THUNDER STRUCK: CANEROS WIN MEX PAC PENNANT

Los Mochis RHP Nick Struck

    A superb performance by pitchers Nick Struck and Fabian Cota and a bases-loaded double by Most Valuable Player Yasmany Tomas on Saturday keyed a 5-0 Los Mochis win at home over Guasave to give the Caneros a 4-games-to-2 Mexican Pacific League championship series win, the fourth pennant since the city's entry into winterball in 1947 and the first since 2002-03. In winning the flag, the Caneros will represent Mexico at the 2023 Caribbean Series beginning Thursday in Venezuela.

    The 33-year-old Struck began the winterball season in the Dominican Republic before joining the Caneros in December for five starts, going 1-2 but turning in a sparkling 1.64 ERA. A two-time Cubs organizational All-Star as a farmhand, the Oregon native native is now 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in five postseason starts after limiting the Algodoneros to a first-inning single by Jesse Castillo over seven innings of work, striking out four and throwing 61 strikes in 93 pitches. Cota, who represented Oaxaca in last summer's Mexican League All-Star Game, took over in the eighth and held Guasave scoreless on one hit over the last two frames to close out the title-winning game.

    Tomas gave the Caneros all the runs they'd need with a two-out, three-run double off Cottoneers starter Jeff Kinley in the bottom of the third to send the sellout crowd of 11,770 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada into a paroxysm of joy one day after chaos erupted outside the ballpark when fans stampeded the team office to buy tickets for Game Six. Los Mochis added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth when Isaac Rodriguez scored on Rudy Amador's sacrifice fly and a Fernando Villegas single plated Roberto “Tito” Valenzuela. Kinley took the loss and was charged for all five Caneros runs on eight hits before being yanked following Valenzuela's one-out single in the fifth.

    Juan Uriarte was named MVP of the championship series after batting .410 (10-for-21) with a homer, six RBIs and three runs scored for first-year manager Jose Moreno's Caneros. Thousands of Los Mochis fans celebrated the team's championship after the game and a parade through the streets of downtown was scheduled for Monday at 3:00PM local time.

    The team will travel to Caracas, Venezuela in preparation for their first Caribbean Series game against Dominican champion Licey at noon Thursday in the first-ever game at Estadio La Rinconada, a new 36,500-ballpark being inaugurated during the Serie del Caribe. The facility will be hostile to right-handed power hitters, given its dimensions of 442 feet to the center field wall and 351 feet to left, although the right-field foul line is a more approachable 338 feet away from home plate. Estadio La Rinconada has taken ten years for construction, indicative of Venezuela's unsteady economy.

    Los Mochis held off Guasave in the series opener, 9-6, on Saturday, January 21 behind Uriarte's three hits and four RBIs (including a three-run homer); then won a Game Two thriller the following night by a 3-2 count as Amador launched a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Caneros a 2-games-to-0 lead before the two teams traveled to Guasave for three midweek games.

    The Algodoneros bounced back with a 10-0 home thrashing over Los Mochis at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon on Tuesday, January 24. Guasave starter Matt Poberyko dominated the visitors over six innings as the LMP strikeout king allowed just one Uriarte single and one walk while striking out nine, including Justin Dean for his final out in the sixth.

Los Mochis fans celebrating LMP title

    Conversely, the Cottoneers sent Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda to the showers with one out in the third after the Caneros opener let in five runs on seven hits and two walks. Guasave scored in each of the first four innings to enter the fifth with a 5-0 advantage and continued pulling away thereafter. Jesse Castillo had a triple and homer, scoring twice and driving in two runs for the winners while Alejandro Ortiz singled and tripled in two at-bats to score two times and drive in two more counters.

    Los Mochis bounced back with a 4-1 Game Four win Wednesday, January 24 to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the series. The Caneros took a 2-0 lead right out the gate in the top of the first on RBI singles from Valenzuela and Uriarte, but Guasave cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth when Joey Terdoslavich singled in Castillo. That would be all the scoring that night for the Algodoneros, however, as an RBI one-bagger by Amador in the top of the fifth gave Los Mochis their two-run lead back and Edgar Robles' solo homer to right off Cottoneers starter Geno Encino on a full count one inning later gave the Caneros their final margin of victory.

    Starting pitcher Darel Torres took the win for the visitors by tossing five innings of one-run ball and scattering three hits. Reliever Cota, who was awarded the Game One win out of the bullpen, followed Torres and contributed 3.1 frames of two-hit scoreless pitching. Encina was saddled with the loss after being touched for four runs (three earned) over 5.2 entradas before being pulled following Robles' roundtripper in the sixth.

    Game Five on Thursday, January 26 in Guasave began as a pitcher's duel between Los Mochis' Manny Barreda and Nico Tellache of the Algodoneros. The two teams traded zeros through four innings until a two-out Amador single up the middle off Tellache plated Valenzuela with the game's first run to give the Caneros a 1-0 lead. Guasave's Castillo erased that edge with one swing in the bottom of the sixth, launching a 2-1 Barreda over the right field wall for a solo homer to tie the tilt at one run apiece. The score remained knotted at 1-1 as Tellache was replaced after six innings by reliever Rafael Cordova and Barreda was lifted for 40-year-old veteran Tomas Solis two outs into the bottom of the seventh.

