YUCATAN FORCES GAME 7 WITH 6-2 WIN AT MONTERREY

Cristhian Adames, Yucatan Leones

The Yucatan Leones have proven that they are not phased when facing elimination from a playoff series. After overcoming a 3-games-to-1 deficit to defeat Mexico City for the Mexican League South Division championship series, the Lions delayed their offseason one more day with a 6-2 Game Six win Sunday in front of a full house of 21,909 at Estadio Monterrey to force a seventh and deciding Serie del Rey game against the Sultanes Monday night. All six games of the LMB title series have had sellout crowds and with all tickets gone for Monday’s Game Seven, a total of 132,387 fans will have clicked the turnstiles, an average of 18,912 per opening.

Manager Roberto Vizcarra’s charges never trailed Sunday after taking a 2-0 first-inning lead on Cristhian Adames’ two-run double with two out off Monterrey starter Cristian Castillo, the 2016 Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year as a Royals farmhand. The Leones built a 3-1 lead before the Sultanes made it a one-run contest in the bottom of the seventh when Gustavo Nunez tagged third and scored on Sebastian Elizalde’s sacrifice fly to center, but Yucatan put the game in their hip pocket with three more runs in the top of the eighth as Yadir Drake and Luis Juarez contributed RBI singles. Jorge Rondon held the Sultanes scoreless over the last two innings in relief to close out the win.

Adames was 2-for-5 for the night with a double, a run scored and three RBIs for the winners while Juarez singled and scored twice. Victor Mendoza went 2-for-3 for Monterrey, doubling in Zoilo Almonte with the Sultanes’ first run in the fourth off Yucatan starter Onelki Garcia. Hunter Cervenka pitched one shutout entrada for the Leones and was awarded the win while Castillo absorbed the loss for Monterrey.

The Sultanes took the Serie del Rey lead by winning two of three games on the road last week in Merida, where sellout crowds of 14,917 packed Parque Kukulkan for all three tilts. After rain washed out Game Three on Tuesday night, the two teams were able to take the field Wednesday. Yucatan gained a 2-games-to-1 advantage with a 6-1 win behind the standout pitching of ex-MLBer Henderson Alvarez, who was supported by a pair of three-run innings from his teammates. Alvarez lasted until Vizcarra lifted him with two out in the top of the eight, by which time he’d scattered seven hits and allowed one unearned run.

Drake drove in the first run of the night in the bottom of the second by doubling in Jose Martinez from second. Sebastian Valle’s one-out single brought home Adames and a Norberto Obeso sacrifice fly to left plated Drake from third. The lone Monterrey run came in the fifth, when Jose Cardona’s infield single moved Ramiro Pena to third and Pena scampered home after an errant throw from Adames at shortstop. The Leones pushed three insurance runs across in the bottom of the fifth as Art Charles and Martinez each had run-scoring singles. Charles, Martinez and Adames combined for six hits, three runs and two RBI for Yucatan while Pena doubled twice off Alvarez for the Sultanes.

The visitors bounced back to win the next two games, including Thursday’s 5-0 whitewash in Game Four behind the five shutout innings from 2022 ERA champ Yohander Mendez, who allowed three hits and struck out six Yucatan batsmen. 

All five Sultanes runs came via the longball as Elizalde socked a two-run homer off Leones starter Jake Thompson in the top of the first after rain delayed the game’s start by a half-hour. Mendoza victimized Thompson, a former Phillies starter, two innings later with a three-run bomb of his own to end the scoring for the night. At that point, Vizcarra replaced Thompson with Yoanner Negrin and while the 2016 LMB Pitcher of the Year gave the Leones three scoreless innings, the damage was done as Yucatan collected just six hits (two each for Drake and Josh Fuentes) and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position for the night.

Monterrey pulled ahead in the series Friday night by virtue of a 6-3 win to take a 3-games-to-2 advantage. Yucatan did lead, 3-2, in the bottom of the fifth after a Luis Juarez double drove in Valle from second and a Charles line-drive single brought home Obeso, but Orlando Calixte’s two-run roundtripper in the top of the seventh regained the Sultanes’ lead and Monterrey salted the contest away with a pair of runs one inning later on an Elizade single and an Almonte double. Yucatan did have runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but reliever Carlos Morales settled down and got Drake to fly out to right and struck out pinch-hitter Lazaro Alfonso swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.

Juan Gamez earned the win after manager Roberto Kelly brought him in to replace a struggling Julio Teheran (4.1 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 3 BB) in the fifth and tossed 1.2 frames of shutout ball. Neftali Feliz held the Leones scoreless in the ninth to record his second save of the Serie del Rey. Yucatan starter Elian Leyva pitched well enough to win (6 IP, 2 R, 4H), although he did allow an Almonte homer in the second, but Cervenka gave up Calixte’s go-ahead homer in the seventh and absorbed the loss. 

Monday night’s game marks the third consecutive season that the Serie del Rey has gone a full seven games. Alvarez will start for Yucatan in the contest, which is slated to begin at 7:30PM EDT, while Mendez will open for Monterrey.

GIL: MENESES TO PLAY FOR CULIACAN IN SECOND HALF 

Joey Meneses, Culiacan Tomateros

Former major league shortstop Benji Gil, who is wrapping up his first season as a coach with the Los Angeles Angels under interim manager Phil Nevin, says he should return to his managerial post in Culiacan just prior to the coming Mexican Pacific League season, when the Tomateros will seek their fourth pennant in six winters.

However, Gil said, there is one player who will not joining him next month for the start of the 2022-23 campaign: Longtime Tomateros slugger Joey Meneses, a Culiacan native who has spent all or part of nine seasons playing for his hometown team. Gil adds that Meneses is expected to join the Tomateros when the second half of the LMP schedule begins in November.

Although he’s become a minor sensation in Washington since his August 2 big league debut for the Nationals at age 30 (becoming the first Mexican to homer in his first MLB game), Meneses’ baseball journey during the summer has taken several twists and turns since he first signed with the Atlanta Braves as a 19-year-old free agent in 2011. Beginning with a less-than-impressive 19-game stint that year with the Braves’ Dominican Summer League entry (for whom he hit .206 with no extra-base hits), Meneses spent seven years in the Atlanta system and was an organizational All-Star in both 2014 and 2019 but never rose above Class AA Mississippi, for whom he was a Southern League midseason All-Star in 2017.

After that season, Meneses filed for free agency and signed with Philadelphia, who assigned him to AAA Lehigh Valley, where he was named the 2018 International League MVP after batting .311 and leading the loop with 23 homers and 82 RBIs. That earned him a one-year US$950,000 contract with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Pacific League. After struggling at the start of his first season in Asia (.206 with 4 homers in 29 games), the 6’3” first baseman-outfielder was suspended for one year in June 2019 after testing positive for Stanozolal (a steroid) and the Buffaloes subsequently voided his contract. 

