillo ties series, Mochis wins as Romo earns save

The Hermosillo Naranjeros have bounced back from two thrashings in Mexicali to tie their series with the Aguilas after winning Game Four, 4-1, Monday night in Mexcan Pacific League semifinal action before 18,156 (mostly) hometown fans in Estadio Sonora. Jeremy Kehrt earned the victory with an effective start for the Orangemen, who got three RBIs from Carlos Gastelum. In the other MexPac semi matchup, Isaac Rodriguez' run-scoring double gave visiting Los Mochis a fifth-inning lead they would never relinquish as the Caneros went on to best Culiacan, 3-2, as 16,039 looked on at Estadio de los Tomateros. The win, which marked the first time a home team has lost in this series, gives Los Mochis a 3-games-to-2 lead in the set.

Game Five of the Aguilas-Naranjeros semi is scheduled for Tuesday night in Hermosillo.  The Caneros and Tomateros will take a travel day off before playing Game Six Wednesday night in Los Mochis.


HERMOSILLO 4-8-3, Mexicali 1-7-1

Neither team put a run on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Hermosillo's Carlos Gastelum (pictured above in mid-air) sliced a bases-loaded double to left off last winter's LMP Pitcher of the Year, Javier Solano, that brought in Tim Torres and Sergio Burruel to give the Naranjeros a 2-0 lead.  That was more than enough cushion for Jeremy Kehrt to carry a lead into the seventh. Kehrt did allow a Mexicali score in the top of the fifth when Ramon Rios singled Luis Juarez across home plate, but the Dodgers farmhand all but took the bats out of the Aguilas' hands by allowing the lone run on four hits in 6.2 innings pitched.

Hermosillo posted another run in the sixth as Gastelum's single up the middle brought in Jorge Flores from second to open their lead to 3-1, followed by another run in the seventh when Jose Amador crushed a Yair Loaiza delivery over the center field wall to put the Orangemen up by three.  Jose Samoya and Rafael Martin held the Aguilas scoreless over the final two innings to close out the win, with Martin earning his fourth playoff save.

Kehrt kept the Mexicali batters off balance en route to his first playoff win.  Solano fell to 0-3 in January by giving up Hermosillo's first two runs in 3.2 innings on four hits and four walks as both starters battled occasional control issues.  Gastelum ended up going 2-for-5 with three ribbies while Amador added a pair of two-baggers to augment his longball for the Naranjeros.  C.J. Retherford had two singles for the Aguilas and Yuniesky Betancourt rapped an eighth-inning double. Mexicali has now scored a total of two runs in Hermosillo the past two nights after piling up 24 runs in two tilts back home to open the series.


Los Mochis 3-11-0, CULIACAN 2-6-0

Los Mochis wasted no time bothering the scorekeeper as Eugenio Velez belted a leadoff homer to left against Tomateros starter Patrick McCoy, but Culiacan responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the initial frame when Maxwell Leon and Ryan Lollis starting things off with consecutive doubles off Caneros opener Manny Barreda (who signed with Atlanta last month shortly after tossing the season's only no-hitter).

The score remained at 1-1 until the top of the fifth, when McCoy gave up doubles to Juan Carlos Gamboa and Isaac Rodriguez, the latter giving Mochis the lead back.  Culiacan skipper Che Reyes replaced McCoy with Hector Navarro, who threw two strikesas  to Lew Ford before Ford punched Navarro's third delivery past second base to plate Rodriguez with the Caneros' second run of the inning to put the visitors on top, 3-1.  Ramiro Pena brought the Tomateros one run closer in the bottom of the fifth by lashing a double to center off Barreda, scoring Leon all the way from first base. From that point on, Barreda and four Mochis relievers combined to hold the hosts to two singles the rest of the way, a good thing for the Caneros since their offense was likewise scoreless over the final four innings.