    Solis got the final out and after a scoreless top of the eighth for the Caneros, Los Mochis skipper Jose Moreno brought Daniel Duarte (who made his MLB debut for the Reds last summer) in from the bullpen. Duarte got the first two outs but his 1-1 delivery to Julian Ornelas was sent sailing over the right field wall for a homer to put Guasave up 2-1. Algodoneros closer Brandon Koch, who gave up two ninth-inning homers in their Game Two loss to the Caneros, came in and held the visitors scoreless on 13 pitches to end the game, cutting Los Mochis' series lead to 3-games-to-2 and bringing Guasave within a game of tying up the finals, which moved to Los Mochis for Saturday's Game Six.


FIELD NEARLY SET FOR 65th SERIE DEL CARIBE

Caracas' new Estadio La Rinconada

    The competition has almost been set for the start of this week's Caribbean Series as eight winterball national champions will converge on the greater Caracas, Venezuela region, where four games will be played for seven days at two ballparks, followed by two semifinal contests on Thursday, February 9 and the championship game Friday, February 10. Seven of the pennant-winners had been determined by the end of the weekend, with only the title series between Caracas and La Guaira for the host Venezuelan League title still in doubt. The Leones lead by a 3-games-to-2 margin.

    Curacao will send a team for the first time while Cuba is back after a two-year ban to join holdovers Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Colombia's Barranquilla Caimanes won last year's title in Santo Domingo after teams from that nation had been winless over the two previous Caribbean Series, their first after entering the competition in 2020.

    The Caimanes topped Dominican champions Cibao, 4-1, in the title game as this season's Reliever of the Year in the Mexican Pacific League for Mazatlan, Elkin Alcala, earned the victory. Surprisingly, only one Colombia, player, first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez (who spent this winter in Mexicali), was named to the CS Dream Team along with Barranquilla manager Jose Mosquera. The lone player from Mex Pac champion Jalisco to make the team was outfielder Felix Perez, who was a teammate of Alcala's in Mazatlan in 2022-23.

    Here is a list of the eight national champions who will be battling for Serie del Caribe supremacy this year:

COLOMBIA – Monteria Vaqueros (Won second LPB title since 2019 formation; went 0-5 in 2020 Caribbean Series in San Juan, including 5-4 loss to eventual champ Este Toros)
CUBA – Bayamo Agricultores (Combined team of Las Tunas and Granma players from Cuban National Series, now a summer league, won first Elite League championship)
CURACAO – Willemstad Wildcats KJ74 (Have won last three Curacao National Championship AA League pennants and 17 overall since 1975; Dutch League affiliate)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Licey Tigres (Debuted in 1907; 23 LiDom pennants and 10 Caribbean Series; alumni include Bob Gibson, Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez)
MEXICO – Los Mochis Caneros (First pennant in 20 years, seeking initial CS title; past Caneros include Aurelio Rodriguez, Jose Valverde and Andres Mora)
PANAMA – Chiriqui Federales (Went 16-4, beat Bocas Atlanticos in playoff to win flag; won twice at 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan despite canceled regular season)
PUERTO RICO – Mayaguez Indios (19 pennants, 2 Caribbean Series crowns; Denny McLain, Lance Parrish, Luke Easter and Dave McNally played for Mayaguez)
VENEZUELA – TBD (Caracas Leones beat LaGuaira Tiburones, 7-2, Saturday to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in LVBP championship series; Game 6 set for Monday in Caracas)

MEXICO FALLS TO NUMBER 5 IN WBSC RANKINGS

    The World Baseball and Softball Confederation has revealed the end-of-the-year World Rankings for men's baseball with Japan leading' the way (a position it has held since 2014) with 4,179 points to top a list of 81 baseball programs worldwide. Mexico fell one slot from fourth to fifth place after the United States jumped two places into third in the rankings, which measure National Team performances from U-12 to the top level in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period. The end-of-the-year rankings reflect the expiration of all points earned in 2018.

    Japan and Taiwan (3,819 points) retained the top two positions in the rankings while the United States became the baseball program which improved the most among the top 10 thanks to its title triumphs at the WBSC's U-12, U-15 and U-18 Baseball World Cups last year to move from fifth to third position with 3,449 points.

    South Korea and Mexico both dropped a position and rank now fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Venezuela, the Netherlands and Cuba. The latter three programs each gained one place. With their 7th place ranking, the Netherlands lead the European programs. The Dominican Republic lost three positions and is now in ninth while Australia remained stable in rounding out the Top Ten.