After sitting out the 2020 summer season, Meneses signed as a free agent with Boston last year, splitting 2021 between AA Portland and AAA Worcester, before signing with Washington this season. Meneses hit .286 with 20 homers in 96 games at AAA Rochester before his August call-up. Since then, he’s hit .317 with 9 homers and 23 RBIs over 39 games for the Nationals. Meneses has never played in the Mexican League.

Although his summers have often been frustrating at best, Meneses has returned home every winter to play for the Tomateros since 2013-14. In 453 games over nine LMP seasons, the right-handed batter has hit .283 with 42 homers and 268 ribbies, appearing in five Caribbean Series including last February in Mazatlan, where he hit .158 as a pickup for the Jalisco Charros and manager Roberto Vizcarra.

PEREYRA: MEXICAN WOMEN SHOWING THEY CAN PLAY, TOO

The Mexican National Women’s Baseball Team secured a berth in next year’s World Championship tournament, the first time the country will appear in that event, after securing a bronze medal at the Americas Qualifier in Venezuela last month. As Beatriz Pereyra of Mexico City’s Proceso writes, it marks one more step in the process of women being seen simply as “ballplayers” south of the border instead of being limited to playing softball in the public’s perception.

The following is a Google translation of Pereyra’s piece in Proceso, lightly edited for clarity:

The members of the Mexican Women's Baseball Team have something in common: as girls they began playing baseball with boys in some leagues in the country, then were forced to switch to softball because they were not allowed to compete with men. Players like Rosi del Castillo, Dafne Mejía and Samaria Benítez from Nayarit have become known for being the first to participate in men's amateur or semi-professional leagues. On the way to Mexico's participation in its first World Cup and given the lack of infrastructure for them in the ninth, they warn: "People need to believe that women can also play baseball."

Despite the fact that Mexican women's baseball is in an incipient stage, the national team qualified for the 2023 World Championship, a tournament in which Mexico will have its first international participation.

The squad, made up of 21 players from different states, is currently ranked 12th in the world. Recently, they won the bronze medal at the Venezuela 2022 Women's Baseball Pre-World Championship, where five other teams participated: Venezuela (5th in the world), the Dominican Republic (6th), Cuba (7th) Puerto Rico (9) and Nicaragua (17th).

This is the second time in which the Mexican Women's Baseball Team gets its ticket to the World Cup which in this edition, its first stage will be played in 2023 and the rest in the summer of 2024, with dates and venues to be defined. The first time they qualified was in the 2019 Aguascalientes Pre-World Cup tournament. However, the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) decided to cancel the 2020 World Cup event as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. 

The Mexican team is made up of “veteran” players such as Dafne Mejía (30 years old) and Thalía Villavicencio (34) plus other younger ones such as Rosi del Castillo from Puebla and María José Valenzuela from Sonora (both 24 years old), but all with a lot of experience because they have played baseball since they were very young. Regardless of her deafness since birth, Valenzuela, the only Sonoran on the team, is one of the most outstanding players.

“It has been an important achievement. We were able to transcend, we classified as we wanted and one goal was to bring the medal that we couldn't before,” says Mejia, who was Mexico’s designated hitter in Venezuela. “ Although it was not gold, we are proud of that achievement, of giving Mexico a medal.”

Sisters Laura and Melody Cortés Tapia also stand out in the team as daughters of Julio Cortés, a promoter of women's baseball in the city of Pachuca, where he runs the Rancho Beisbolero Academy. They are joined by pitchers of the quality of Adriana Palma from Yucatan, Marlene Lagunes from Veracruz and Narda Andrade from Puebla, catchers Itza Hernández and Marcela Díaz, who is a player in Mexico City’s Anahuac League. 

Almost all of them have followed the same process in their careers as ballplayers: as girls they started playing baseball with boys in some little league, then they were forced to switch to softball because they are not allowed to participate with men, but they clung to staying in the sport they love.

Players such as Rosi del Castillo, Dafne Mejía and Samaria Benítez from Nayarit have become known because they have been pioneers in participating in men's amateur or semi-professional leagues, because if women's baseball still lacks something, it is that it does not have the facilities and enough coaches that is not an appendage of men's baseball.

MEXICO BLANKS COLOMBIA, 1-0 FOR FIRST CS WIN

  A standout start by Wilmer Rios and a solo homer from Felix Perez formed the keynotes in Mexico’s 1-0 shutout victory over Colombia Sunday in the 2022 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The win was Mexico’s first after suffering losses in the first two days playing in the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.

Rios tossed 6.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out five batsmen. He was followed on the mound by relievers Enrique Burgos (1.1 IP) and Roberto Osuna (1 IP) as the latter recorded the save with a one-hit ninth, striking out Mauricio Ramirez swinging to end a contest that took just two hours, 37 minutes to play.

The lone run of the ballgame came in the bottom of the second inning when Perez lined a 2-2 Porifirio Lopez pitch to right, as the ball cleared the fence by inches over the head of Colombian rightfielder Harold Ramirez. Neither team bothered the scorekeeper much as a combined nine hits were recorded. Besides Perez’ longball, Mexico received a pair of singles from leadoff batter Jose Juan Aguilar and one-baggers from Esteban Quiroz and Dario Alvarez. Quiroz and Alvarez also stole bases but Perez was the only Mexican batter to go beyond second base. Rios earned the win while Lopez was tagged with the loss for Colombia, who had won their first two games in their third appearance in the Serie del Caribe going into Sunday’s tilt.

Mexico’s opener was a 3-2 tripleheader nightcap loss against the hosts last Friday. The Dominicans were designated the “away” team and opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Hanser Alberto stroked a triple and later came in on a Robinson Cano groundout. The Mexicans evened the score in the bottom of the first after Japhet Amador lined a two-out single to left and plated Joey Meneses. A sharply hit single by Meneses brought in Quiroz to give Mexico a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but that would be the last run they’d record off starter Tyler Alexander and seven relievers. The Dominicans regained the advantage for good in the top of the seventh when Alberto’s Texas Leaguer to center field off reliever Tyler Wilson scored Moises Sierra and a Cano singleoff Samuel Zazueta brought Jose Siri in with the go-ahead run. Quiroz and Amador each singled and doubled for manager Roberto Vizcarra’s side but Mexico left nine runners on base as Brennan Bernardino’s good start (5.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4K) went for naught.

Mexico dropped to 0-2 in the Caribbean Series on Saturday after a 5-0 shutout loss to Venezuela. Starter Manny Barreda gave up three runs in the third as Danry Vasquez doubled in Cade Gotta and Niuman Romero followed by an RBI single from Balbino Fuenmayor scored Vasquez. Barreda was replaced by Alemao Hernandez, who promptly plunked Pablo Sandoval but got the last two outs to end the frame. Venezuela scored once in the fifth when Sandoval scored on a Gabriel Noriega single and got a final run in the sixth when Sandoval homered down the right field line on a full-count pitch from David Gutierrez. Barreda took the loss for Mexico, who had just four hits, including a Fernando Perez double, and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Yohander Mendez tossed five innings of one-hit ball (a first-inning single by Meneses) to earn the win for the Venezuelans.