Barreda got the win to go to 3-0 in the playoffs.  It wasn't a smooth outing for the righty from Arizona, who allowed five hits and five walks in 5-2 innings but only allowed two runs as the primary beneficiary of the Tomateros going just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.  McCoy ended up allowing three runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings of work to take the loss.  MLB free agent Sergio Romo earned his fourth playoff save in his first appearance of the series.  Romo has caused a stir in Mexico this week after a writer quoted him talking about racial discrimination he's faced on both sides of the border as a Mexican-American.  That piece will run in translated form on BBM within the next few days.

Caneros top Venados, 2-1, in 11 to open LMP playoffs

LOS MOCHIS 2-6-2, Mazatlan 1-8-0 (11)

Sebastian Valle (pictured) socked Roberto Espinosa's first pitch of the game over the left field wall for a walkoff home run to give the Los Mochis Caneros a 2-1 win in eleven innings over Mazatlan Monday night in the Mexican Pacific League playoff opener for both teams.

The game was a pitcher's duel between Venados starter Jeremy Kehrt (8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 K) and Mochis' Roy Merritt (6.2 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 9 K) that both bullpens carried into extra frames.  Saul Soto singled in J.C. Linares in the bottom of the fifth to give Mochis a 1-0 lead.  Carlos Munoz scored Mazatlan's only run in the top of the seventh by coming in on a throwing error by Caneros second baseman Isaac Rodriguez after Erick Rodriguez singled for the Venados.

Linares and Valle each had two of Mochis' six hits while Erick Rodriguez had three of Mazatlan's eight safeties.  Reliever Santiago Gutierrez got the win for the Caneros, who host the Venados in Game Two Tuesday night at Estadio Emilia Ibarra Almada.


NAVOJOA 4-9-0, Mexicali 2-5-0

Chris Roberson led off the game with a homer off Navojoa ace Hector Velazquez to give Mexicali an early 1-0 lead, but the Mayos scored three times in the bottom of the third and went on to vanquish the Aguilas, 4-2, in Navojoa.

The Mayos loaded the bases against Mexicali starter Javier Solano in the third before Solano dished up a bases-clearing double to left by Jesus Castillo, giving the home team a 3-1 advantage.  C.J. Retherford's RBI single to left in the top of the fourth brought the Aguilas to within one run, but a Fernando Flores single in the bottom of the sixth for the Mayos brought in Alan Sanchez with the game's final tally.

Velazquez allowed two runs on three hits in 7.2 innings to get the win for Navojoa while Solano (5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R) absorbed the loss for Mexicali.  Esteban Haro pitched a scoreless ninth for the save for the Mayos.  Yosmany singled and doubled while Lance Zawadski singled twice for Navojoa.  Roberson added a single to his homer, making it a two-hit night for the Mexicali centerfielder.  The Mayos entertain the Aguilas Tuesday at Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria.


CULIACAN 6-10-0, Hermosillo 3-7-0

A four-run outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning gave Culiacan a commanding 6-1 lead as the Tomateros then held off Hermosillo's rally in the ninth to finish with a series-opening 6-3 win in front of 16,138 fans at Estadio BBVA Bancomer in Culiacan.  The Tomateros scored single runs in the third and sixth innings off Naranjeros starter Travis Blackley to take a 2-0 lead before Jason Bourgeois' single pushed Tim Torres across the plate with Hermosillo's first run in the top of the seventh.

Culiacan erupted for four more scores in the eighth, keyed by an RBI single from Joey Meneses and a two-run double by Ramiro Pena.  The Naranjeros scored twice in the ninth on pinch hitter Luis Alfonso Garcia's run-scoring single and an Efren Navarro sacrifice fly that brought in Jorge Flores from third before Tomateros reliever Derrick Loop got the final out of the contest.

Hector Daniel Rodriguez got the win for Culiacan while Blackley took the loss for Hermosillo.  Maxwell Leon had three hits for the Tomateros, who outhit the Orangemen by a 10-7 margin.  Flores singled and doubled for Hermosillo.  Game Two is Tuesday night in Culiacan.