    Positions from 11 to 20 are split between American and European programs. Puerto Rico is now at number 13, gaining three places to became the most improved of the baseball programs in the Top 20. Canada (14th) and Nicaragua (17th) both lost two positions. Seven of the nations with winter champions competing at next month's Caribbean Series in Venezuela finished among the top 13 in the rankings. The eighth participant, Curacao (playing in their first Serie del Caribe) ranks 33rd in the world, representing a leap of eleven slots from the last rankings released.

    Nicaragua has sought to send its winterball champion to the tournament for the past few years and is ranked 16 places higher than Curacao but has never been invited by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, led since 1991 by Dominican commissioner Juan Francisco Puello. A communist government headed by Daniel Ortega has been cited as the reason for Nicaragua's exclusion by Puello, who has been more forgiving of Cuba and its own one-party communist rule since 1959 as initial Elite League champions Bayamo are expected to be in Caracas later this week.

HIRED, FIRED, REHIRED: GIL'S MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

Past, present Culiacan manager Benji Gil

    Benji Gil had a most interesting month in November, even by Mexican baseball standards. First, the former Rangers and Angels infielder was picked to manage Mexico in next year's World Baseball Classic. Then he was fired as manager of the Mexican Pacific League's Culiacan Tomateros, only to be reinstated and back in the dugout within hours of being sacked. Even for someone like Gil, as voluble as he is volatile, that's a head-spinning series of events. Ready? Here we go...

    After leading Mexico to a sixth-place finish at last year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Gil will manage the Verdes Grande at the World Baseball Classic 2023. The 50-year-old Gil served as a coach with the Los Angeles Angels last summer under managers Joe Maddon and Phil Nevin after managing Guadalajara's expansion team in the Mexican League in 2021, earning Manager of the Year honors that season. As a player, Gil participated in the World Baseball Classic 2006. He played eight MLB seasons as a utility infielder and was on the 2002 World Series-winning Los Angeles Angels roster.

    "Benji Gil is a winner," commented National Team general manager Rodrigo Lopez, a starting pitcher and Gil teammate for Mexico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. "As a player, he is on the list of World Series winners; as a manager, he's shown leadership, attitude and passion. He is fluent in English and Spanish and knows the Mexican Leagues as well as the Big Leagues."

    Ranked fourth in the world, Mexico will compete in Group C of the WBC and face host USA (ranked fifth), Colombia (#11), Canada (#12) and Great Britain (#23) in Phoenix from March 11 through 15 next year. So far, so good but as November drew to a close, things got weird.

    First, he was fired last Monday as helmsman in Culiacan, where he had managed the Tomateros to four pennants (but no Caribbean Series titles) in six winters. However, the team had a cumulative 16-25 record this current season, including a last-place finish in the first half with 14 wins over 35 contests. Bench coach Noe Munoz was also let go as the team's board of directors issued the usual thanks for professionalism to both as the door was hitting them on the way out. While MLB fans may be shocked over the dismissal of a manager who had been one win away from a fifth pennant since 2014 last season, as Culiacan lost the LMP championship series to Jalisco in seven contests last January, it's a common occurance south of the border. What happened next, though, is a bit rarer.

    In officially announcing the ouster of both Gil and Munoz last Tuesday at noon, a press release from the team stated that Tomateros bullpen coach and former pitching star Francisco Campos (who also manages Campeche in the Mexican League) would be Gil's replacement in the dugout beginning with that night's home game against Guasave. This brought an immediate response from the Culiacan players, who let the board know in no uncertain terms during an impromptu meeting that afternoon that they supported their deposed skipper. After the meeting ended, it was announced by Campos himself (alongside sports manager Mario Valdez) that both Gil and Munoz would be back that night.

    "Upon arriving at the stadium, the boys approached me and told me that it's nothing against me, that I shouldn't take it in that way, but they wanted to talk to Benjamín to let him know that they want him to return," said Campos, who remains as bullpen coach.

    "They asked for an opportunity to show that they can make a difference and that they can make positive results to obtain victories, they wanted Benjamin to return, Mr. Héctor (Ley, executive president) said that they should talk to him and if I accepted, go ahead."

    The Tomateros indeed went ahead and split their first six games after Gil's reprieve.


NARANJEROS WIN, PULL ONE GAME AHEAD OF LOS MOCHIS

Monterrey OF Roberto Valenzuela

    With just over three weeks remaining in the Mexican Pacific League's regular season schedule, there has not been a lot of separation between teams twelve games into the second-half standings. Los Mochis was in the driver's seat a week ago but first-half champion Hermosillo was never far behind and the two teams found themselves in a tie for first on Saturday before the Naranjeros pulled into a one-game lead by virtue of their 12-5 win at home over Monterrey while the Caneros dropped a 5-1 decision to visiting Jalisco Sunday.

    The Orangemen had to overcome an early 3-0 deficit after Ricardo Serrano socked a three-run homer off starter Jose Samayoa in the top of the first, but knotted the game up at 3-3 in the bottom of the frame, thanks in part to a two-run roundtripper by Luis Alfonso Cruz off Sultanes opener Frank Duncan.

