Tijuana blows out Puebla, 15-3, to clinch first LMB title

Tijuana Toros DH Cyle Hankerd 

Cyle Hankerd belted a pair of homers, driving in four runs, and starting pitcher Miguel Pena allowed one run in 5.2 innings as the Tijuana Toros defeated the Puebla Pericos, 15-3, Sunday afternoon in Puebla to clinch the 2017 Mexican League championship.  In winning Game Five of the Serie del Rey, the Toros bring Tijuana the city's first Liga pennant.  It was the second flag for TJ manager Pedro Mere, who led the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila to the 2012 LMB title. The Pericos were attempting to stay alive in their quest for a second consecutive LMB title despite having had their roster decimated by player transfers to Monclova during the offseason.

Tijuana 15-19-0, PUEBLA 3-9-0 (Tijuana wins Serie del Rey, 4 games to 1)
W-M. Pena (1-0).  L-Roenicke (0-2).  A-6,954.  T-3:13.

The Pericos actually led this one early.  Julio Borbon led off the bottom off by getting hit by a Pena pitch, then moved to second when Pena walked Endy Chavez.  Issmael Salas then grounded into a 5-4-3 double play but Borbon was able to advance to third on the play, then scored when Jesus Arredondo poked a grounder past second into center field.

Puebla held on to their slim 1-0 lead until the top of the third, when Tijuana scored six runs.  Isaac Rodriguez started things off with a one-out single to right, went from first to third on Jose Guadalupe Chavez' single to left and scored the tying run on a Roberto Lopez sacrifice fly to right.  Pericos starter Josh Roenicke then lost his control while trying to record the third out of the inning, walking Corey Brown, Hankerd (2006 MVP of the Class A Northwest League) and Jorge Cantu in succession, the latter forcing Chavez across the plate with the go-ahead tally.  Dustin Martin then cleared the bases by launching a grand slam over the centerfield wall to make it a 6-2 contest.

The Toros posted four more counters on the scoreboard in the fourth to knock Roenicke out of the game and effectively put the contest (and pennant) out of Puebla's reach.  With one out and runners on second and third, Lopez lifted another sacrifice fly to right, this time scoring Alex Liddi from third.  A Brown single plated Rodriguez from third to make it an 8-2 score, sending Roenicke to the showers and bringing in Angel Rodriguez from the bullpen.  The first batter Rodriguez faced, Hankerd, belted his second homer of the Serie del Rey, a two-run shot to right that brought the score to 10-2.  One inning later, Liddi took Henry Garcia deep to left, giving the Toros a nine-run bulge.

Puebla got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Alberto Carreon greeter TJ middleman Mark Serrano with a leadoff homer over the leftfield wall, but the Toros scored twice in the top of the eighth when Hankerd hit his second homer of the afternoon, a two-run shot to center off Julio Felix that brought in Brown, who'd just doubled off Felix.  The Pericos scored once more in the bottom of the eighth when Cesar Tapia singled in Arredondo, narrowing the gap to 13-3, but Brown put an exclamation point on the Toros' playoff run by slamming a two-run dinger off yet another Pericos reliever, Fabian Williamson, to bring the count to 15-3. Jason Urquidez then came in and ended the game and Mexican league season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, with Salas flying out to Lopez to bring the 2017 schedule to a close.

While Pena's 5.2 innings were decent enough on their own merit (giving up one run on five hits, striking out four and walking three to earn the win), he had plenty of support as the Toros went on to batter six Puebla hurlers for 19 hits, including five homers.  Hankerd finished the day with two homers and four RBIs while Brown was 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs and three ribbies.  Tapia led Puebla with three hits while Arredondo and Ricky Rodriguez each had two safeties.  Roenicke absorbed his second loss in the Serie del Rey after being knocked around for nine runs on eight hits and three walks.

After drawing crowds of 10,000 for every home game in both the LMB South championships and the Serie del Rey, attendance at Estadio Hermanos Serdan dipped to 6,954 on Sunday.  Pericos owner Gerardo Benavides has threatened to move the team, perhaps to Nuevo Laredo or Juarez along the Texas border, one year after Puebla won the Liga pennant over Tijuana in six games.  Benavides then bought his hometown Monclova Acereros last winter and shifted more than twenty members of Puebla's champions to his new club.  The Steelers were a playoff team before the massive influx of Pericos stalwarts and a preseason pick among many to win the flag this year, but fell to Monterrey in the first round of the playoffs.