Mazatlan leads by 2 games; another skipper canned

The Mazatlan Venados shut out the potent Mexicali Aguilas, 2-0, Sunday night in the border city to maintain their two-game lead in the Mexican Pacific League's second-half standings.  The Deer have a 16-8 record, ahead of Mexicali, Navojoa and Los Mochis, who are tied for second at 14-10 with nine games left in the regular season.

A crowd of 12,178 at Estadio B'Air looked on as nine-year minor league veteran Jeremy Kehrt (pictured) tossed seven innings of shutout ball for Mazatlan in picking up his second win in as many starts.  Kehrt went a combined 8-11 for the Dodgers' AAA Oklahoma City and AA Tulsa affliates last summer.  A University of Southern Indiana product, the 6'2" righty spent seven years in the Red Sox system before becoming a Dodgers farmhand in 2015.  This is his fifth season of winterball but first in the LMP.  Perhaps his two wins for Mazatlan will aid his inclusion in the Venados roster on the team website.

The Venados' turnaround after a last-place finish in the first half has come under manager Daniel Fernandez, who replaced Juan Jose Pacho on November 23. Pacho led Mazatlan to the Caribbean Series title last February but in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of Mexican baseball, that was forgotten in the wake of a 9-28 record over the first six weeks of the current season.  Pacho remains with the Venados organization in a lesser capacity...just in case.  Fernandez spent 25 years as an outfielder with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and hit .313 for his career before becoming manager of the Red Devils in 2008, when he won the Mexican League pennant.  He was fired after a first-round playoff loss in 2009 despite posting the Liga's best regular season record and has been on the carousel ever since.

Canning season among MexPac managers took another victim last last Thursday when Culiacan cut ties with Lino Rivera (with the ever-present press release praise for Rivera's work accompanying his firing).  Rivera's crime after winning the first half title with a 22-13 record was stumbling out the second stanza gate to a 6-15 mark. Enrique "Che" Reyes, a familiar figure on Mexico's managerial merry-go-round, was tabbed to replace Rivera.  The Tomateros lost two of three under Reyes in Navojoa over the weekend and currently occupy last place in the standings (although their 8 first-half points virtually guarantees a playoff berth in January).

Catcher Luis Juarez of Mexicali witnessed his own managerial change with the Aguilas a month ago (Gil Velazquez out, Roberto Vizcarra in), but seems to have gotten over it and leads the LMP with a .357 batting average.  Juarez, a Culiacan native who's spent all or part of eight summers with the Monterrey Sultanes, has gone 14-of-33 (.424) with 8 walks over his last ten games for a .524 on-base percentage in that span.  Hermosillo's Jose Amador went homerless last week but still leads the MexPac with 14 longballs, four more than Quincy Latimore of Navojoa.  Amador also leads the loop with 55 RBIs, ahead of the 44 from Mazatlan's Brian Hermandez.  Obregon's Corey Wimberly stole one base last week but that was enough to scoot ahead of Navojoa rookie Randy Arozarena on the steals tables, 17 to 16.  Arozarena was placed on the Mayos' reserve list last Thursday, presumably shut down for the winter by the Cardinals organization (with whom the Cuban utilityman signed in August).

Navojoa pitcher Hector Velazquez went to 7-3 last Thursday at home against Mexicali, hurling seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball against the Aguilas and striking out four.  He is tied with Mexicali's Javier Solano for most wins, leads the LMP with 78 strikeouts and his 2.43 ERA ranks fourth.  Although Solano (7-4) has pitched a shutout, his 3.91 ERA indicates a bit more offensive support than Velazquez has enjoyed.  Juan Pablo Oramas of Hermosillo has a 4-2 record with six no-decisions in 12 starts, but the lefty's MexPac-leading 2.34 ERA implies that he's been holding up his end of the bargain.  The 2009 Mexican League Rookie of the Year with Mexico City, Oramas subsequently spent five years in the Padres system before returning to the Diablos in 2015, going a combined 15-8 the past two summers.  Mexicali closer Jake Sanchez saw his streak of nine saves in as many appearances snapped when he picked up his first win of the winter Saturday against Mazatlan, but the Californian's 16 saves for the season remains tops on that list.