    The two teams went back and for the the next few innings and the score was 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth when Cruz singled in Jasson Atondo and Scott Schebler scored on a fielding error by Monterrey second baseman Alberto Carreon to make it a 7-5 game. A five-run outburst in the eighth put the game away for Hermosillo as Ramon Mendoza stroked an RBI double and Cesar Salazar, Roberto Ramos (who'd homered earlier) and Atondo chipped in with run-scoring singles to end the scoring as 11,395 spectators watched at Estadio Sonora.

    Hermosillo now leads the LMP second half with a 9-3 record, just ahead of 8-4 Los Mochis. The Caneros fell at home to Jalisco Sunday, 5-1, as Julian Ornelas scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to give the Charros a 1-0 lead that they'd build to 5-0 until Brayan Mendoza plated the Caneros' lone run of the night on a Justin Dean single. Ornelas went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, adding a two-run homer off reliever Daniel Duarte in the top of the seventh.

    Jalisco starter Brennan Bernardino and four relievers scattered 10 hits and four walks as Los Mochis went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 on base. Nick Struck did not pitch badly for the Caneros, allowing one earned run on three hits in four innings, but his offense just couldn't put together enough support.

    Just off the Mex Pac pace are Mexicali and Obregon, who are tied for third with identical 7-5 records. The Aguilas lost a tough 6-5 game in Navojoa Sunday after trailing 6-0 heading into the seventh. Reynaldo Rodriguez (a former twins farmhand) just missed hitting for the cycle, delivering a double, triple and two-run homer for Mexicali. Likewise, Obregon fell a game back by losing on the road in Guasave, 4-2, Sunday. The Yaquis could only gather seven hits, two by Victor Mendoza, as Nico Tellache won his fifth for the Algodoneros.

    Tellache is one of five pitchers tied for second in wins in the LMP, one behind the six of Hermosillo's Wilmer Rios. Rios has won five games in a row with one no-decision since November 4, lowering his ERA from 7.84 to 2.24 in his last eight starts. Los Mochis' Luis Miranda, who'd given up one earned run in his first seven starts, allowed four against Jalisco last Friday and saw his ERA jump from 0.20 to 0.92 but that still leads the Mex Pac. Juan Pablo Oramas of Hermosillo is second at 1.28 while Mazatlan's Casey Harman's 1.83 ranks third. Two strikeouts separate the three league leaders as the 50 K's of Matt Pobereyko (Guasave) and Manny Barreda (Culiacan) lead the 48 by Luis Payan (Navojoa). Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala has recorded three saves since the start of December to bring his season total to 15, three more than the 12 each of Josh Leuke (Jalisco) and Brandon Koch (Guasave).

    Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela saw his batting average drop from .380 to .363 over his last six games but he still enjoys a comfortable lead over Justin Dean (.339) and Yosmany Tomas (.330), both of Los Mochis. Mexicali's Anthony Giansanti belted a homer against Mazatlan last Tuesday to pull into a lead with Jesse Castillo of Guasave at 10 apiece. Obregon's Sebastian Valle is third with eight dingers. The Caneros' Tomas now leads in RBIs with 37, ahead of Obregon teammates Victor Mendoza (36) and Yadir Drake (35). A nice race in stolen bases (so to speak) has developed between Randy Romero of Mazatlan and Hermosillo's Jose Cardona, who have 18 and 17 swipes, respectively. Justin Dean (Los Mochis) and Jared Oliva (Monterrey) are tied with 14 each.


LIM: YUCATAN SOUTH CHAMP; MONCLOVA, PUEBLA IN FINALS

Puebla LIM P Hector Sepulveda

    In restructuring the Mexican Winter League for a second season after its revival last winter, the Mexican League created a somewhat-unwieldy circuit with ten teams representing 14 LMB clubs (including four combined squads) spread out over three divisions: Monclova, Monterrey and Union Laguna in the North; Mexico City/Oaxaca, Veracruz/Leon and Puebla in the Central; and Durango, Yucatan, Tabasco/Guadalajara and Tijuana/Aguascalientes in the South.

    The format made for uneven scheduling and at least one team sitting out every day during the regular season between October 12 and November 28. Teams in the LIM North and Central played 24 games each while LIM South clubs, all playing in Yucatan towns, took the field 28 times. It was determined at one time that the South Division playoff winner would serve as a stand-alone champion among their larger group of teams while North and Central playoff winners would meet in the Serie del Principe for the nominal LIM championship, which was won by Monclova last winter.

    Yucatan earned the LIM South title by defeating the combined Tijuana/Aguascalientes club in three playoff games, including last Thursday's 7-6 win in Uman. Leones starter Cesar Cervantes pitched seven innings to earn the win while closer Anhuar Garcia got the save. Garcia was the LIM's leader in salvados during the regular season. Toros prospect Porfirio Guerrero was tagged with the loss.

    "I'm very happy and very proud of the boys,” said Leones sports manager Santos Hernandez. “We're sure that they will continue to show great capacity for this sport and I'm very grateful to all those fans who have been supporting these future stars from day one."

