YAQUIS WIN LMP FIRST HALF, EARN 10 PLAYOFF POINTS

Obregon players celebrate their 10-point first half

Despite dropping the final two games of a midweek series in Culiacan to wrap up the first half of the schedule, the Obregon Yaquis were able to hold on to first place in the Mexican Pacific League at the midway point of the season and pick up the ten playoff points accompanying their finish.  Obregon opened the set with a 4-3 win over the Tomateros last Tuesday as Carlos Sepulveda singled twice and drove in a pair of runs while starter Carlos De Leon allowed two runs on as many hits over five innings on the mound to go to 3-0 on the season.  Although Culiacan came back to win on Wednesday and Thursday, the visiting Yaquis finished the stanza with a 22-13 record to outlast second-place Hermosillo (21-13) by a half-game while Jalisco ended a game back in third at 21-14.

With two new franchises in the MexPac this season, the loops playoff points system has changed from past seasons.  Where first-place finishers used to earn eight points per half, now the top team is awarded ten points while the second-place club picks up nine points.  Eight points now go to the third-place team as the old points system is applied to the rest of the teams, with last-place Navojoa (11-23) coming away with just 3.5 points.  Points accrued over the two halves of the season determine seeding for January's LMP playoffs, which will now include the top eight teams (meaning the former "lucky loser" system, where the team with the most wins in a first-round loss still advanced to the semifinals,  has been shelved).

Speaking of Navojoa, the Mayos have named longtime MexPac manager Lorenzo Bundy as their new skipper.  Veteran catcher Adan Munoz was fired November 6 after leading the Mayos to a 6-14 record in his first season at the helm.  Pitching coach Hector Heredia filled in for the rest of the first half and fared a little better, turning in a 5-6 mark before Bundy's arrival last Monday.  Bundy is no stranger to Navojoa, having led the Mayos to their second (and most recent) LMP pennant in 1999-2000 when they swept Hermosillo in the title series.  Navojoa was swept in Mazatlan to start off their new era under the 60-year-old Philadelphia native, who has managed seven teams in the MexPac over his career, but the Mayos recently activated Red Sox hurler Hector Velazquez (the MexPac's 2016-17 Pitcher of the Year) and outfielder Juan Perez, who hit .335 with 11 homers and 12 steals for Monclova and Aguascalientes in the Mexican League last summer, so Bundy will have two more tools at his disposal along with outfielder Alonzo Harris, third baseman Christian Zazueta and infielder Jovan Rosa.  Harris, who had a banner summer with Quintana Roo, is expected to improve his current .242 batting average.

Lorenzo Bundy managed Navojoa's last title team

Los Mochis outfielder Noel Cuevas is leading the LMP in batting with a .371 average, twenty points ahead of Jalisco speedster Carlos Figueroa.  Monterrey's Michael Choice has 10 homers to top the circuit, one more than Stephen Cardullo of Jalisco and Culiacan's Sebastian Elizalde.  Choice's 27 RBIs ties him for second with two other players behind the 28 of Jalisco's Dariel Alvarez.  Rico Noel of Culiacan is 16-of-19 in stolen base attempts and leads the MexPac in swipes while teammate Elizalde is second with 12 steals.

Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis is 6-1 for the Caneros (who have a 16-20 overall record) to lead the league in wins, two more than five pitchers with four victories apiece.  Mexicali's Jon van Meter is only 1-2 after sevens starts for the Aguilas but his 1.86 ERA tops the loop ahead of the 1.91 of Navojoa's Raul Carrillo while Obregon's Arturo Lopez and Juan Pablo Oramas of Hermosillo are tied for the lead in strikeouts with 40 each.  Hermosillo's Trey McNutt tops the table with ten saves and the holds leader is Monterrey reliever Nick Struck with 10.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Final 2019-20 First Half Standings
Obregon 22-13 (10.0 points), Hermosillo 21-13 (9.0), Jalisco (21-14 (8.0), Culiacan (19-16 (7.0), Monterrey (18-17 (6.0), Mazatlan 17-18 (5.5), Los Mochis 15-20 (5.0), Guasave 15-20 (4.5), Mexicali 15-20 (4.0), Navojoa 11-23 (3.5).


