LOS MOCHIS LEADS GUASAVE 2-0 IN LMP TITLE SET

Rodolfo Amador, Los Mochis Caneros

    The Los Mochis Caneros continued their surprising quest for a Mexican Pacific League pennant with a pair of weekend home wins over Guasave heading into three scheduled midweek games at the Algodoneros' Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Caneros finished last in the LMP playoff points race in 2020-21 and 2021-22 prior to this winter, where they stand poised to win just their fourth title since their 1947 formation and first since the 2002-03 season. For their part, Guasave seeks the second pennant of that city's existence as an LMP franchise site beginning in 1965 (their first came in 1971-72).

    Saturday's Game One was a 9-6 slugfest during which the Caneros broke open a 1-1 contest with six runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by DH Juan Uriarte off Guasave starter Nico Tellache, who'd pitched one-run ball through three frames but did not survive the Los Mochis onslaught in the fourth. Tellache absorbed both the beatdown AND the loss, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in 3.1 entradas, striking out four.

    Manny Barreda only fared slightly better as the Caneros opener, tossing four innings of one-run ball himself (the one run coming on an Esteban Quiroz solo homer in the second) before being chased during a four-run Algodoneros fifth that saw Sebastian Elizalde take him deep for another three-run bomb on what proved to be the last pitch the veteran lefty would throw. Fabian Cota came in and registered the third out. The Caneros scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 9-4 lead that was never threatened. Uriarte finished with a 3-for-4 night for four RBIs and two runs scored. Elizalde went 3-for-5 for the Cottoneers in a losing cause as Cota's one inning of relief work was enough to be awarded the win.

    Things were a little tighter for Sunday's Game Two as the Caneros scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 walkoff win over the visitors. Longballs factored in this one, starting with Joey Terdoslavich's line-drive roundtripper off Caneros starter Nick Struck in the top of the second to give Guasave a 1-0 lead. It would prove to be the only run Struck allowed in four innings and when he left after six inning, the game was tied at 1-1 thanks to a run-scoring Uriarte single in the bottom of the fourth that knotted the score. That was the only run Guasave starter Jeff Kinley gave up in seven innings as the former Marlins minor leaguer continued to show his move out of the bullpen after ten years as a reliever is working.

    The score remained at 1-1 until the top of the ninth, when the Algodoneros nudged ahead on an Alejandro Ortiz double off Carlos Vazquez scored Juan Carlos Gamboa from second. However, fate proved a cruel mistress to Guasave closer Brandon Koch, whose third pitch to leadoff batter Roberto Valenzuela was redirected over the wall in left-center for a homer that brought the Caneros back even at 2-2. Then, with two down and a 1-0 count on Rudy Amador, the veteran third sacker smoked a Koch offering for a line-drive circuit clout to left that ended the game and sent a second straight sellout crowd of 11,662 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada home with smiles on their faces.

    Game Three is slated for Tuesday night at 8:30PM local time. Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda will open on the mound for Los Mochis while Guasave will send Geno Encina to the hill. Miranda is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four playoff starts for the Caneros while Encina has won one of three starts with a 3.60 ERA for the Algodoneros.

    The two teams reached the LMP title series with respective Game Six wins last Wednesday. Los Mochis topped Obregon, 5-2 at home behind the solid pitching of Miranda, who allowed one run on one hit with six strikeouts over six innings. The Yaquis opened the scoring in the top of the third when Dariel Alvarez launched a solo homer off Miranda, but the Caneros fought back to take the lead with a three-run fifth during which Wagner Lagrange singled in Uriarte with the go-ahead run and later scored on Isaac Rodriguez' safety.

    Obregon scored a single tally in the seventh when Yadir Drake scored from second on a Victor Mendoza one-bagger but Los Mochis put the contest away one inning later when reinforcement Valenzuela, the LMP batting leader, belted a two-run homer. Miranda got the win for the Caneros while Braulio Torres-Perez took the loss after letting in three runs over five innings.