    Meanwhile, Monclova and Puebla have already begun their Serie del Principe rematch from last season, which was won by the Acereros in dramatic fashion on Shawon Dunston, Junior's walkoff homer in the bottom of the tenth in the fifth and deciding game. Monclova is managed by Matias Carrillo while Hector Hurtado, who spent 22 seasons as a catcher in the Mexican League, is dugout boss for the Pericos, who he led to an LIM-best 16-7-1 record during the regular season.

    The first two games took place in Estadio Monclova, where Puebla won Saturday's opener in a 2-1 pitcher's duel. Pericos starter Hector Sepulveda contributed five shutout inning to earn the win while Parakeets reliever Jose Hernandez sparkled by striking out all five Acereros batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings. Puebla took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Herman Alvarado's RBI single and the visitors added a run in the eighth on a run-scoring one-bagger by Giancarlo Servin. With runners at the corners and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, the Acereros pulled off a double steal that brought Evan Carrillo home from third to break the shutout bid and narrow Puebla's lead to one. That was as good as it would get as Caleb Perez ultimately grounded to Luis Medina at third for the final out.

MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE Final 2022 Standings
North: Monclova 14-8-2, Monterrey 10-12-2, Union Laguna 9-13-2.
Central: Puebla 16-7-1, Mexico City/Oaxaca 14-10-0, Veracruz/Leon 5-18-1.
South: Yucatan 14-10-2, Tijuana/Aguascalientes 15-11-1, Tabasco/Guadalajara 12-12-2, Durango 9-17-1.

LMB REGULAR SEASON ENDS: TJ, DIABLOS TOP SEEDS

Mexico City OF Julian Ornelas

The Mexican League’s 2022 regular season came to a close Sunday as defending champion Tijuana finished one game ahead of Dos Laredos (59-27) to finish in first place in the Northern Division with an Liga-best 62-28 record. The Mexico City Diablos Rojos similarly outlasted Tabasco in the LMB South at 50-34, three games up on the 47-37 Olmecas. 

Those four teams will be joined by eight more in the postseason, beginning with three games Tuesday night involving the six qualifying LMB North teams. The six LMB South playoff teams will open their respective first round series Wednesday night. Monterrey (51-39) will be in Monclova (54-31) for an 8:35ET contest Tuesday, Dos Laredos hosts Union Laguna (48-40) at the same time and Tijuana welcomes Aguascalientes (42-46) at 10:35ET.

On Wednesday, the LMB South first round begins as Mexico City will host ancient rival Veracruz (41-48), the Quintana Roo Tigres (44-48) play Tabasco in Macuspana and Yucatan (46-43) will be at Puebla (48-39). The LMB will use the “lucky loser” system employed for decades during the Mexican Pacific League’s winterball season, in which all three series winners advance to their division semifinals along with the team that fared the best in losing their opening round matchup.

The Toros closed out their 90-game schedule Sunday with a 13-4 drubbing of Laguna on the road at Torreon’s historic Estadio Revolucion. Felix Perez cracked a pair of homers while starter Arturo Reyes tossed five innings and allowed just one run on an Alan Cordoba RBI single in the bottom of the first that gave the Algodoneros a 1-0 lead. 

The Toros roared back with six runs in the second, keyed by a 2-run Junior Lake double off Laguna reliever Josh Lueke, who allowed all six counters on five hits, one walk and an error by Cordoba at third base. The Bulls lead stretched to 9-1 in the top of the seventh as the defending champs never looked back. The Tijuana win rendered Dos Laredos’ 4-1 win over Aguascalientes in Nuevo Laredo moot. The Tecolotes got homers from Kennys Vargas and Arturo Rodriguez in support of a great start from Gabino Avalos (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R) in 100-degree heat at Parque La Junta. 

Meanwhile, Mexico City doubled up, 14-7, on little sister Oaxaca Sunday in front of 11,509 fans at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in the nation’s capital. The Guerreros jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first but the Diablos came back with big innings of five runs in the third, four in the fourth and five more in the seventh to wear down the Oaxaca pitchers. Leadoff hitter Julian Ornelas had a banner day for the Red Devils, going 4-for-6 with four RBIs, including a pair of two-run homers. Moises Gutierrez, Alejandro Gonzalez and Emmanuel Avila combined for nine of Mexico City’s 18 hits, scoring eight runs and driving in two more. Bryan Araiza crushed a three-run homer for the Guerreros in the fourth while former Diablos center fielder Carlos Figueroa was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs for Oaxaca.

Tabasco topped Puebla, 9-6, Sunday to edge out the Pericos by one-and-a half games for second place in the LMB South. Puebla had built a 5-1 lead, thanks in part to Peter O’Brien’s two-run homer in the top of the second, but the Olmecas took the lead with six runs in the sixth frame as both Edwin Garcia and Herlis Rodriguez stroked two-run doubles to stake reliever Francisco Moreno a 7-6 lead. Maikel Serrano’s two-run homer to left made it a three-run Tabasco advantage and the Olmecas held on for the win as 4,750 looked on at Estadio Angel Toledo Meza in Macuspana, their temporary home while Villahermosa’s Parque Centenario 27 de Febrero undergoes a major facelift 34 miles away.