With two days of first-round tripleheaders left, the unbeaten Dominicans have clinched a berth in Wednesday’s semifinals while winless Puerto Rico will need to win their final two games to even have a shot at the Final Four. Mexico’s 1-2 record has them tied for fourth with Panama going into games against Puerto Rico on Monday and Panama on Tuesday.

CARIBBEAN SERIES FIRST ROUND STANDINGS

Dominican Republic 3-0, Colombia 2-1, Venezuela 2-1, MEXICO 1-2, Panama 1-2, Puerto Rico 0-3.
REMAINING SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES LOCAL)

MONDAY, Jan. 31: Venezuela at Panama (10:30AM), Mexico at Puerto Rico (3:00PM), Dominican Republic at Colombia (8:00PM).

TUESDAY, Feb. 1: Colombia at Puerto Rico (10:30AM), Panama at Mexico (3:00PM), Venezuela at Dominican Republic (8:00PM)

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2: Semifinal A - 3rd place at 2nd place (3:30PM), Semifinal B - 4th place at 1st place (8:00PM).

THURSDAY, Feb. 3: Winner Semifinal A vs. Winner Semifinal B (7:00PM).

JUAN CASTRO TO MANAGE DIABLOS ROJOS IN 2022

The Mexico CIty Red Devils of Mexico have named Juan Gabriel Castro as manager for the upcoming Mexican League season.

In seeking their 17th title in team history, the Diablos are handing the reins to Castro, who appeared in 17 seasons as a player in the Major Leagues during a 21-year career as an infielder and later managed in both the LMB and the Mexican Pacific League He also led the Mexican National Team to a Premier12 tournament qualification for last summer’s Olympic Games before being unceremoniously dumped in favor of Benji Gil weeks before the team was due to fly to Tokyo after criticizing Mexico’s CONADE national sports commission and head Ana Guevara (a political ally of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) for lack of financial or logistical support. Mexico was winless in four games under Gil.

“I am grateful for coming to this organization,” Castro said at a press conference at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. “Yes, there were several proposals (from other teams) and in the end I came here to the Devils because it is a serious organization and has very good prestige and great principles, which are also in accordance with my principles. I really want to work, we come to add and we will do everything possible to bring the title to Mexico City.”

Castro comes from the Philadelphia Phillies organization, with whom he spent three years under manager Joe Girardi until his contract expired last October. The49-year-old Los Mochis native has been a coach in MLB with the Los Angeles Dodgers for skipper Dave Roberts before leaving that post for an ill-fated front office stint with the Tijuana Toros de Tijuana in 2018, where he was never given a clearly defined role (and was even going to manage the team at one point) before he parted company with the Uribe family and their team on less than amicable terms. He’s also managed winterball teams in Obregon, Mexicali and Hermosillo.

“The main message is 'we want to be champions,” added Castro. “The important thing is that we all work as a team to be able to achieve the goal we want, which is the title. One way of working with the players is to try to make everyone happy, but something that has worked for me and that I have done with the boys is respect: respect towards themselves, towards their teammates, towards baseball.”

With this appointment, work will begin on the construction of the Diablos coaching staff, where candidates will be interviewed while some current coaches will be kept on the staff. Similarly, it was confirmed that Miguel Ojeda, who managed the Diablos to first place in the South Division with a 41-23 record before losing to Yucatan in five games for the LMB South championship series, remains in the organization. 

Ojeda was named manager of the team after a front-office purge last year, replacing Sergio Gastelum (who was brought in from Oaxaca to run the team for the canceled 2020 season and let go last spring before ever managing a game in Mexico City). Gastelum was replacing Victor Bojorquez, who managed the Diablos to a 69-49 record and first place in the LMB South in 2019 before losing to Yucatan in four straight in the division finals. The more things change…

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Houston Jimenez, SS (1974-2000)

Houston Jimenez was a top-notch shortstop in both the Mexican and Mexican Pacific Leagues who spent all or part of four seasons playing major league ball with three teams during a 25-year playing career before embarking on a managerial career that saw him manage seven clubs in twelve seasons.

Alfonso “Houston” Jimenez was born October 30, 1957 in Navojoa, Sonora.  Nicknamed as a child after a TV Western character, Jimenez broke into the Mexican League with the Puebla Angeles in 1974, batting .212 in 20 games as a 16-year-old. Despite his low average, he did well enough to be signed by the Chicago Cubs, who assigned the 5’8” 144-pounder to their Class A Key West affiliate in the Florida State League. After hitting just .212 for Key West, Jimenez returned to Puebla in 1976 and went on to play five seasons with the Angeles, topping the .300 mark in 1977 (.303) and 1979 (.305). He signed with Minnesota in 1981 and went on to play in the United States for the next twelve seasons.

Jimenez made his big league debut on June 13, 1983 with the Twins and ended that campaign with a .174 average in 36 games. In 1984, he had his best shot as a major leaguer, batting a career-high .201 in 108 games for the Twins. Jimenez later had cups of coffee with Pittsburgh and Cleveland and posted a career .185 average in 158 MLB games.

Jimenez returned to the Mexican League in 1993 with Campeche and also played for Saltillo, Mexico City and Quintana Roo over seven seasons.  He was a much better hitter south of the border, topping .300 two more times in the Nineties (with a career-best .337 for the Saraperos in 1995).  In all, Houston had a lifetime average of .282 over 13 Liga seasons, including four .300+ campaigns. Never a power hitter, the 6’1” 185-pounder hit 41 career homers.

Jimenez was an effective hitter over 25 winters in the Mexican Pacific League between 1975 and 2000.  He batted .259 with 73 homers, and is third on the MexPac’s all-time list in both runs scored (754) and hits (1339).  He is second to Hector Espino with 230 career doubles, and his 209 stolen bases trail only Matias Carrillo.

During the 1999 Liga season, his last full year as a player, Jimenez was manager-shortstop for Saltillo. He hit .299 as the Seraperos finished first in the Northern Division with a 74-45 record before reaching the playoff semifinals. Jimenez has gone on to manage seven teams for all or part of 12 seasons, leading Puebla to the Serie del Rey in 2010 and 2014. His teams posted an aggregate 735-584 mark through his last year as a dugout boss in 2018 with Tabasco.

Houston Jimenez, who turned 74 last October 30, was elected to Mexico’s Salon de la Fama in 2007 and the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.

JALISCO TOPS CULIACAN IN 7, ON TO CARIBBEAN SERIES

The Mexican Pacific League’s championship series came down to a seventh and deciding game for the third year in a row but instead of Culiacan winning the rubber match as they did in 2020 and 2021, the Jalisco Charros crushed the Tomateros, 8-2, Saturday night in Guadalajara. The win punched the Charros’ ticket to the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, where Jalisco will represent Mexico in a Friday opener against the host Liga Dominicana champion Cibao Gigantes at 8PM local time. 