    Strong pitching made all the difference in Wednesday's other Game Six, this time a 2-0 Guasave shutout in Hermosillo that closed out that series, 4 games to 2. Mex Pac strikeouts champion Matt Pobereyko tossed seven beautiful innings, allowing just two hits and no walks with five strikeouts to take the win home for the Algodoneros, who qualified for their first LMP championship series since 2011-12.

    Jesse Castillo socked a two-run homer to center in the top of the seventh off Hermosillo starter Elian Leyva as the Cottoneers pitching staff held the potent Naranjeros scoreless over the final 18 innings of the series. Leyva, a two-time Pitcher of the Year, absorbed the loss despite a strong start himself in which he took a shutout of his own into the seventh before Castillo broke the scoreless tie.

    At the conclusion of the Guasave-Hermosillo series, Naranjeros pitcher Wilmer Rios (who led the Mex Pac with nine wins) was removed from the reinforcement draft pool by signing a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Rios' Mexican League rights remain with the Monclova Acereros, for whom his nine wins last summer were tied for the LMB lead with Veracruz' Luis Marquez.

    In the subsequent third installment of the reinforcement draft, the Caneros picked first after some arcane proceedings and selected Obregon pitcher Manny Barreda, who himself had been picked by the Yaquis from Culiacan in the first reinforcement draft. Barreda had gone 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in four starts for Obregon. In the second round, Los Mochis picked another Obregon starting pitcher in Torres-Perez, who we mistakenly identified as Brazilian last week. Torres-Perez, who pitched for Mazatlan during the regular season, actually hails from the tropical paradise of Auburn, Washington.

    Choosing second, Guasave fortified their infield by choosing Obregon's Juan Carlos Gamboa in the first round and Jasson Atondo from Hermosillo in the second. Neither have distinguished themselves during the current postseason (Atondo was batting just .216 at the conclusion of the semifinals while Gamboa's average was only .146), but Gamboa is a former Mets farmhand who was MVP of the 2014 Serie del Rey in Mexico City's last Mexican League title-winning season while Atondo is a former Mex Pac Rookie of the Year who can play several positions.


CANEROS' YASMANY TOMAS NAMED MEX PAC MVP

LMP MVP Yasmany Tomas

    After two consecutive last-place finishes in the playoff points standings, the Los Mochis Caneros are the surprise team in this winter's Mexican Pacific League championship series after finishing second in both the regular season combined standings and points race. One of the prime movers for that turnaround is Cuban-born outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who has been named the LMP's Most Valuable Player for 2022-23.

    Tomas finished tied for the league lead with 10 homers while topping the tables with 57 RBIs. He also hit for a .328 average (4th), a .383 OBP (6th), a .510 slugging percentage (3rd), an .893 OPS (4^th) and 27 extra-base hits (2nd). That regular season plate success hasn't yet carried over into the playoffs, where Tomas was batting .245 with just one homer and five ribbies over 13 games through Sunday, but Los Mochis wouldn't be where they are today without him.

    Nicknamed “El Tanque,” the 32-year-old Havana native spent five winters playing for his hometown Industriales between 2008 and 2014 in the Cuban National Series, batting a composite .290 with 39 homers and 151 RBIs over 272 games. He defected to Haiti after the 2013-14 season and after some legal maneuvering, the 6'2” 260-pounder was able to audition in the Dominican Republic for various MLB teams and eventually signed with Arizona to a six-year, $68.5 million contract. He made his MLB debut in 2015 and one year later clubbed 31 homers for the Diamondbacks, although he had the dubious distinction of finished in the National League's top five in errors committed by both left fielders and right fielders that year.