ROSARIO WINS HR, RBI TITLES; MENDEZ (7-0) COPS ERA CROWN

Saltillo OF Rainel Rosario

Although Saltillo slugger Rainel Rosario fell short in his bid for the Mexican League Triple Crown after contending in all three categories, the 33-year-old Dominican outfielder still tied for the home run crown, won the RBI title and finished tenth in the batting race. He was one of the few bright spots in a disappointing season for the Saraperos, who finished five games behind Aguascalientes for the sixth and final LMB North playoff slot.

Rosario, a former Cardinals farmhand who spent 2014 and 2105 in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp, tied Tijuana’s Felix Perez for the lead in homers with 38 each (a good total for a 90-day schedule). Rosario and Perez were 1-2 in the RBI race, ending the campaign with 116 and 109 ribbies, respectively. 

Rosario also finished seventh in the batting race as his Saltillo teammate, Cuban-born first baseman Henry Urrutia, won the batting title with a .420 average, ahead of Durango’s Alberth Martinez (.416) and Tabasco’s Roel Santo (.411). A second Durango player, Alfredo Lopez, rounded out the quartet of .400 hitters with a .404 average of his own. Urrutia, who hit .350 over five years for La Tunas in the Cuban National Series before defecting in 2010, has never hit below .361 in four years playing in the Mexican League.

Quintana Roo outfielder Tito Polo led the circuit with 35 stolen bases in 44 attempts, one more swipe than Cade Gotta of Dos Laredos. Longtime Yokohama outfielder Tomo Otosaka made a successful conversion to Mexico after eight years in NPB by batting .367 and finishing third with 26 steals while splitting the season with Leon and Saltillo. The Saraperos hit .316 as a team with 154 homers, but their collective 7.67 ERA doomed them to their seventh-place finish at 38-52.

Saltillo was hardly the only LMB team with pitching woes. Batting averages were a combined .304 league-wide as 10 of 18 teams finished at .300 or better (with Durango topping the list at .341). Conversely, Mexican League pitchers allowed 6.11 earned runs per game, with Leon bringing up the rear at 8.62. Even so, there were some solid individual performers among all the mound carnage in 2022. Monterrey starter Yohander Mendez, a Texas Rangers hurler between 2016-19, was awarded the ERA title after turning in a sparkling 2.78 mark over 15 starts and 74.1 innings en route to a 7-0 record for the Sultanes. 

Longtime Tijuana starter Carlos Hernandez, working out of the bullpen this summer, was one of eight pitchers with eight wins at 8-0, but the wins title was shared at nine apiece by Veracruz reliever Luis Marquez (9-1) and Monclova starter Wilmer Rios (9-4), the latter tossing a pair of shutouts and three complete games (both best in the Liga). Marquez had an excellent year with a 2.38 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 53 innings for the Aguilas. Just three starters finished with 100 or more strikeouts in the shortened schedule: Quintana Roo’s Pedro Fernandez (103), Tijuana veteran Manny Barreda (102) and another vet, Erick Leal of Aguascalients (100).

The saves crown went to Monterrey closer Neftali Perez, who was the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year for the Texas Rangers and selected to that year’s MLB All-Star Game. Perez, in his first Mexican League season after spending all or part of 10 campaigns in the big leagues, finished with 24 saves to beat another former MLBer, Tijuana’s Fernando Rodney, by two salvados.

TOROS WIN ATTENDANCE DERBY; LMB DRAWS 3.56 MILLION

Estadio Nacional, Tijuana

It’s become commonplace for the Tijuana Toros to finish at or near the top of the Mexican League attendance tables and 2022 was no exception. While the Uribe family has sometimes made what could charitably called capricious decisions in running their franchise in the border city, there’s no question that they’ve made the right moves in bringing fans into Estadio Nacional consistently over the years.

The recently-concluded regular season showed the defending champions with both the best record in the LMB at 62-28 and the most backsides in the stands at 453,961 clicking the turnstiles at their 17,000-seat ballpark, an average of 10,088 that was the highest in all of minor league baseball this year. The Yucatan Leones, always a strong draw in Merida over the decades, finished second with 440,165 attending games in their fortieth season at Parque Kukulkan.

Overall, a total of 3,564,524 people went to 792 Mexican League games during the regular season, an average of 4,501 per opening. The numbers represent an increase in average attendance from 2021. Crowds went up 2,015 per opening over last year, a gain of 81 percent over the previous average of 2,486. Overall attendance naturally took an upward spike after the schedule was increased from 66 to 90 games per team. Still, it’s hard not to be impressed with the LMB more than doubling their total attendance of 1,446,929 in 2021, the circuit’s first year back as a fully-independent loop after more than seven decades as a member of Minor League Baseball.