The Toros win caps quite a year for what has become perhaps the leading organization in the Mexican League. Tijuana home games were perhaps the loop's most-entertaining openings (finishing second to Monterrey in regular season attendance with an average of 10,872), the team sold a number of prospects they'd developed to MLB organizations during the summer and now the "Gateway to Mexico" has its first Mexican League championship team and first organized ball pennant winner since the 1952 Potros, led by Triple Crown winner Pete Hughes (.366/28/131), won the Class C Southwest International League crown.  The Tijuana Potros also won winterball titles in the Mexican Pacific League for 1987-88 and 1990-91.

Six-run sixth highlights TJ's 8-2 win in Serie del Rey opener

Tijuana Toros leftfielder Roberto Lopez

Roberto Lopez lined a two-run double and then scored on Corey Brown's single to key Tijuana's six-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning, blowing open a 2-2 ballgame as the Toros went on to defeat the visiting Puebla Pericos, 8-2, Tuesday night  in the opening game of the Mexican League's Serie del Rey championship finals.  A crowd of 15,105 at Estadio Gasmart saw the Toros send ten batters to the plate against the defending LMB champions in the sixth, facing four pitchers in the frame.

TIJUANA 8-12-1, Puebla 2-5-2
W-J.J. Reyes (1-0).  L-J. Roenicke (0-1).  A-15,105.  T-2:53.

Puebla starting pitcher Josh Roenicke and TJ starter Miguel Pena carried a duel shutout into the bottom of the third, when the Pericos defense handed the Toros the first run of the game.  After leading off with a single and moving to second when Roenicke walked Alex Liddi, Juan Apodaca stood a few steps away from the bag towards third while Isaac Rodriguez when Pericos catcher Cesar Tapia uncorked a throw down to shortstop Alberto Carreon, who was covering second on the play.  Carreon dropped Tapia's throw, however, and Apodaca scampered safely down to third and later came in to score on a Lopez sacrifice fly to center field.  The Bulls added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Cyle Hankerd led off with a double, took third on a Jorge Cantu single and then scored on a Roenicke wild pitch to Dustin Martin to give Tijuana a 2-0 lead.

Pena was working on a one-hit shutout in the top of the fifth when the defending champs scored their first run of the game when Sergio Perez stroked a one-out single and then motored around the bases to hit paydirt when Carreon doubled to make amends for his third inning defensive gaffe.  The Pericos were able to knot the score up at 2-2 in the top of the sixth when leadoff batter Issmael Salas reached base when Tijuana second sacker Rodriguez muffed his ground ball, advancing to second on the play.  Jesus Arredondo's single sent Salas to third and another safety by Ricky Rodriguez sent Salas in with the tying run.

However, what had been a fairly tight (if not the most aesthetically pleasing) game was blown wide open with the Toros' six-run sixth.  After Cantu opened the frame by grounding out, Martin drew a walk from Roenicke and then stole second while Apodaca was batting.  Apodaca then lined a single to left, scoring Martin from second while Apodaca scooted to second on Perez' throw to Tapia at home.  That was enough for Roenicke after 95 pitches, as Puebla skipper Tim Johnson brought in Mario Morales from the bullpen.  Morales got Liddi to fly to center for the second out of the inning before walking Rodriguez.  Exit Morales, enter Henry Garcia, who gave up a bases-loaded single to Jose Guadalupe Chavez, scoring Apodaca with the go-ahead run.  Exit Garcia, enter Julio Felix, who coughed up Lopez' two-run double and a Corey Brown single that scored Lopez from second to make it a 7-2 game.  Brown then stole second and scored on a Hankerd single to left, putting the Toros up by six.

After that, it was left to a combination of TJ relievers Carlos Hernandez, Pedro Villareal and Edwin Quirate to each contribute a hitless inning and close out the game, with pinch-hitter Jon Del Campo grounding out to Cantu at first for the final out of the contest.  Although Pena gave Toros manager a solid five-inning start, allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks, the win went to reliever Jo-Jo Reyes, who recorded the last two outs of the top of the sixth before his teammates put the final six runs of the game on the board in the bottom of the entrada. Roenicke absorbed the loss for Puebla, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks in 5.1 innings of work, striking out seven.   Hankerd finished the night 3-for-5 at the plate, scoring one run and driving in another, while Lopez ended up with three RBIs for the game while Arredondo had two of Puebla's five hits.