    Tomas appeared on his way to stardom but injuries in 2017 and a 2018 incident that resulted in speeding and reckless driving charges after he was clocked driving 105 mph in Tempe, Arizona led to a demotion to the minor and his eventual release in late 2019 despite two strong years for AAA Reno. He had only played 26 games for AAA Rochester in 2021 since prior to his arrival in Los Mochis last fall.

    Now primarily a first baseman, Tomas becomes the seventh player from the Caneros to win the Héctor Espino Trophy and the first since Brian Burgamy in the 2013-14 season. The ballot vote that prioritized members of all ten LMP team front offices, the specialized media and the fans gave 45 percent of the votes to Tomas so it wasn't really close among the six candidates to choose from.

    Other finalists included Monterrey's batting champion Roberto Valenzuela (21 percent), Hermosillo pitcher Wilmer Rios (16 percent), Caneros outfielder Justin Dean (11 percent), Obregon first baseman/DH Victor Mendoza (5 percent) and Los Mochis pitcher Luis Miranda (2 percent). While Miranda edged out Rios for Pitcher of the Year honors in the balloting for that award, Rios led Miranda by an 8-to-1 margin in MVP voting.


SULTANES TO REOPEN BASEBALL ACADEMY

El Carmen Baseball Academy

    After three years of inactivity, the former Mexican League Baseball Academy in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon will come back to life in 2023 with the support of the Monterrey Sultanes. Team's president Jose Maiz García made the anouncement, according to Septima Entrada writer Tomas Lopez. Interviewed on the Bateo Libre radio program, Maiz stated that an agreement has been reached with the Mexican League to once again develop players at the facilities.

    “Monterrey is going to continue training Mexican baseball players,” Maiz declared, “especially now that no other team in the league wanted to participate in El Carmen. Possibly we are just going to participate. It has already been arranged with the league. The other 17 teams did not want to take part in the El Carmen Academy. The Sultanes have already sent people to see the facilities and in about two or three months we will be working in El Carmen. Sultanes only.”

    Maiz, a member of Monterrey's Little League World Series champions along with future big league shortstop Hector Torres and Mexican League star Angel Macias, added that it may be called Academia Cerro de la Silla or Academy Cerro de Las Mitras.

    The academy was inaugurated in 1996 as the brainchild of then-LMB president Pedro Treto Cisneros, Mexico City Tigres owner Alejo Peralta and Mexico City Diablos Rojos president Roberto Mansur to develop prospects for future play in the Mexican League. In more than two decades of operation, thousands of young players called the dormitories home as such future MLB players as relievers Roberto Osuna and Joakim Soria plus infielder Ramiro Pena cut their teeth on the diamonds in El Carmen, as did eventual LMBers like shortstop Heber Gomez and first baseman Japhet Amador.

    The academy's expenses (which included housing, dining and education in addition to baseball development) were shared for years by all Liga teams at approximately US$500,000 each. LMB organizations would send teenage signees for some seasoning before bringing them up to the LMB if they were good enough, although the contracts of many were sold to Major League organizations while they were still at the facility.

    However, as many teams were struggling to pay the bills at home while others began building academies of their own (especially after MLB determined that teams cannot sell players to its organizations but academies can), support faded for the El Carmen operation and it was shut down in 2019. It has remained closed since.

LEYVA KEEPS LEONES ALIVE; OJEDA SUSPENDED

C Sebastian Valle and P Elian Leyva, Yucatan

The Mexican League South Division Championships are moving back to Mexico City for Game Six on Tuesday after pitcher Elian Leyva’s masterful outing Sunday in Merida kept his Yucatan Leones afloat in their battle with the Diablos Rojos, who lead the best-of-7 series, 3-games-to-2. 