The hike in league-wide numbers does not hide the fact that several, if not most, of the 18 Mexican League franchises are struggling financially, some mightily. Although five teams averaged over 5,000 per game in attendance (with Monterrey, Saltillo and Mexico City joining Tijuana and Yucatan at the top of the derby), another five clubs drew fewer than 100,000 over an average of 44 home games. Tabasco (81,656), Guadalajara (78,910), Aguascalientes (74,606), Oaxaca (71,916) and Durango (70,771) drew fewer attendees combined than Tijuana, Yucatan and Monterrey each did alone while averaging just over 1,700 per opening.

IT'S MONTERREY, OAXACA IN FALL SERIE DEL REY

The Oaxaca Guerreros continued their unlikely postseason surge by defeating the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, 8-4, Sunday in the nation's capital to clinch the Mexican League's South Division Championship Series, 4 games to 2.  The Guerreros move on to the Serie del Rey title set against the Monterrey Sultanes, starting Tuesday night at Estadio Monterrey.

Oaxaca barely qualified for the Fall 2018 postseason after finishing fifth in the LMB South with a 26-30 record, one game behind 26-28 Leon.  That margin was close enough to force a single play-in against the Bravos in Leon.  The Guerreros won that contest and went on to eliminate defending Liga champion Yucatan in seven games in the opening round to set up the division title series with sister club Mexico City (both teams are owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu).  After knocking the Diablos out, the Guerreros will now seek their second LMB pennant, the first coming 20 years ago under manager Nelson Barrera in the team's third season in the Liga since Harp led a group of investors in purchasing the Jalisco Charros following the 1995 season and moving the franchise to Oaxaca.  The Warriors have not won a division title since until now.  Manager Sergio Gastelum took the reins from former skipper Joe Alvarez in the middle of the fall campaign and while the team continued to struggle the rest of the regular season, Gastelum has them playing well at the right time.

The Guerreros will face a Monterrey team that reached the Serie del Rey in the Spring season, losing to Yucatan to fall short of winning the Sultanes' tenth pennant.  Monterrey finished the regular season with a 34-23 record, good enough for third place in the LMB North under first-year manager Roberto Kelly, who turned 50 on October 1.  Like Oaxaca, the Sultanes were stretched to a seventh game in the first round before defeating rival Tijuana to move on to the division championships against Monclova.  Monterrey had an easier time of it against the first-place Acereros, who had the Liga's best regular-season record with a 42-14 mark to win the top seed by seven games over second-place Tijuana (35-21).  The Sultanes knocked off Monclova in five games to reach the Serie del Rey for the second time in the calendar year, a record that will stand for some time to come now that the LMB is abandoning its two-season format in 2019 after one year.

Monterrey swept Oaxaca in three games at home in July (the only time the two teams have met in either 2018 season) and is likely favored to win their first pennant since 2007, but anything can happen in a seven-game series and Oaxaca has defeated two good teams to reach this point.

FALL 2018 SERIE DEL REY SCHEDULE
Game 1:  Tuesday, October 2 (8:30pm ET) - Oaxaca at Monterrey
Game 2:  Wednesday, October 3 (8:30pm ET) - Oaxaca at Monterrey
Game 3:  Friday, October 5 (8:30pm ET) - Monterrey at Oaxaca
Game 4:  Saturday, October 6 (8:30pm ET) - Monterrey at Oaxaca
Game 5:  Sunday, October 7 (5:00pm ET) - Monterrey at Oaxaca*
Game 6:  Tuesday, October 9 (8:30pm ET) - Oaxaca at Monterrey*
Game 7:  Wednesday, October 10 (8:30pm ET) - Oaxaca at Monterrey*
*-if necessary


GUERREROS, ORNELAS KNOCK OUT DIABLOS WITH 8-4 WIN

Oaxaca Guerreros celebrating LMB South title

The Oaxaca Guerreros overcame a midgame 3-1 deficit by scoring a combined seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, 8-4, Saturday night in front of an overflow crowd of 6,400 at Estadio Fray Nano in Mexico City.  The win gave the Warriors a 4-games-to-2 win in the LMB South championship to punch their ticket to the Serie del Rey against Monterrey.

The Diablos drew first blood with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Juan Carlos Gamboa lined a single up the middle off the glove of Oaxaca starting pitcher Irwin Delgado to plate speedster Carlos Figueroa from second with the game's first run.  David Vidal singled Gamboa to second and both runners crossed the plate on a Luis Jimenez triple to put Delgado and the Guerreros in an early hole.  Henry Urrutia got one run back for the visitors by belting a leadoff homer in the top of the second but Mexico City's 3-1 advantage held until the sixth, when the Guerreros pasted Diablos starter Patrick Johnson and three relievers for four runs on as many hits.  The key blows were back-to-back doubles by Dustin Geiger and Julian Ornelas, the latter a liner to center that drove in Yuniesky Betancourt and Geiger with the go-ahead tallies.