After Jalisco won the first two games in Guadalajara, the series shifted north to Culiacan for the next three contests. The Tomateros took a series lead last Monday by trimming the Charros, 7-3. Manager Benji Gil’s defending champions exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the first inning to chase Jalisco starter Brennan Bernardino. Jesus Fabela closed out the scoring with a two-run triple off Manuel Flores. The Charros scored in the third when ageless Manny Rodriguez hit a solo homer off Manny Barreda and again in the eighth when Feliz Perez crunched a two-run roundtripper off reliever Alejandro Chavez. Barreda got the win, the 10th of his LMP playoff career, by tossing six innings and allowing one run on two hits and a walk, striking out six.

Culiacan tied the series at two games apiece by slipping past the Charros, 3-2, in Tuesday’s Game Four. Starters Irwin Delgado of Jalisco and Tomateros opener Jose Bravo swapped zeros on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth when Alexis Wilson and Emmanuel Avila contributed RBI singles to give Culiacan a 2-0 lead. Jalisco scored their first run in the top of the fifth when Missael Rivera barely beat Sebastian Elizalde’s throw to the plate from right field on an Esteban Quiroz single. The Charros tied the game in the top of the eighth when Christian Villanueva singled home Jose Juan Aguilar, but the Tomateros went again for good in the bottom of the frame when Elizade came in from third on a Stevie Wilkerson infield single. Culiacan closer Alberto Baldonado struck out three batsmen in the ninth for the save.

Jalisco regained the series lead in Game Five by trouncing the Tomateros, 8-2, Wednesday night in Culiacan. The hosts went up, 2-0, in the bottom of the first on Victor Mendoza’s two-run double off Charros starter Orlando Lara, but the 36-year-old lefty settled down and allowed no more runs over his winning six-inning stint. Jalisco went ahead in the top of the second on an RBI double by Villanueva and a two-run single from Amadeo Zazueta. Villanueva’s two-run homer in the sixth made it a 5-2 game and a three-run bomb from Perez one entrada later closed the scoring for the night. The Charros outhit Culiacan by a 12-to-4 margin as Dariel Alvarez singled three times and scored thrice. Anthony Vasquez suffered the loss in his last start for the Tomateros after announcing his pending retirement, giving up four runs on six hits over five innings. Lara has yet to allow an earned run in the postseason.

After Thursday’s travel day, the title series resumed Friday with Game Six in Guadalajara as the visiting Tomateros stayed alive with a 5-3 win over the Charros. The two teams were knotted up at 3-3 in a see-saw battle before the defending champs went ahead for good in the eight when Efren Navarro led off with a grounder to Jalisco third baseman Agustin Murillo, who made a diving stop but threw the ball into foul territory, allowing Navarro to advance to second. Pinch-runner Randy Romero took third when Alexis Wilson singled and came home on an Avila sac fly to right. A Joey Meneses RBI single in the ninth closed the scoring for both teams as Tomateros closer Baldonado held Jalisco scoreless in the bottom of the inning to earn the save. Reliever Oliver Perez got the win while Jared Wilson suffered his second series loss out of the bullpen for Jalisco.

The deciding Game Seven was played Saturday in Estadio Charros and there was little doubt in this one after four innings. Jalisco broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second with consecutive run-scoring doubles from Zazueta, Flores and Aguilar, then batted through the order in the fourth for four tallies, including consecutive RBI singles by Quiroz, Japhet Amador and Alvarez to make it a 7-0 game. Culiacan broke into the scoring column with a solo homer by Meneses in the top of the seventh but the hosts plated one more run in the eighth when Flores and Aguilar hit back-to-back doubles off Tomateros reliever Derrick Loop. Charros starter Bernardino tossed eight innings, allowing four hits (including Meneses’ roundtripper) and striking out four. Culiacan opener Barreda was racked up for six runs on eight hits and a walk in 3.1 frames as the Charros outhit the visitors by a 15-to-4 margin, with Aguilar contributing two doubles and a single.

Manager Roberto Vizcarra’s troops will load up on reinforcements prior to heading to the Dominican Republic, where the six league champions will likely reflect de facto all-star teams more than the rosters they ended their regular seasons with. 

AGUILAS’ SANCHEZ NAMED LMP MVP, RELIEVER OF THE YEAR

Mexicali closer Jake Sanchez has capped an extraordinary season by being voted the Mexican Pacific League’s Most Valuable Player, earning the Hector Espino Trophy. The 32-year-old righty from Brawley, California was also awarded the Isidro Marquez Trophy as the LMP Reliever of the Year.

By recording 26 saves for the Aguilas in as many opportunities (setting another Mex Pac record for consecutive saves) to augment a 1.69 ERA, Sanchez earned a measure of redemption after some relatively lean years following a 2016-17 season during which he led the LMP with 21 saves and posted a remarkable 0.28 ERA, then earned a pair of salvados during that winter’s Caribbean Series. He then bounced around the A’s minor league system for a couple years before landing in the Mexican League with Tijuana for the Fall 2018 season. In three years with the Toros between 2018 and 2021, Sanchez has only turned in 13 saves and a 3.54 ERA over 76 trips from the bullpen (although he was a member of TJ’s pennant-winning team last summer). 

Sanchez suffered through a tough 2020-21 season for Mexicali as well by finishing with five saves and a 4.24 ERA in 19 outings before taking a blunt instrument to the LMP record book this winter. He becomes the first hurler to win MVP honors since Mazatlan’s Francisco Campos won the pitching Triple Crown in 2002-03 and the first reliever ever to cop top honors. Sanchez won 36 percent of the vote among media members, ahead of Navojoa outfielder Tirso Ornelas’ 19 percent and the 16 percent of votes cast for Obregon’s Victor Mendoza as six players received at least 12 percent support as Most Valuable Player.

Sanchez had an easier time fending off competitors for Reliever of the Year, pulling down 91 percent of that vote while only Jalisco’s Alejandro Tovalin (8 percent) and Carlos Stiff Rodriguez of Monterrey (1 percent) joined him as vote-getters. The 6’1” product of Iowa Wesleyan College added an 0.84 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 32 innings to rise to fifth in Mex Pac history with 72 career saves, four behind Oscar Villareal.

Hermosillo starter Elian Leyva staged his own comeback season by winning the Vicente “Huevo” Romo Trophy as Pitcher of the Year. Over 12 starts for the Naranjeros, the Cuban-born Leyva led LMP openers in four categories: wins (7), ERA (1.54), WHIP (0.99) and lowest opponent batting average (.205). He also posted a rare so-called “immaculate inning” when he struck out Los Mochis’ Jorge Rivera, Edgar Robles and Isaac Rodriguez on nine pitches during his first start on October 8. Leyva, who won the Romo Trophy two years ago after winning the Pitching Triple Crown with Jalisco, received 80 percent of the vote, well ahead of teammate Wilmer Rios (6%).