Game Two is slated for Wednesday night in Tijuana.  Jaime Lugo will be on the mound for Puebla while Alex Sanabia, who allowed one run over 14 innings in two starts (both wins) against Monterrey is scheduled to take the hill for the Toros.  Thursday will be a travel day before the series resumes in Puebla.  While the Pericos seek to repeat their 2016 pennant with only seven players back from last year's champions, the Toros are looking for Tijuana's first Mexican League title.

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Toros, Pericos both one win away from Serie del Rey rematch

Tijuana Toros pitcher Alex Sanabia

The Tijuana Toros and Puebla Pericos came away with Tuesday night triumphs in their respective Mexican League division championship series, and both are one win away from punching their tickets to the LMB's Serie del Rey league championship series.  The two teams collided in last year's finals, with Puebla coming away with the pennant.

Alex Sanabia contributed a brilliant pitching performance in Tijuana's 4-1 victory in Monterrey Tuesday, allowing no earned runs on one hit and no walks over seven innings as the Toros edged ahead of the Sultanes in their LMB North final series, 3 games to 2.  In Puebla, both the Pericos and Yucatan Leones broke out the bats to combine for 18 runs and 28 hits as the hosts posted an 11-7 win over the men from Merida to take a 3-games-to-1 advantage in their LMB South title set.  Jesus Arredondo had three hits and three RBIs for the winners.

The Toros and Sultanes will take Wednesday off as a travel day prior to Thursday night's Game Six in Tijuana.  The Pericos and Leones will play Game Five of their series after Monday's rainout in Puebla pushed their set back a day.


Tijuana 4-4-1, MONTERREY 1-1-0
W-Sanabia (2-0).  L-Solano (0-2).  SV-Urquidez (1).  A-21,285.  T-2:33.

Although the boxscore won't reveal it, Tijuana starting pitcher Alex Sanabia literally threw away whatever shutout bid in the bottom of the first inning but pulled himself together to dominate Monterrey over the next six innings to register his second win of the LMB North championship series.  Sultanes leadoff hitter Chris Roberson tapped a grounder back to the mound that Sanabia meant to throw to Toros first baseman Jorge Cantu for the first out of the inning.  Instead, the former Marlins hurler's throw sailed out of Cantu's reach into right field foul territory, allowing the speedy Roberson to advance all the way to third base on the play.  Robo then scored on Ramon Rios' sacrifice fly to give Monterrey an early 1-0 lead.  One out later, Sanabia plunked Jesus Montero to put another runner on, but induced Daniel Mayora into a fielder's choice grounder to Alex Liddi for the final out of a shaky frame.

After that, the righty from San Diego settled down to dominate the Sultanes lineup for the next six innings, allowing only a Zoilo Almonte leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh before being replaced by Juan Sandoval in the eighth.  Sanabia retired 15 Monterrey batters in a row, pitching 1-2-3 innings from the second through the sixth entradas, and threw strikes on 50 of his 73 pitches on the night.  He has now allowed one earned run on six hits over 14 innings in his two victories against the Sultanes after winning last Thursday's opener, 10-1.

Sanabia still had to pitch from behind through three innings before his teammates scored three times in the top of the fourth to give him a lead to work with, with all runs coming in on Dustin Martin's three-run homer off Monterrey starter Javier Solano, who'd allowed a leadoff single to Roberto Lopez and gave up a two-out walk to Cantu before Martin stepped up to the plate.  Martin later made a standout defensive play in the seventh, when he caught a one-out Mayora fly ball to right field and then threw a strike to Cantu at first to double off Almonte for the final out of the frame.