Leyva, a two-time Mexican Pacific League Pitcher of the Year (including last winter), tossed seven shutout innings of one-hit ball Sunday as the Leones outlasted the Diablos, 2-0, in front of a third consecutive sellout crowd of 14,917 at venerable Parque Kukulkan. Leyva struck out eight Mexico City batters before leaving the scoreless tie after the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Art Charles lined a two-run homer to straightaway center field off Diablos reliever David Huff, who’d replaced starter Jeffry Nino after the latter had whitewashed Yucatan over the first six entradas. Charles’ blast was enough as three Yucatan relievers held Mexico City scoreless over the final two innings with Jorge Rondon striking out the dangerous Roberto Ramos looking to end the contest, after which fans in Merida danced and sang in the ballpark’s esplanade during a postgame concert by bands El Fresca and La Sentencia.

The series opened last Tuesday at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in the nation’s capital with an 11-10 Diablos win in eleven innings. The contest featured five homers among the 36 combined hits from the two combatants, but it was a bases-loaded walkoff single from Jesus Fabela off Rondon that scored pinch-runner Antonio Castaneda that ended the tilt in the bottom of the eleventh as 14,528 fanaticos looked on. Juan Carlos Gamboa socked two homers for the winners, including a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, while Charles belted a roundtripper for the Leones in the top of the tenth.

After a Tuesday rainout, Game Two of the LMB South title set was played last Wednesday as the Leones triumphed, 15-8, and did something Puebla was unable to achieve in their division semis against Mexico City: Hold the Diablos to less than 10 runs. As 18,851 watched, Yucatan scored 12 times between the third and sixth innings to take a 12-6 lead and never looked back. Yadir Drake homered and drove in four runs for the Lions while Luis Juarez went 3-for-5 and two RBIs. Moises Gutierrez led the Red Devils with two hits (including a homer) and two ribbies as every starting batter for both teams had at least one of the game’s combined 31 hits except for Diablos catcher Julian Leon, the Puebla series hero who struck out three times. Sic transit gloria.

The series shifted to Merida for Game Three last Thursday, with the visiting Diablos taking an 8-3 win behind the bats of Julian Ornelas (who went 4-for-5 with two homers, scoring four runs and driving in three) and Gamboa, who had three hits, including an RBI single. Cristhian Adames hit a solo homer for the Leones while pinch-hitter Lazaro Alfonso socked a two-run bomb in the ninth to give the home crowd of 14,917 something to cheer about but it was too little, too late. Diablos reliever Huff got the win after going 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out four Yucatan batsmen while Leones starter Henderson Alvarez (5 innings, 4 runs) took the loss.

Another rainout delayed Game Four until Saturday, which saw another Mexico City road win in front of one more full house of 14,917 at Parque Kukulkan, albeit by a closer 6-5 score. The Leones led, 4-3, after one inning thanks to Josh Fuentes’ two-run single, but the Diablos tied the tilt in the fifth and a Fabela bunt scored Gutierrez with the go-ahead run one frame later. Ramos had a resourceful night for the Red Devils as the former KBO star drove in three runs and scored once on a double, a sacrifice fly and a plunking by Hunter Cervenka while Gamboa stroked a two-run single in the first. Francisco Haro came out of the bullpen to replace starter Humberto Sosa two outs into the first and pitched 6.1 scoreless innings (allowing two hits and striking out 11) for the win. Jake Thompson, normally a starter for Yucatan, took the loss in relief after giving up Fabela’s run-scoring sacrifice bunt during his two-inning stint as the Diablos found themselves one win away from the Serie del Rey going into Leyva’s season-saving heroics on Sunday. Game Six is set for 8PM Eastern on Tuesday in Mexico City.

Not all the drama in the series has been on the field. Former big league and Liga catcher Miguel Ojeda, who managed Mexico City to their last pennant in 2014 and is now the team’s sports manager, was suspended for a year by LMB president Horacio de la Vegas after it was discovered the Diablos used a television camera in center field to steal signs from Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle during the first two games of the series at Estadio AHH. The Leones front office told de la Vega of their suspicions last week and after an investigation, Ojeda received his suspension Sunday, as did Diablos TV producer Marco Antonio Avila Toledo.