Ornelas received a measure of consolation by earning the Baldomero “Melo” Almada Trophy as Rookie of the Year. The Navojoa outfielder clinched that win by leading the league with a .353 batting average in 60 games on 77 hits, including 16 doubles and a pair of homers. The Padres prospect collected 84 percent of votes cast, well ahead of Mazatlan’s Randy Romero’s 12 percent. Ornelas becomes the ninth Mayos player to be chosen as Rookie of the Year.

To nobody’s surprise, Navojoa helmsman Matias Carrillo was named Manager of the Year after piloting the Mayos to the best regular season record (40-28) and top playoff seed after the team went 23-36 last winter and missed the playoffs. It marks the third time Carrillo, who was inducted into the Salon de la Fama as a player a year ago, has taken home the Benjamin “Cananea” Reyes Trophy after doing it in 2011-12 with Guasave and 2016-17 with Navojoa before Mayos owner Victor Cuevas fired him three months after suffering a first-round playoff loss. Carrillo won 73 percent of the media vote, followed by Guasave’s Oscar Robles at 13 percent.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Cornelio Garcia, 1B (1984-07)

The first player out of Mexico’s baseball academy near Monterrey to sign with an MLB organization, Cornelio Garcia went on to fashion a notable career in both the Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League as a good-hitting, fleet-footed outfielder and first baseman over 24 seasons.

Cornelio Garcia Chaidez was born January 23, 1955 in Ensenada, Baja California Norte, where he was a star track runner as a youth.  After playing in the Academia and batting .225 in 19 games for Yucatan as a 19-year-old in 1984, Garcia signed on with the White Sox that summer. He played minor league ball for seven seasons in their organization, including three stints at AA Birmingham. Garcia hit .277 with 20 homers, 134 stolen bases and 254 RBIs over 570 games while turning in an OBP of .324 or higher every season before returning to the Leones during the 1990 campaign.

 

After hitting .290 in 40 games for Yucatan in 1990, Garcia went on a tear during which he never hit below .300 for the next 16 seasons to set a Liga record. The 5’11” 154-pounder joined Monterrey in 1995, leading the LMB in 1997 with 171 hits and a .382 batting average.  He also led in stolen bases with 45 for Yucatan in 1993 and triples with 11 for the Sultanes in 1995. 

 

When he retired after one final turn with the Sultanes in the 2007 season, Garcia had a total of 2,095 hits for an LMB career batting average of .345, which is tied for fourth all-time with Teo Acosta and Oswaldo Olivares and is the highest among all Mexican-born players. His 1,174 runs scored are 14th among all Liga batsmen while Garcia’s 340 stolen bases rank fifth.

Garcia was also a hitting machine over his 20 winters for Hermosillo. While he never won a MexPac batting title, he did lead the LMP with 79 hits and 47 runs in 1993-94 and topped the circuit with 18 doubles in 1999-2000 en route to a Mex Pac career .288 hitting mark, fourth all-time. His 151 stolen bases in 1,010 LMP games ranks eighth all-time, while his 568 runs scored are sixth on the list.

Although never regarded as a power hitter, especially for a first baseman over his latter years (his career-high in homers was 15), Cornelio Garcia made his mark in Mexican baseball as a good instinctive hitter who was aggressive at the plate and on the bases plus a quality glove man in the field. Carlos Fragoso, who has scouted in Mexico for both the Yankees and Red Sox, compares Garcia to Vic Davalillo. He was selected to the Salon de la Fama in 2013.

BOTH MEX PAC SEMIS GO TO GAME 6 TUESDAY

The Mexican Pacific League playoff semifinals have been extended into a second week as a Guasave win over defending champion Culiacan on Sunday staved off an Algodoneros elimination while Jalisco defeated Monterrey the same night to bring their series back to Guadalajara with a one-game lead over the Sultanes.

Both semis began with splits of the first two games in Guasave and Guadalajara. The Algodoneros dropped their opener to Culiacan last Tuesday, 4-2, as Jesus Fabela’s RBI triple broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh. Fabela scored on a Ramiro Pena single for the final score of the night. Fabela, Pena and Emmanuel Avila combined for six hits, three runs and four RBIs for Culiacan while Manny Banuelos got the win after allowing two runs over six innings with six strikeouts. Esteban Quiroz homered for Guasave, who wasted a good start by Gino Encina (6IP, 2R, 6K).

The Cottoneers came back one night later to win an 8-7 thriller in walkoff fashion when an infield single by Marco Jaime off Tomateros reliever Sasagi Sanchez in the bottom of the ninth scored pinch-runner Bryan Araiza with the winning run. Guasave trailed 5-0 before scoring five fifth-inning runs to tie the score. Jhoan Urena had four hits for the winners while Culiacan’s Ramiro Pena was 3-for-4 with a homer in a game lasting well over 5 hours thanks to a combined 39 hits and walks and 11 pitching changes. Despite allowing two runs and blowing a save, Matt Pobereyko was awarded the win after pitching the final 2.2 innings for Guasave.

The series then shifted to Culiacan, where the locals held off Guasave, 4-3, last Friday. Tomateros shortstop Jose Guadalupe Chavez set an LMP single-game record with 13 assists and went 2-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI single. That plated the eventual winning run in the sixth. Tomateros first baseman Joey Meneses opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer off Algodoneros starter David Holmberg for the 17th postseason roundtripper of his LMP career while Urena hit his own two-run circuit clout in the fifth for Guasave off winning pitcher Anthony Vasquez.

The Tomateros took a commanding 3-games-to-1 lead Saturday with a convincing 8-3 home win over Guasave. The Algodoneros gained an early 3-1 lead in the top of the second via run-scoring singles from Jaime, Quiroz and Yadir Drake, but Culiacan eventually regained advantage in the fifth when Meneses doubled in Sebastian Elizalde and Victor Mendoza blasted a two-run homer. Fabela’s three-run longball in the eighth was icing on the cake for the Tomateros with reliever Aldo Montez earning the win with 4.1 shutout innings after starter Jose Bravo was chased in the second.

The Cottoneers fought back for a 7-2 win on Sunday to send the series back to Guasave for Game Six on Tuesday night. The Algodoneros scored five times in the top of the first innings as Angel Erro capped the outburst with a two-run double off Culiacan starter Manny Banuelos, who may have been distracted after earlier signing a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. The Tomateros plated two runs off Guasave starter Gino Encino in the bottom of the first but Encino settled down to pitch scoreless ball between the second and seventh frames to earn the win. 