Mexico City came back with a run in the bottom of the sixth Gamboa singled to right off reliever Samuel Zazueta to bring Jesus Fabela motoring in from second to cut Oaxaca's advantage to one run, but that was as close as the Diablos would get the rest of the game.  The Guerreros scored three more times in the top of the seventh as Ornelas contributed a two-run single off David Reyes to bring the score to 8-4.  From that point, relievers Erick Casillas, Rodolfo Aguilar and Carlos Felix blanked to hosts over the final three entradas to seal the win for the Guerreros, with Felix inducing pinch-hitter Ivan Terrazas to ground out to Betancourt at second to end the series in the bottom of the ninth.  Ornelas went 3-for-3 for Oaxaca with four RBIs as reliever Ozzie Mendez got the win.  Johnson absorbed the defeat for the Diablos.

The series was tied at a game apiece before Oaxaca topped Mexico City, 10-3, last Tuesday behind Jay Austin's double and triple with two runs scored and two more driven in.  The Diablos came back Wednesday with a 9-4 win at Oaxaca to tie the series back up as Vidal broke the game up with a bases-loaded triple in the top of the sixth to give the visitors an 8-3 lead.  Vidal was thrown out at the plate trying to complete a rare inside-the-park grand slam by Guerreros rightfielder Alan Sanchez but the damage was already done.  One night later, Oaxaca took the series lead with a 2-1 victory behind the four-hit pitching of starter Jose Medina (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R) and three relievers.  Attendance has been traditionally moribund at Guerreros home games but a combined 18,000+ fans clicked the turnstiles at Parque Eduardo Vasconcelos at the three games in Oaxaca before the series shifted to Mexico City for Saturday's fateful Game Six.

And now the Guerreros, led by manager Sergio Gastelum, who had never managed an LMB team prior to August 7, are four wins away from hoisting their second pennant in 23 years (and first since 1998).  Gastelum had been managing Ensenada in the Northern Mexico League when he was brought in to replaced the fired Joe Alvarez on August 7 and went 12-14 with Oaxaca the rest of the regular season. The postseason has thus far gone a trifle better for Gastelum and the Guerreros.


SULTANES BREEZE PAST MONCLOVA, SEEK TENTH LIGA FLAG

Monterrey Sultanes RF Yadir Drake

Monterrey had a surprisingly easy time of it against Monclova after surviving a seven-game first-round battle with Tijuana to reach the LMN North Championship Series.  The Acereros had dominated the Fall season with a Liga-best 42-12 record (including a 4-2 mark against the Sultanes) and were a favorite to win their city's first-ever pennant heading into the playoffs and did nothing to dispel that by eliminating Dos Laredos, 4 games to 1, in the opening round.

However, the Sultanes were able to exploit Monclova's lack of pitching depth to rack up 32 runs over the final four contests of the LMB North championship series to pull away with a 4-games-to-1 win over the Acereros and vault into the Serie del Rey against Oaxaca.  The set opened with a relatively normal 4-3 Monterrey win on September 20 in Monclova before the Sultanes bats heated up with a 7-3 triumph at Estadio Monclova on September 21.  After the series moved to Monterrey, the Sultanes made it a 3-games-to-0 advantage September 23 and while the Acereros bounced back last Monday with a 9-8 win in Game Four (thanks in no small part to a seven-run fifth inning highlighted by a Juan Perez grand slam and a solo blast Jesus Arredondo), it seemed only a matter of time until Monterrey eliminated the top seed to move on to the Serie del Ray while endangering Monclova manager Pedro Mere's job with volatile owner Gerardo Benvides' Acereros in the bargain.

That shoe finally fell last Tuesday, with the Sultanes delivering the coup de grace to Monclova's season with a 9-5 win at Estadio Monterrey with 18,202 onlookers in the stands.  This time the big inning belonged to the Sultanes, who were trailing 5-3 before plating five runs in the bottom of the seventh.  Yadir Drake's two-run homer keyed the outburst as Mere sent four pitchers to the mound that inning as Monterrey put six hits on the board.  Besides Drake's bomb, Felix Perez had a run-scoring double, Chris Roberson drove in a run with a single before coming in on Drake's longball and Ramon Rios doubled before scoring on an Ali Solis single as all nine batters in the Sultanes' order came to the plate.  Perez launched a solo homer off yet another Monclova reliever, veteran Mauricio Lara, in the eighth to put the game and series out of reach for the visitors.  Lara was the eighth hurler used by Mere in the contest, with the loss going to Arturo Barradas, who served up Drake's homer.  The win went to Sultanes reliever Nick Struck, who gave up two runs in two frames but had the good fortune of being on the hill for Monterrey before the Sultanes went on their five-run tear in the seventh.  Roberson and Agustin Murillo each had three of Monterrey's 15 hits on the night as the Sultanes batted .320 for the series.

And now the Sultanes move on in search of the franchise's sixth title since 1962 and Monterrey's tenth Mexican League pennant since 1943 (the first four won by the old Industriales under manager Lazaro Salazar, including three in a row between 1947 and 1949).