SULTANES SWEEP CHAMPS, ON TO SERIE DEL REY

Victor Mendoza, Monterrey Sultanes 1B

Given the sometimes-heated nature of the rivalry between the Monterrey Sultanes and the defending Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros over the past few years, there was much anticipation going into their LMB North Championship Series last week. As it turned out, the anticipation exceeded the event as the Sultanes swept the Toros in four straight games to advance to the pennant-deciding Serie del Rey later this week.

Monterrey took the first two games at Tijuana’s Estadio Nacional, opening the series last Monday with a 6-2 win over the Toros in front of 10,081 spectators. The Sultanes were paced offensively by homers from Sebastian Elizalde and Zoilo Almonte and Orlando Calixte’s 3-for-5 night at the plate as starter Yohander Mendez turned in a strong five innings for the winners. Mendez, who was 7-0 and led the LMB with a 2.78 ERA during the regular season, gave up just one run on a Nick Williams triple in the fifth while striking out eight to earn the win as Agustin Murillo’s RBI single in the eighth accounted for the Toros’ other run. TJ starter Nick Struck didn’t have a bad outing, going five innings and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, but he couldn’t match Mendez’ mound mastery (no extra charge for the alliteration).

Game Two on Tuesday in Tijuana was more of the same as strong Monterrey pitching keyed a Sultanes road win, this time by a 4-1 count. It was mostly a pitcher’s duel except for one pitch: Toros starter Manny Barreda dished up a three-run homer to Calixte in the top of the fourth that decided the game for all intent and purposes. Leandro Castro broke up Monterrey’s shutout bid in the seventh with a solo homer off reliever Juan Gamez with 15,313 watching at Estadio Nacional, but the night belonged to the Sultanes pitching staff. Julio Teheran has had a great postseason thus far for manager Roberto Kelly’s troops as the former Braves starter threw six innings of two-hit baseball in blanking the potent Toros. Barreda went five frames and struck out eight while allowing five hits, but took the loss for Tijuana.

After a travel day, the series resumed at Estadio Monterrey as 17,241 were in the stands for a 2-1 knucklebiter win in 13 innings for the Sultanes last Thursday. The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh, when Elizalde scored from third after a Javy Guerra pitch eluded Tijuana catcher Xorge Carrillo. Guerra had relieved Toros starter Humberto Mejia after Elizalde opened the inning with a single, but promptly hit Zoilo Almonte with his first pitch, advancing Elizalde to second. Guerra gave himself a little breathing room by inducing Victor Mendoza to ground into a 3-6-1 double play as Elizalde moved to third on the play but Carrillo mishandled a pitch while he pitched to Calixte. Murillo tied the game in the top of the ninth by coming in from third on a bases-loaded forceout at second on a grounder from Nick Williams. The two teams battled for three more scoreless innings until Mendoza’s walkoff single off Kyle Lobstein in the bottom of the 13th brought in Gustavo Nunez with the game-winner, giving the Sultanes a 3-games-to-1 advantage.

The series (and Tijuana’s season) ended last Friday as Monterrey completed the sweep with a 12-11 home win with a sellout crowd of 21,000 fans in the stands. After allowing four runs over the first three games, the Sultanes pitching basically took the night off as a Junior Lake solo homer in the top of the ninth gave the Toros an 11-9 lead. Former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney took the mound in the bottom of the inning and was one out away from the save after getting the first two Sultanes.

As anyone who’s followed Rodney’s career knows, however, two outs are never enough as the 45-year-old righty (second to Monterrey’s Neftali Feliz with 22 saves in the regular season) then gave up singles to Nunez and Jose Cardona and walked Elizalde to load the bases. Rodney then walked Almonte to score Nunez, making it an 11-10 Tijuana lead, then gave up a single to Mendoza to plate Cardona with the tying run and Elizalde with the game winner in what could well have been Fernando’s last pitch in Tijuana togs, given the capricious nature of Toros owner Alberto Uribe. Uribe may also be wondering why manager Homar Rojas left a struggling Rodney in to face Mendoza while leaving Struck, a successful long-time reliever in Mexico until last year who hadn’t pitched for four nights, in the bullpen. Managers have been fired for less in Tijuana.