Corey Brown gave Tijuana one more insurance run by belting his second homer of the series in the top of the ninth off Solano to make it a 4-1 game.  Solano pitched in tough luck in an otherwise decent 119-pitch performance, but that gopher ball to Martin in the fourth was the difference-maker.  Toros closer Jason Urquidez then came on to retire the Sultanes in order in the bottom of the ninth to give TJ the first win by a road team in the series, which now shifts back to Tijuana for Thursday's Game Six.  The Toros are now a win away from a second straight shot at the city's first Liga pennant.  A crowd of 21,285 watched the game at Estadio Monterrey to bring the three-day attendance total in Monterrey to over 60,000 aficionados.


PUEBLA 11-16-0, Yucatan 7-12-0
W-Roenicke (2-0).  L-Negrin (0-1).  SV-Heath (2).  A-11,099.  T-3:30.

Unlike Tuesday's Tijuana-Monterrey game, this contest had little to do with pitching as Puebla and Yucatan got together to post batting-practice totals of 18 runs and 28 hits on the night, with the host Pericos prevailing by an 11-7 score.  At least one run was scored by either team in every inning but the second and eighth as defending champion Puebla brought themselves one win away from the Serie del Rey.

Issmael Salas' two-run homer off Yucatan starter Jonathan Castellanos in the bottom of the first gave the Pericos an early lead while serving early notice that this would be a long night for pitchers.  Castellanos then gave up singles to Jesus Arredondo and Cesar Tapia before Leones manager Chico Rodriguez decided he'd seen enough and brought in Yoanner Negrin to stop the bleeding and the 2016 Pitcher of the Year obliged, getting Hector Garanzuay to fly to right for the third out.  Yuniesky Betancourt socked a solo homer in the top of the second against Pericos starter Josh Roenicke to cut the Puebla lead to one, but a (what else?) homer by Arredondo from a Negrin delivery put the home team up, 3-1.

A wild fourth inning in both halves generated a total of eight runs on eight hits for the two combatants. Roenicke staggered through the top of the fourth by allowing three runs after the first five batters accrued hit after hit: Juan Francisco singled, Betancourt doubled, Esteban Quiroz double (scoring Francisco and Betancourt), Ricky Alvarez singled and Sebastian Valle doubled to plate Quiroz.  Roenicke then drilled Juan Aguilar with a pitch before getting the first out of the inning, a bases-loaded Leo Heras sacrifice fly that brought in Quiroz from third to give Yucatan a 5-3 advantage.  Valle was then thrown out at the plate on Diego Madero's grounder to third before Ronnier Mustelier grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice at second.  Roenicke managed to stay in for all nine batters, but his insurance rates are likely to go up in the aftermath.

Then it was Puebla's turn to beat a drum on Negrin in the bottom of the fourth, also sending nine men to the plate.  Garanzuay led off with a double, moved to third on a Sergio Perez single and scored when shortstop Madero made a bad throw on an Alberto Carreon grounder.  It looked like Negrin might pitch himself out of trouble when he struck out Julio Borbon and Endy Chavez, but the gates opened again when Salas was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Arredondo walked to bring in Perez with the tying run and Ricky Rodriguez lined a single to left, scoring Carreon and Salas to bring the Pericos back into a 7-5 lead.  At that point, Negrin was replaced by Jesus Barraza, who struck out Tapia to end the carnage.

Puebla then rang up four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 11-5 as the Leones sent three men to the mound.  Barraza lasted long enough to give up singles to Garanzuay and Carreon before Alejandro Soto came in with one out and immediately gave up run-scoring singles to Borbon and Chavez.  Soto was then yanked for Pedro Rodriguez, who bookended the final two outs around an RBI single by Arredondo.  From that point on it seemed a matter of time for the Pericos, although the Leones did fight back with single runs in the seventh (bases-loaded forceout by Alvarez that scored Ivan Araujo) and ninth (RBI single from Aguilar) to come within four counters before time ran out.

Where to begin with highlights from this one?  Let's start with Puebla DH Arredondo, who collected two singles and a homer to drive in three runs and score once.  Garanzuay and Perez, batting seventh and eighth, combined for six hits and three runs (both are batting .500 for the series) and Perez also homered and scored twice for the home team.  Five players had two hits each for Yucatan but Quiroz did the most damage, hitting one double and walking three times to score twice and drive in two more.  Betancourt also scored twice while singling and homering and Araujo (making his first appearance of the series when he batted for Mustelier in the seventh and took over in left) went 2-for-2 with a run.