Jalisco and Monterrey each took a win in the first two games of their semi set at Estadio Charros. The Guadalajara side roared back from a 4-0 deficit to tie last Tuesday’s opener in the bottom of the fifth on Amadeo Zazueta’s two-run double and Christian Villanueva’s two-run homer before pushing ahead one frame later on Missael Rivera’s run-scoring double. Villanueva finished the game with three hits, two runs and three ribbies while Carlos Figueroa and Ricardo Serrano each collected two fits and two RBIs for Monterrey as Serrano doubled twice.

The Sultanes came back to even the series last Wednesday with a 5-3 triumph. Jalisco pushed a run across in the bottom of the first when Jose Juan Aguilar scored on a Villanueva groundout to second. The Charros held their narrow 1-0 lead into the top of the eighth, when Monterrey exploded for five runs as Serrano contributed a three-run double to put the visitors in command. Nick Struck got the win for the Sultanes after pitching seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with one strikeout. Javier Solano (7.1IP/1R/5H) had a solid start for Jalisco but three relievers combined to allow four runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning in the fateful eighth.

Friday’s Game Three in Monterrey lasted eleven innings before Jalisco pulled out a 6-5 win over the Sultanes. Monterrey plated three runs in the sixth, keyed by Gilberto Galaviz’ two-run single, to take a 5-3 advantage but Jalisco scored twice in the eighth to tie the contest.  Fernando Flores’ solo homer off Sultanes reliever Nathanael Santiago in the top of the eleventh put the visitors ahead and Charros closer Roberto Osuna held on to strike out Fernando Perez with two runners on to close out the game. Osuna struck out six batsmen over 2.2 scoreless innings to earn the win for Jalisco.

Game Four on Saturday saw the Sultanes knot the series at two games apiece with an 8-6 win over the visitors. Monterrey took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first  thanks in part to back-to-back RBI singles from Nick Torres and Fernando Perez. Dariel Alvarez’ two-run safety in the top of the third brought Jalisco to within one and a bases-loaded single by Aguilar in the fourth tied it up at 3-3. A Serrano two-run single keyed a three-run fifth for the Sultanes and Torres added insurance with a two-run singleton in the eighth. Torres and Serrano combined for four hits and four RBIs for Monterrey while Alvarez added a two-run homer in the seventh for the Charros.

Agustin Rios’ three-run homer in the top of the eighth keyed a four run-frame for Jalisco to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 win, sending their semifinal series against Monterrey back to Guadalajara with the Charros leading, 3 games to 2. Jalisco starter Orlando Lara didn’t get the win (reliever Jared Wilson did), but the 36-year-old lefty from Veracruz did his part by allowing one Sultanes run on two hits over six innings. Game Six of the series will be played Tuesday night in Estadio Charros.

GIL LEAVES MARIACHIS POST TO COACH FOR ANGELS

Benji Gil has resigned as manager of the Mexican League’s Guadalajara Mariachis to take a position coaching in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels, the team he played for when they won their lone American League pennant and World Series title in 2002. Gil was hired along with fellow ex-MLBers Phil Nevin and Bill Hasselman in the wake of a shakeup of Angels manager Joe Maddon’s coaching staff following a disappointing 77-85 season despite the presence of American League MVP Shohei Ohtani in the Halos’ lineup. It’s not known which position Gil will occupy under Maddon, although speculation has him coaching at either first or third base.

Born in Tijuana in 1972, Gil attended Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California, where he was better known as a pitcher who tossed a no-hitter as a senior after leading San Diego County prep hurlers with a 0.52 ERA as a junior. The Texas Rangers saw him more as a hitter, however, and took Gil as a shortstop with the 19th pick of the 1991 June draft. He debuted with the Rangers in their 1993 season opener but was back in the minors for more seasoning and would not return to MLB until 1995.

After signing with the Angels as a free agent in 2000, Gil spent that season as their starting shortstop before taking on a utility role after the emergence of David Eckstein in 2001. He was a key reserve during Anaheim’s 2002 postseason run and went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored in their World Series triumph that fall against San Francisco. Gil eventually returned to playing in the minors, winning the 2007 Mexican League championship with Monterrey during a six-year run in the LMB before retiring as a player in 2012.

Gil made his managerial debut in 2014-15 with Culiacan, where he won six Mexican Pacific League titles as a player over 13 winters. He led the Tomateros to the LMP title his first season but was fired after going 28-40 in 2015-16. He was brought back one year later and won the 2017-18 Mex Pac pennant before resigning to spend more time with his family, particularly son Mateo, who was drafted by St. Louis in the third round in 2018. 

Gil returned to manage the Tomateros a third time in 2019, piloting Culiacan to the last two LMP titles while reaching in the current playoff semifinals. Gil has received criticism in some circles for not winning a Caribbean Series championship in four tries, which neglects the fact that Culiacan had to survive the LMP postseason gauntlet and win the pennant four times to get that far.

Gil made his Mexican League managerial debut last summer and led Guadalajara to a first-place finish in the LMB North with a Liga-best 46-17, reaching the division finals before losing to eventual champion Tijuana. He was named Manager of the Year for his effort. Gil also stepped in late to replace Juan Castro as manager of the Mexican Olympic Team last summer, but the squad went 0-4 in Tokyo with Gil getting plenty of second guesses back in Mexico.

The 49-year-old Gil becomes one of the few Mexican-born former players to coach in Major League Baseball, joining Castro, Tony Perezchica and Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Among others. Reyes remains the only Mexican to have managed an MLB team, going 0-1-1 as interim skipper in Seattle during the 1982 season while Mariners manager Maury Wills served a two-game suspension for altering the batter’s box at the Kingdome that year. Reyes’ temporary work at the M’s helm is not in the record book.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Arturo Gonzalez, P (1972-2003)

 

Arturo Gonzalez was known as “El Rey” (“The King”) during a long career as one of the steadiest pitchers in Mexican baseball. Born in the Monterrey suburb of Tampiquito on October 29, 1955, he played his entire Mexican League career with the hometown Sultanes. He debuted in 1972 as a 16-year-old outfielder with Monterrey’s Class A Mexican Center League team and was signed by Houston after that season. 

 

Gonzalez batted just .161 with one double in 59 games for the Astros’ Cedar Rapids affiliate in the Class A Mexican League in 1973 and after hitting .195 in 41 games for Cedar Rapids, he was sent home to Monterrey and hit .289 for the Sultanes in his 14-game LMB debut in 1974. A .236 campaign for Monterrey in 1975 and a .183 average in 1976 convinced the Sultanes that Gonzalez’ strong throwing arm could be better used for pitching. After pitching sparingly in 1977, Gonzalez had a breakthrough year at age 22 in 1978, going 18-12 with a 2.57 ERA in 33 starts for Monterrey, including a 2-0 no-hitter against Union Laguna. The rest is history.