With the win, the Sultanes will be well-rested when they seek the franchise’s eleventh pennant since 1943 and their second under Kelly, who took them to a title in 2018. The Serie del Rey is scheduled to open Friday night.

MEXICO CITY TO HOST TWO MLB GAMES IN 2023

The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants will meet in a two-game series at Mexico City’s Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City on April 29 and 30 next year. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association made the announcement last week. The games, which will serve as Padres home games, will represent the first-ever regular season series played in Mexico City. In 2016, the Padres hosted Houston in a two-game exhibition series at Fray Nano Stadium in Mexico City.  

The Mexican Series games next April mark the fourth time the Padres have traveled to Mexico for regular season games: They’ve also been a part of three MLB visits to Monterrey, including a three-games series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, the 1999 season-opener against the Colorado Rockies and a three-game series against the New York Mets in 1996.  These games will be the first games in Mexico for the San Francisco Giants in their long history. In 2004, they traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a three-game regular season series against the Montreal Expos, who played part of their home schedule at Estadio Hiram Bithorn that season prior to moving to Washington a year later.

“The Padres are excited to return to Mexico and play in the first regular season series in Mexico City in MLB history,” said San Diego CEO Erik Greupner. “We are fortunate to have a loyal and passionate fan base in Mexico, and it will be an honor to showcase our team in Mexico’s capital city at the beautiful new ballpark built by and named after Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú.”

“It will be an honor to represent Major League Baseball, as well as San Francisco, at historic Mexico City for the first time ever,” said Giants President and CEO Larry Baer. “We look forward to bringing the Giants and Padres rivalry to a passionate sports fan base and it will be a great opportunity to introduce the Giants to an international audience to further develop new fans across all of Mexico.”

SULTANES ONE WIN FROM SERIE DEL REY, LMB SOUTH TIED AT 1-1

Does this picture really need a caption?

The Monterrey Sultanes stand one game away from a berth in the Serie del Rey (Series of Kings) after winning the first three games of their Mexican League North Division Championship Series over Monclova.  Monterrey is seeking their tenth LMB pennant since the team's 1939 inception while the Acereros are chasing Monclova's first Liga flag.  The two teams have met nine times in the playoffs, with Monterrey winning eight of them while Sutanes skipper Roberto Kelly is trying to outmanage his Monclova counterpart, Pedro Mere, for a LMB North title a second time this year (Mere was dugout boss in Tijuana in the Spring season).

Monterrey opened the series last Thursday with a 4-3 win in Monclova as Yadir Drake belted a tiebreaking solo homer in the top of the ninth and Sultanes closer Wirfin Obispo struck out Cade Gotta swinging in the bottom of the frame to close out the game and earn the save.  Setup man Nick Struck pitched a scoreless eighth to qualify for the win while Zack Segovia (who gave up the Drake longball) took the loss for the Acereros.  Monterrey leadoff hitter Julio Borbon had three hits, including a solo homer off Monclova starter Andre Rienzo.  Erick Aybar singled and socked a solo homer for the Acereros.

A two-run roundtripper by two-time LMB home run champion Felix Perez gave Monterrey a 5-3 lead in Game Two's third inning as the Sultanes went on to score twice more in the top of the fourth (courtesy of a two-run Borbon bomb) and sail to a 7-3 win Friday.  Monclova ace Josh Lowey had an uncharacteristic bad outing, giving up seven runs on as many hits (including homers by Perez, Borbon and Agustin Murillo on a solo blast in the top of the first) in four innings to earn the loss.  Darin Downs struck out four Acereros batsmen in 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the win.  The game took over five hours to complete (including a two-hour rain delay), ending after 12:30 in the morning.