Roenicke was awarded the win because, well, SOMEONE had to get the W, but it was probably a start he'd rather forget after giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.1 innings and 110 pitches.  Whew!  Negrin took the loss in his first relief appearance since July 12, 2015, allowing two runs on five hits in three innings.  Deunte Heath got his second save of the series for Puebla but even he let in a run in 1.1 innings of closing work.  It was that kind of night.

Over 11,000 fans turned out for the second night in a row in Estadio Hermanos Serdan, where the Pericos averaged just 3,186 per opening during the regular season, leading owner Gerardo Benavides (who dismantled his 2016 champions by sending 20+ players to his other team in Monclova during the last offseason) to declare his willingness to move the team north for 2018 if fans didn't turn out in the postseason.  The two teams will go at it again in Game Five Wednesday in Puebla as the Pericos try to close out the series with Andres Meza on the mound against Yucatan's James Russell.

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Roenicke, Pericos win in Yucatan; Toros pound Sultanes

Puebla Pericos starting pitcher Josh Roenicke

Josh Roenicke pitched seven strong innings and his teammates posted a three-run eighth inning as the Puebla Pericos went on to defeat the Yucatan Leones, 4-1, in Game One of the Mexican League's South Division championship series Thursday night in front of 12,000 fans at Merida's Parque Kukulkan.

Roenicke, an MLB middleman between 2008 and 2013 prior to becoming an LMB South All-Star as a starter this past June in his first Liga campaign, found himself locked in a duel with Yucatan's 2016 LMB Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin.  The Leones scored once in the bottom of the fifth when Leo Heras sped all the way in from first on Diego Madero's double, but the Pericos knotted the score up in the top of the sixth when Issmael Salas doubled in Alberto Carreon, but it was their three-run eighth that provided the defending champion Pericos their eventual margin of victory.

Jesus Barraza came in from the bullpen to replace Negrin to start the inning and immediately found himself in trouble when first batter Borbon dragged a bunt single down the third base line that Yucatan third sacker Yuniesky Betancourt threw into right field territory, allowing Borbon to advance all the way to third.  After Chavez popped out to Betancourt, Salas doubled to Mustelier in left to score Borbon with the go-ahead run.  After Barraza intentionally walked Jesus Arredondo to set up a force at any base, he was replaced on the mound by closer Ronald Belisario.  The ex-Dodger induced Ricky Rodriguez to ground a 1-3 comebacker to the hill for the second out as both runners moved 90 feet, but 2016 batting champion Cesar Tapia drilled a double to the busy Mustelier in left to score both Salas and Arredondo, putting the Pericos ahead, 4-1.  Puebla closer Deunte Heath came on in the bottom of the eighth and retired the last four Yucatan hitters (three on strikeouts) to end the game and earn the save.

Salas had a 3-for-4 night with two RBIs and one run scored for the Pericos while Madero collected three hits for Yucatan.  Roenicke, son of former MLBer Gary and nephew of ex-Brewers manager Ron (as well as brother-in-law to Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond)  was the winner after giving up one run and scattering seven hits in as many innings for the visitors and Barraza absorbed the loss after giving up three runs on two hits in one-third of an inning.  Negrin looked good over his seven frames, allowing one run on four hits.

The two teams will lock horns in Merida again Friday night for Game Two in their rematch of last year's LMB South division chamnpionship series.  Josh Outman will get the start for Puebla while James Russell will open for Yucatan.

Puebla 4-7-0, YUCATAN 1-8-1
W-Roenicke (1-0).  L-Barraza (0-1).  SV-Heath (1).  A-12,000.  T-2:55.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Tijuana Toros sent 13 batters to the plate in a seven-run seventh innings en route to a 10-1 blowout win over visiting Monterrey in Game One of their LMB North championship series Thursday night.  An Estadio Gasmart crowd of 13,685 watched the Toros earn a leg up in their rematch from 2016 with the Sultanes.

That series concluded with loud complaints from Monterrey owner Jose Maiz about the Toros' large number of Mexican-American players (who are exempt from the Liga's roster limit of six foreigners), leading to last winter's split among owners over the issue that required the intervention of Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Connor to save the 2017 season.  Maiz, who was feted at the Little League World Series this week as a member of the 1957 LLWS champions from Monterrey, fanned the flames Tuesday with a comment calling the Tijuana team the "PochoToros."  The term pocho is an equivalent to words like sellout, traitor or even Uncle Tom among Mexicans, and Maiz' incorporation of it (which was widely reported across the country) has generally been panned by baseball columnists south of the border, especially since O'Connor ruled that there would be no limit to Mexican-American players on LMB rosters.