CASTRO TO MANAGE MEXICO IN 2020 OLYMPICS

Sweeping Group A and then qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics by finishing third in this month's World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament was enough for Mexico manager Juan Gabriel Castro to keep his job for the Olympics in Tokyo nest summer.  It's been quite a month for the retired infielder, who spend 17 seasons playing in the majors.  While managing the Verdes Grande in the Premier12, he was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as a coach for the 2020 campaign under new manager Joe Girardi.  Now it's on to Japan and managing Mexico's first Olympic baseball team, assuming the Phils allow him to leave the team for the Olympics, which will take place between July 24 and August 9 next year.

Although Mexico was defeated by Japan and South Korea in the Premier12 Super Round after winning all three of their Group A games in Guadalajara and topping Taiwan and Australia in the second stage, their win over the United States in the Bronze Medal game at the Tokyo Dome punched their ticket to the Olympics as the highest-placing team from the Americas in the Premier12.  "Our thought in this tournament was to be champions," Castro told Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso.  "We did not succeed and we are left with that little thorn, but I think that Mexico has the possibility of winning the gold medal in the Olympic Games.  I'm proud to have been present, to be part of the history of the Mexican National Team in the Olympics...I hope it is a big step for the Mexican baseball team to continue growing, keep improving."

Castro told Pereyra that he regretted questions about members of the national team who have dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States, an issue he said generated annoyance not only among the player but their families as well.  "I gave them a personal example," explained Castro, who was born in Los Mochis in 1952.  "My children were born in the United States.  They are American by birth, but they are also Mexican...My oldest son was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico bus I think he feels more Mexican than me. He even just had an Emiliano Zapata tattoo on his arm.  I think that was a reason for the boys to feel more proud and give extra for the team, and I'm very proud of them."  Castro stressed that he still down know what the process will be for putting together an Olympic team, noting that while he was able to carry 28 players for the Premier 12, he'll be limited to a 24-man roster in Tokyo.

Mexican players after Olympics-clinching win

Mexico is one of four teams to clinch a berth in the Olympic field, which will consist of just six nations in 2020.  Japan automatically qualified as host team, South Korea earned their slot by reaching the Premier12 title game against the Baseball Samurai and Israel (like Mexico) will make their Olympic baseball debut after a surprise win in September's Europe/Asia qualifying tournament in Italy.  Israel and The Netherlands tied for the lead in the round-robin tourney with identical 4-1 records and earned the nod by virtue of their 8-1 win over the Dutchmen on September 19 in Parma.  The final two berths will be determined at an Americas qualifier in Arizona next March and a Final qualifying Tournament in Taiwan next April.  The Olympics will consist of a 16-game schedule with two round-robin pools followed by a rather convoluted double-elimination bracket.


2020 CARIBBEAN SERIES SCHEDULE IN PUERTO RICO SET

San Juan's Bithorn Stadium to host 2020 CS

The Caribbean Series will return to Puerto Rico next February and the schedule for the six-team field had been announced.  Panama returns to the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball after being a surprise winner last winter as a late entry, meaning the event will feature five days of round-robin tripleheaders between February 1 and 5, followed by a pair of semifinal games on February 6 and the championship game on February 7.  Colombia and Nicaragua were expected to join the competition this winter, bringing the number of nations involved to eight, but their entry will apparently be delayed at least one season.

Puerto Rico last hosted the Caribbean Series in 2015, when Cuba's first CS entry since 1960, the Pinar del Rio Vegueros, went 3-3 in the first round before winning the title.  San Juan's 18,264-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium (home of the defending Roberto Clemente League champion Santurce Cangrejeros) will host the event.  The venue served as "home" field for the MLB Montreal Expos for 22 games in both 2003 and 2004 before the Expos were moved to Washington and renamed the Nationals in 2005 and has also hosted World Baseball Classic group play in 2006 and 2013.  A number of Major League exhibition games have been played at the facility, which was opened in 1963 and received a major overhaul prior to the Expos' two-year stint there.

The Serie del Caribe will mark the first large-scale baseball event to be staged in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September 2017.  The storm resulted in over three thousand fatalities and over US$90 billion in damages, from which the country is still recovering in many areas.  The host Roberto Clemente League, which dates to 1938, was struggling financially for several years prior to Hurricane Maria, which exacerbated things to the point that the LBPRC was limited to a one-month schedule of daytime games in 2017-18 with only four teams.  The adverse conditions did not prevent the Caguas Criollos from repeating as league and Caribbean Series champions that winter.