 

The 6’1” righty was equipped with a low-90’s fastball and various breaking pitches, including a nasty slider. He was one of the Mexican League’s most consistent hurlers ever, finishing his LMB career with a 232-169 record and a solid 3.26 ERA over 522 games and 3,228 innings.  He reached double figures 14 times, plus 10-win seasons in both 1985 and 1986 for the Phillies’ AAA Pacific Coast League farm team in Portland.  

 

“El Rey” led the Mexican League in 1983 with a 1.92 ERA while fashioning a 12-8 record in 23 starts for Monterrey. He started one game for the Sultanes in 2003 before retiring at age 47 after 32 summers, including Liga pennant-winning seasons in 1991, 1995 and 1996. He holds all pitching records in Sultanes history and his number 22 has been retired by the team.

 

Gonzalez was no less effective in Mexican Pacific League competition. His 125-85 career mark over 20 winters puts him fourth on the all-time wins list on the LMP, while his .595 won-lost percentage ranks sixth.  An ERA of 2.81 and 1,079 strikeouts in 1,831 innings also rank in the Mex Pac’s all-time Top 10. He topped the LMP in winning percentage twice, took a strikeout crown in 1987-88, and spun a 4-0 no-no for Navojoa against Mazatlan on December 18, 1983.

 

Arturo Gonzalez won a combined 357 games in Mexico during a career spanning four decades and was inducted into the Salon de la Fama in 2009, his first year eligible. He remained in the game long after retiring, serving as Homar Rojas’ pitching coach for the Sultanes in 2021 before Rojas and his staff were fired in June. Gonzalez spent the rest of the summer as a pitching instructor for Monterrey’s academy team.

MEXICO BLASTED BY ISRAEL, 12-5; KO'D FROM OLYMPICS

Isaac Rodriguez against Dominicans

    The Mexican Olympic baseball team lost to Israel by a 12-5 count Sunday in Yokohama to be eliminated from their first appearance in the Summer Games after losing all three contests they played. The Verdes Grande had dropped a 1-0 knucklebiter to the Dominican Republic and a 7-4 decision to host Japan last week to finish 0-2 in Group A.

    In Sunday's loss, Israel took a 6-0 lead and never looked back in winning their first Olympic game after turning in an 0-2 record in Group B. Mexico starter Manny Barreda gave up six runs on four hits and three walks over two-plus innings to take the loss. The ex-Yankees prospect was trailing 1-0 after two innings before the roof caved in top of the the third, when he walked Israel's first two batters before giving up a three-run homer to former MLBer Danny Valencia, who drilled a fastball ten rows deep into the Yokohama Baseball Stadium's left-field seats. Barreda allowed two more baserunners without recording an out before being yanked for reliever Sasagi Sanchez, who then gave up a two-run Nick Rickles single to make it a 6-0 game.

    To their credit, the Mexicans fought back to make it a one-run game by scoring four times in the bottom of the third. Braves farmhand Ryan Goins doubled to deep left to plate Jonathan Jones with Mexico's first run and then came in when Israel starter Jonathan Zeid uncorked a wild pitch during a walk to Isaac Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored on a Sebastian Elizalde double to left and then Elizalde crossed the plate when Joey Meneses singled to shallow left to narrow the deficit to 6-4. Adrian Gonzalez singled in Meneses in the bottom of the sixth to close to gap to 6-5, but a horrible top of the seventh put the game out of reach.

    In that fateful frame, Israel sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on as many hits, keyed by consecutive two-run singles from Mitch Glasser and Zach Penprase, a pair of longtime indyball players. Former MLB hurler Oliver Perez allowed all six runs, although the first two were charged to fellow Mexican reliever Fernando Salas. Israel allowed one Gonzalez double over the last three frames to cement the win.

    Mexico dropped their first game last Friday, 1-0, to the Dominican Republic. Starter Angel Sanchez (5 IP) and four relievers combined to limit the Mexicans to four singles and three walks while Mexican starter Teddy Stankiewicz battled admirably through 4.2 innings, striking out five Dominicans but allowing the game's lone run when ex-MLBer Melky Cabrera single in Charlie Valerio in the bottom of the fifth. Diamondbacks minor leaguer Luis Castillo turned in a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

    The Verdes Grande's best chance came in the top of the sixth when Isaac Rodriguez laid down a bunt single, advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Valerio while Elizalde was up and then tried to score on a Meneses single to left but was cut down at the plate by a throw from Jose Bautista.

    Things were a little less dramatic one day later, when Japan bopped Mexico by a 7-4 score on Saturday. Mexico actually took a 1-0 lead against the host team in the bottom of the first when Meneses singled up the middle off Masato Morishita to score Rodriguez from second. Japan came back to tie it in the second and go ahead in the third with single runs against Mexican starter Juan Pablo Oramas. Eduardo Arredondo relieved Oramas in the fourth and gave up a pair of singles to set up a three-run homer by Tetsuto Yamada to bring Japan's lead up to 5-1.

Joey Meneses hit .500 with HR for Mexico

    Mexico got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Elizalde scored from third on a Gonzalez double-play grounder to second, but Japan scored singletons in the seventh and eighth to stretch their advantage to 7-2. Meneses crashed a two-run homer off reliever Kaima Taira in the bottom of the eighth, making it a 7-4 game, but Mexico could get no closer before running out of outs.

    All in all, it was a disappointing Olympic baseball debut for Mexico, who was outscored 20-9 over three games. Meneses turned in the top plate performance, going 6-for-12 with a homer and four RBIs, but Gonzalez (.273) was the only other hitter above .250 as the team combined for a .202 batting average. The pitching was little better, although Stankiewicz (1.93) and Oramas (3.00) did fairly well while relievers Sanchez, Carlos Bustamante, Daniel Duarte and Cesar Vargas allowed no earned runs but Barreda and three relievers all had ERAs at 13.50 or above as Mexico finished with a 6.23 team ERA.

    Mexico manager Benji Gil was circumspect in the aftermath of what most baseball observers in the country consider a disastrous performance. “Not even in my worst nightmare did I think this would be the result,” said the former MLB infielder, who was brought in after Juan Castro was unceremoniously fired despite having led the team to the country's-ever Olympic baseball appearance by qualifying in the 2019 Premier12 tournament. Gil pointed to a pitching collapse after allowing just one run against the Dominican Republic.

    “Normally in all these competitions, Mexico always has tremendous pitching,” said Gil. “We compete with that and that is why we are known in baseball. In the last two games, we did battle...not all of them, but as a team we did battle. Allowing 19 runs in 18 innings is something that has never been seen for a Mexican team.”

    Now it has.

SECOND-PLACE TOROS FIRE VIZQUEL AS LMB PLAYOFFS APPROACH

Omar Vizquel tossing BP as TJ skipper

    With the Mexican League playoffs just days away, two teams have made decisions regarding the men managing them. The Tijuana Toros demoted Hall of Fame candidate Omar Vizquel for “personal reasons” last Monday after the team suffered a three-game weekend sweep to Monterrey at home. The Toros were 32-22 at the time and in second place in the LMB North with nine games left in the regular season. There is speculation that Vizquel stepped down due to pressure from Major League Baseball because of an unresolved domestic violence case filed by the wife of the former shortstop, but the team owners (the Uribe family) are rather capricious even by LMB standards and have cut loose a dozen managers despite six consecutive playoff appearances and a 2017 pennant.