The Toros broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off Sultanes starter Javier Solano.  Cyle Hankerd followed Corey Brown's leadoff single with a two-run homer to left field to put TJ up, 2-0.  Hankerd had been drilled by Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo in an August 4 game, putting him out of the lineup for the final ten games of the regular season and doing nothing to relieve tensions between the two teams in what has become the most intense rivalry in the Liga.  Dustin Martin added an RBI double later in the frame to put the Toros three ahead.

Monterrey got on the board in the top of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Luis Flores and Chris Roberson, but the Toros put the game away two innings later.  In that entrada, Alex Liddi led the procession off with a line-drive single to left in an ugly frame that ended with seven Tijuana runs off a total of six singles, one Jorge Cantu double, two walks, two hit batsmen and three wild pitches (two by reliever Isaac Jimenez to Cantu prior to the latter's two-bagger).  Liddi also singled his second time up to become the eighth consecutive Toros hitter to reach base.

San Diego native Alex Sanabia pitched seven innings of five-hit, one-run baseball for Tijuana to earn the win while Solano allowed nine hits and five earned runs to take the loss for Monterrey. Martin (Corpus Christi, Texas) had three hits for the winners while Roberto Lopez (San Diego), Cantu (McAllen, Texas), Liddi (San Remo, Italy) and Hankerd (Covina, California) each had two hits as the Toros finished the night with 16 hits.  Luis Juarez (a proud son of Culiacan, Sonora) had two singles for the Sultanes while Roberson (Oakland) and Flores (San Diego) contributed their doubles.  There were no reported comments from Maiz on the ethnic makeup of the two lineups after the rout, but this was only Game One.

Game Two is scheduled for Friday night in Tijuana.  Dominican Angel Castro gets the start for Monterrey while Horacio Ramirez (Carson, California) earns the nod for the Toros.

TIJUANA 10-16-0, Monterrey 1-5-0
W-Sanabia (1-0).  L-Solano (0-1).  A-13,685.  T-3:02.

NOTE: BBM will be in Tucson along with four Mexican Pacific League clubs and a Cincinnati Reds select team for the seventh annual Mexican Baseball Fiesta from October 5 to October 8 at Kino Stadium.  More later.

Vargas hits 2 HRs as Rieleros top TJ in Liga playoff opener

Aguascalientes' 3B Jose Vargas hit two homers Sunday

Jose Vargas' home run-hitting exploits have carried over into the postseason as he led his Aguascalientes Rieleros to a surprising win at Tijuana Sunday night in the Mexican League first round playoff opener for both teams.  The Rieleros finished twelve games behind the Toros in the LMB North during the regular season with a 64-46 record, going 2-7 against Tijuana and getting swept in two three-game series.

Elsewhere in LMB division semifinal lidlifters, there were no surprises as upper-seeds Monterrey, Yucatan and defending champion Puebla each won their respective best-of-7 Game One contests, all at home. Game Two action is scheduled for Monday.

Aguascalientes 7-12-0, TIJUANA 3-7-0
W-Del Rosario (1-0).  L-C. Hernandez (1-0).  A-17,201.  T-3:32.
Vargas was the star of the show as the fourth-place Rieleros surprised LMB North regular season champs Tijuana, 7-3, in front of 17,201 onlookers in the border city.  The 29-year-old Ventura, California product went 3-for-3 with a pair of two-run homers while Jesse Castillo socked an eighth-inning solo shot to place an exclamation point on the Aguascalientes win.  Starter Francisco Del Rosario combined with four relievers, including former Yankees reliever Sergio Mitre, to limit the potent Toros to three runs on seven hits.  Del Rosario tossed 5.1 innings for the win, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks, striking out seven. Tijuana took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Vargas (who went deep 23 times in the regular season) replied with his first two-run bomb in the second frame and added another in the fourth to put the Railroaders up 5-2.  TJ leadoff batter Jose Guadalupe Chavez had three hits, two of them doubles, and drove in two runs but Toros starter Carlos Hernandez gave up five runs in four innings, including both Vargas homers, to take the loss.