Returning home with a 2-0 advantage, the Sultanes added to Monclova owner Gerardo Benavides' misery by topping his Acereros again on Sunday, 8-6, as 15,758 watched at Estadio Monterrey (a total of 17,000 fans attended the first two games at 11,000-seat Estadio Monclova).  No late heroics required in this one either, as Monterrey built an 8-0 lead after three innings and coasted to the win.  Jose Amador and Ramiro Pena homered for the Sultanes while Drake sent his second ball to the streets in three games with a three-run dinger (Amador's also rang up three on the scoreboard).   Monterrey starter Edgar Gonzalez faded after a strong start but stayed ahead long enough for the win despite overall so-so numbers of four runs on eight hits in five innings as the Acereros fought back to within two runs by game's end.  Rienzo, who had a terrific regular season for Monclova but has struggled in two outings against Monterrey in this series, took the loss after allowing Amador's three-run longball in the first inning (the only one he would pitch, it turned out).  If the Acereros lose this series, what will Mere's job running the team with a volatile owner ike Benavides be worth?

Monterrey outlasted Tijuana in seven games to advance past the first round, with that series ended by a 4-3 win on the road last Tuesday as the Sultanes survived two Jorge Cantu homers and a late surge by the Toros in the form of a two-run bottom of the ninth off Obispo, who continued to struggle a bit before getting Jose Guadalupe Chavez on a swinging strikeout with tying run Dustin Martin standing on second to end the game (and Tijuana's season with the Toros' second consecutive LMB North finals loss in 2018).  Monclova had the LMB's best record in the fall season before eliminating Dos Laredos in the opening round to advance to the LMB North finals.

The Sultanes will try to close out the series at home Monday night (and will host Game Five as well, if needed, on Tuesday).
 

GUERREROS BOP DIABLOS TO KNOT LMB SOUTH FINALS AT 1-1

Yuniesky Betancourt saluting his fans in Yucatan

Yuniesky Betancourt went 4-for-6 with two homers and three RBIs as his Oaxaca Guerreros manhandled their "big brother" Mexico City Diablos, 13-3,  in Sunday's rain-delayed Game Two of the Mexican League South Division Championship Series afternoon in front of 5,425 at a packed Estadio Fray Nano in the nation's capital.  The win evened the series at one game apiece.

Betancourt, who brought attention to himself in less glorious fashion after a first-round game last week (more on that later), put the Guerreros ahead 1-0 in the top of the first with a two-out solo homer off Diablos' starter Patrick Johnson on Saturday.  The hosts fought back and carried a rain-delayed 3-1 lead into Sunday before Oaxaca regained the nod with four runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by Julian Ornelas' two-run single.  The Warriors never looked back and Betancourt's two-run homer in the ninth capped the scoring.  Irwin Delgado took the Game Two win after five innings in relief on Sunday, giving up three runs, while Gonzalo Sanudo absorbed the loss for Mexico City. 

The Diablos won the series opener Friday, 8-6, before 5,842 aficionados as Mexico City fans are finally coming out to support their 16-time champions, who drew an average gathering of 2,613 attendance per opening during the regular season (11th in the Liga).  Red Devils shortstop Juan Carlos Gamboa gave the home fans something to cheer about with a fourth-inning grand slam off Oaxaca starter Jose Medina, erasing a 4-0 Guerreros lead with one swing.  A Michael Choice double later in the same frame plated David Vidal with the go-ahead run, but the visitors reclaimed the advantage with two runs in the top of the fifth, including Henry Urrutia's leadoff homer against Diablos starter Octavio Acosta.  Mexico City took the lead back for good in the bottom of the fifth when Vidal singled Luis Jimenez in with the tying run and later scoring the eventual game-winner on an Emmanuel Avila groundout.  Arturo Lopez retired two batters in relief for the Diablos and was given the win for short work while Axel Rios took the loss for Oaxaca.