    The Tijuana front office issued a statement claiming "the decision that resolves the labor agreement was generated by mutual agreement and is adopted from the highest responsibility between the board of directors and the Venezuelan helmsman." Vizquel will be reassigned to other duties with the Toros while longtime Mexican baseball figure Homar Rojas (who was fired earlier this year as Monterrey's helmsman) becomes the 13th manager in Tijuana since the Toros debuted in 2014 while Bronswell Patrick moves from pitching coach to bench coach. Tijuana won five of their first six games under Rojas, who is managing his sixth LMB team since 2005.

    In Merida, the Yucatan Leones announced a new skipper to replace Geronimo Gil, who was fired on June 22 with a 14-11 record. Salon de la Fama member Chico Rodriguez led Yucatan to a 13-14 mark as interim manager until the Leones named Luis Matos as dugout boss on July 21. Matos spent seven years as an MLB outfielder before playing for Yucatan between 2008 and 2012. He managed Caguas to two Puerto Rican League pennants and Caribbean Series titles in 2017 and 2018 during a four-year stint with the Criollos. Matos split his first eight games at the helm of the Leones going into Sunday's contest with Campeche.

    The expansion Veracruz Aguilas still have Leo Rodriguez III as manager, but they brought in some experienced help last week by hiring former Mazatlan Venados leader Juan Jose Pacho as bench coach. Pacho was fired by the Mexican Pacific League team last winter, allegedly because he made public appearances supporting a political candidate opposed by Venados ownership. The Salon de la Fama shortstop's presence certainly hasn't harmed veteran slugger Jesus “Cacao” Valdez, who swatted a pair of three-run homers and drove in nine runs in an 18-6 blowout in Oaxaca last Thursday as Veracruz clinched a playoff berth.

    Just three games remain in the regular season and most playoff slots have been secured. In the LMB North, Guadalajara has clinched first place while Tijuana, Monclova and Saltillo have also punched their tickets. Aguascalientes is fifth after winning seven of ten games and close to reaching the postseason but Union Laguna, Dos Laredos and Monterrey are in a fairly tight battle for the sixth and final berth. Mexico City has clinched the top of the LMB South while Tabasco has won nine of ten outings to secure a playoff slot. Yucatan, Veracruz and Quintana Roo are also locks, meaning sixth-place Puebla needs one win or one Leon loss for the final postseason berth.

Luis Escobar has starred for Tabasco

    Guadalajara's Leo Heras is batting .415 after 43 games, good enough to top the batting race on the LMB website, ahead of Saltillo's Henry Urrutia (.391) and Tito Polo (.390) of Durango. Leon's Xavier Batista has pulled ahead of Rainel Rosario of Saltillo in the home run derby, 19 to 18, while Tijuana's Leandro Castro's 68 RBIs will likely be enough to hold off Japhet Amador's 57 for Mexico City to take that crown. In stolen bases, Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez has 21 while Herlis Rodriguez of Tabasco is one behind at 20.

    Among pitchers, Masaru Nakamura of Guadalajara still has a perfect 8-0 record to lead the Liga in wins, one ahead of five other hurlers. Former Pirates righty Luis Escobar heads the ERA list as the Colombian shows a 2.60 mark after 11 starts, comfortably ahead of Laguna's Rafael Pineda (3.21). There's a battle for strikeout supremacy between Aguascalientes' Erik Leal (66), Puebla's Jose Valdez (66) and Mexico City's Hector Hernandez (65) while another three pitchers have 60-plus K's. Fernando Rodney of Tijuana is tops in saves with 15, one more than Guadalajara's Fernando Cruz.

    Just nine midweek series remain before the regular season closes. The most important may be a crossover set when Aguascalientes visits Leon, with the Rieleros trying to fight off three teams for one of two unsettled LMB North berth and the Bravos needed to win all three games to even have a chance to qualify in the LMB South.

JUAN VENE: JALISCO CHARROS HEADED FOR SALE, NAME CHANGE

    Now in his 90's, Juan Vene has covered Mexican baseball for years and his column “En la Pelota” is carried by 37 newspapers and websites. In a recent column, the Florida-based Vene states that a sale of the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros to the owners of the Guadalajara Mariachis is pending, as is a change of the team nickname. Puro Beisbol reports that sources from the State of Jalisco confirm the transaction and that the LMP will approve the deal.

    The following is a lightly-edited Google translation of Vene's column:

    The Jalisco Charros, whose name is owned by Armando Navarro, are about to end. The next team for the Guadalajara winters would be called the Jalisco Caballos and owned by José Luis González Íñigo and Carlos Valenzuela Gómez, who also own the Mexican League's Guadalajara franchise.

    "Both González and Valenzuela, co-owners of the Mariachis, are very good people," said a fellow journalist from Guadalajara.

    Navarro had contributed the name of Charros to be a partner of Salvador Quirarte, who invested the necessary money. The two got into a fight under accusations of mismanagement of the team's money. And there is no way to reconcile them.

    Quirarte does not respond to calls and Navarro's cell phone number always get the “beep-beep-beep” busy signal.

    Meanwhile, the Zapopan stadium, in the beautiful metropolitan area of Guadalajara, is owned by the Government of the State of Jalisco. And the governor, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, is a Guadalajara leader who only wants peace and good baseball.

    Alfaro Ramírez likes the name “Jalisco Caballos” and is willing to provide all the necessary support to those who dedicate themselves to organizing the best show for Jalisco and not to fight for two or three pesos of old paper.

    Navarro has accused Quirarte of mishandling the team's money, so I try to contact him to see if he informs me how his partner did something wrong. But I already told you it's a case of “beep-beep-beep” every time I call him.

Name change likely for Estadio Charros, too

    Beautiful Guadalajara and its surroundings are home to hundreds of thousands of frenzied baseball fans, who have always supported it.

    However, there is a kind of gypsy curse on the ball in that sector of the world. The original Charros played in an uncomfortable stadium, built for student baseball and located on the outskirts of the city.

    It was not comfortable to go there. The Charros had to disappear in 1995.

    They returned in 2014, with great enthusiasm to a full stadium in the modern house of Zapopan, until peace ended in 2021. That is why, possibly, the 2021-2022 season will be that of the burial of the Charros and the birth of the Caballos.

    The figure of the caballo (or “horse”) is emblematic in Jalisco, especially for what these beautiful animals mean in the life of the charros.

    It will be a new life for baseball in Jalisco, absolutely better than Navarro and Quirarte pulling their hair out for two or three pesos of old paper.