MONTERREY 5-14-0, Monclova 2-10-0
W-Struck (1-0).  L-Lowey (0-1).  A-22,458.  T-2:55.
Luis Juarez stroked a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie as Monterrey went on to take a 5-2 win over Monclova in their series opener with 22,458 in the stands at Estadio Monterrey.  The Sultanes drew first blood in the second when veteran Chris Roberson lined a two-out single to Acereros rightfielder Carlos Quentin, bringing in Daniel Mayora (who finally appeared in a couple of late-season games after going missing in the lineup since July 20, long enough to start appearing on milk cartons) and Agustin Murillo. Monclova knotted the score up in the top of the sixth on RBI singles from Quentin and Rudy Amador off Monterrey starter Javier Solano.  One-time Cubs farmhand Nick Struck replaced Solano after Amador's safety and tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball through the eighth to earn the win for Monterrey and Wirfin Obispo hurled a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.  Roberson finished with three hits and a stolen base while Matt Clark went 3-for-4 for Monclova.

YUCATAN 2-3-0, Leon 0-3-0
W-Negrin (1-0).  L-Quevedo (0-1).  A-8,163.  T-2:08.
Leones starter Yoanner Negrin flashed the form that made him the Mexican League's 2016 Pitcher of the Year in Yucatan's 2-0 victory over surprising Leon in a briskly-played game at Merida.  The Cuban exile pitched eight innings of one-hit ball, striking out nine Bravos batsmen and walking just two as 69 of his 99 deliveries went for strikes.  Diego Madero scored the only run the Lions would need in the bottom of the first inning by hitting a one-out triple to center off Leon pitcher Marco Quevedo, then coming home on Ronnier Mustelier's sacrifice fly to Leander Castro in right.  The hosts added an insurance run in the fifth when Yuniesky Betancourt hit a leadoff single, went to second on Esteban Quiroz' sacrifice bunt and scored when Jose Aguilar lined a double to left.  Quevedo went all the way for Leon to take the tough-luck loss.  The Bravos were 45-60 in the regular season to finish fifth in the LMB South, but won a qualifier game at fourth-place Veracruz Friday in what may have been the final game for the Rojos del Aguila, rumored to be Nuevo Laredo-bound for 2018.

PUEBLA 7-14-0, Quintana Roo 1-10-0
W-Roenicke (1-0).  L-Loe (0-1).  A-7,146.  T-2:55.
Puebla first baseman Ricky Rodriguez had an RBI double and a grand slam homer to lead the defending champion Pericos to a convincing 7-1 win over Quintana Roo in their Sunday opener at Estadio Hermanos Serdan.  Jesus Arredondo and Rodriguez opened the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back doubles off Tigres starter Kameron Loe, a onetime Texas Rangers starter during his nine-year MLB career.  Rodriguez came in on a Sergio Perez sacrifice fly to put the Parrots up 2-0.  The Tigres got a run back in the top of the fourth when Sergio Contreras scored from second on Osniel Madera's single up the middle but Puebla put the game in their pockets when Rodriguez greeted Quintana Roo reliever Alberto Leyva by belting a bases-loaded homer over the left field wall to make it a 6-1 game.  Julio Borbon, who had three hits on the night, added a solo blast for the Pericos in the eighth.  Former MLB reliever Josh Roenicke, son of ex-big leaguer Gary, gave up one run in seven innings for the Puebla win while Loe (6.1 IP, 5 ER) absorbed the loss.  Like Veracruz, the Pericos are exploring a move in the offseason.

TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Aguascalientes (Flande, 12-6, 4.36) at Tijuana (Pena, 11-2, 2.77)
Monclova (Verdugo, 8-2, 2.64) at Monterrey (Castro, 11-6, 4.28)
Leon (Moscoso, 7-3, 3.89) at Yucatan (Russell, 1-0, 2.03)
Quintana Roo (Ortega, 10-9, 3.43) at Puebla (Outman, 7-1, 5.02)
NOTE: Pitchers' totals are from the regular season. Matchups are posted on Puro Beisbol's LMB POR DENTRO column.