The Diablos advanced to the LMB South title set by eliminating Puebla in the first round, 4 games to 1, wrapping up the series last Sunday.  Defending champion Yucatan stretched Oaxaca to a seventh game before the Guerreros prevailed, 5-2, in extra innings last Thursday in Merida as Jay Austin capped a three-run top of the eleventh with a two-run homer.  After the game, Betancourt (who played for the Leones last year) waved to some of his former Yucatan fans but failed to raise his thumb and three of his remaining four fingers in the effort.  Maybe he was tired.

Game Three of the LMB South title set is slated for Tuesday at Oaxaca's Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos.  The current Diablos-Guerreros series has created some controversy simply from its makeup.  Billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu owns both teams, something allowed in Mexican baseball, and the relationship is somewhat similar to that of the New York Yankees and Kansas City A's in the late Fifties and early Sixties...if that relationship seemed almost incestuous, this one would bring a Child Protective Services caseworker rapping at the door with sheriff's deputy in tow.  Harp, who has reportedly been angered by the LMB rulings against his Diablos in both the Rookiegate scandal and the upholding of slugger Japhet Amador's suspension in Japan (see below), is in a can't-lose position since ONE of his teams will reach the Serie del Rey.  Even then, he loses because if Mexico City wins, they were SUPPOSED to while if the Guerreros advance, that means "suspended" (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) Diablos GM Francisco "Pollo" Minjares loaded the wrong team.


NPB RATIFIES AMADOR SUSPENSION, SIX-MONTH BAN UPHELD

DH Japhet Amador is expected back in Jalisco

Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball has ratified the six-month suspension handed to Mexican slugger Japhet Amador on August 9 after the Rakuten Golden Eagles designated hitter tested positive for chlorthalidone and furosemide, both banned substances that can serve as "masking agents" for performance-enhancing drugs.  The Eagles appealed the suspension on August 22, the last day an appeal could be filed before a deadline passed, and the NPB eventually ratified its initial decision.

Amador tested positive after giving a urine sample following a June 13 interleague game against the Chunichi Dragons at home in Sendai.  The 6'4" "El Gigante de Mulege" first offered testimony at a July 30 hearing, saying he'd never knowingly take a banned substance but declining to appeal the test results, and gave another explanation on September 4.  The NPB ratification was handed down Friday and marks the fifth time that Japanese baseball's governing body has suspended a player for doping since drug testing was introduced in 2007; Amador's suspension is the first since 2011.

The massive Amador was hitting .269 with 20 homers over 62 Pacific League games this summer when abdominal pain sidelined him on July 3, according to the Mainichi website in Tokyo, after a slow start that saw Amador shipped to the minors for a short spell.  In three seasons with the Eagles, he's batted .250 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 222 games.  Amador came to Japan following a banner year in Mexico, beginning with a Mexican League MVP season for Mexico City after hitting .346 with an LMB-leading 41 homers over 103 contests and culminating in a winterball season in Jalisco, where he hit .288 with another 14 homers over 58 games before signing with Rakuten and heading to Japan, missing the Mexican Pacific League playoffs.

The Mexican League chose to honor Amador's regular season ban, preventing him from playing for the Diablos Rojos this summer. Diego Alejandro Reos of Informador.mx says Amador is expected to report to the Guadalajara team for training camp this Thursday, as per Charros' GM Ray Padilla.  "It's very important to have him from the start," Padilla said, "and more because he'll come to take 20 days of training and that'll be great for us.  He'll surely get into a good rhythm and help us a lot from the first game."  Regarding Amador's NPB ban, Padilla offered this (translated) quote: "These are situations that are foreign to us, to our organization, so we cannot comment at this time.

"It is benefitting us instead of harming us.  If he made a mistake he will show his face, but in no way does it affect us."