Tickets for the 2020 Serie del Caribe range in price from US$7.50 to US$56.00 and are on sale at the Ticketpop.com website.

2020 CARIBBEAN SERIES SCHEDULE
Saturday, February 1:  Cuba vs. Venezuela (10:00AM), Mexico vs. Dominican Republic (2:30PM), Panama vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Sunday, February 2:  Cuba vs. Panama (11:00AM), Puerto Rico vs. Mexico (3:30PM), Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela (8:30PM).
Monday, February 3:  Panama vs. Mexico (10:00AM), Dominican Republic vs. Cuba (2:30PM), Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela (8:00PM).
Tuesday, February 4:  Dominican Republic vs. Panama (10:00AM), Mexico vs. Venezuela (3:30P), Cuba vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Wednesday, February 5:  Panama vs. Venezuela (8:00AM), Cuba vs. Mexico (2:30PM), Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Thursday, February 6:  Semifinal 1 (2:30PM), Semifinal 2 (8:00PM).
Friday, February 7:  Championship Game (8:00PM).

All games played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico.  All times local.

CULIACAN WINS FIRST-HALF TITLE, 8 PLAYOFF POINTS

Culiacan Tomateros manager Robinson Cancel

Although defending Mexican Pacific League champion Culiacan lost their final game of the first half, 5-3, at Hermosillo last Thursday, the Tomateros had already clinched first place and the accompanying eight playoff points by then.  The defeat gave Culiacan a final record of 21-14 for the half, three games ahead of Hermosillo, Mazatlan and Obregon (who all finished 18-17) while Mexicali and Navojoa tied for fifth at 17-17.  Los Mochis and Jalisco were tied for seventh with 15-20 marks to round out the standings.

The first-half crown marked a turnaround of sorts for the Tomateros, who were 8-10 when first-year manager Lorenzo Bundy was fired on November 3.  Bundy, a Philadelphia native whose long winterball career has seen him manage almost every MexPac franchise (including a long stint in Hermosillo prior to this season), never really got into a groove with his new team and was replaced by former MLB catcher Robinson Cancel, who led Culiacan to a 13-4 record the rest of the way.  Cancel was joined in the dugout by one-time Padres infielder Oscar Robles, who was jettisoned as Obregon skipper on October 24 and later hired by the Tomateros as a coach.  

Even though the first six weeks of their season was certainly a success, the Tomateros haven't been resting on their laurels.  The late-ending Mexican League season led to the LMP expanding the number of foreign players allowed per team to 12, but that number has dropped to 8 for the second half as domestic talent has begun filtering west after receiving postseason rests after their Liga seasons concluded.  Culiacan has added first baseman Joey Meneses (the International League MVP who signed with Japan's Orix Buffaloes for next year), outfielder Sebastian Elizalde, ex-Yankees infielder Ramiro Pena and pitcher Romario Gil, the Mexican League's Rookie of the Year since November started.  In fact, the MexPac's second half is expected to be as hard-fought as the first as all eight teams are loading up on Mexican talent while picking and choosing which imports best fit their plans for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.

Hermosillo third baseman Jasson Atondo has hit .415 over his past ten games to take over the LMP batting race with a .377 average.  The 23-year-old Atondo has played sparingly for the Naranjeros the past three winters while serving as a backup infielder for the Campeche Piratas since 2015.  He was expected to fill a similar role again for the Orangemen until former Padres infielder Ryan Schimpf left the team in October after just two games.  Schimpf, outfielder Bryce Brentz and pitcher Reed Garrett were reportedly sent packing October 24 after failing to show up for a road trip to Culiacan that week.  While Atondo adds little power to manager Bronswell Patrick's lineup (36 of his 40 hits have been singles), he's been consistent at getting on base while committing just one error in 18 games at the hot corner.

Another third baseman, Navojoa's Jovan Rosa, socked a homer against Mazatlan last Thursday to take the LMP lead with eight roundtrippers, one more than Jalisco's Manny Rodriguez (whose 29 RBIs rank tops in the circuit).  Rosa's Mayos teammate, Alonzo Harris, has a commanding lead in stolen bases with 17 in 20 attempts, leading Culiacan's Rico Noel by four swipes.  Mazatlan pitcher Konner Wade was finally knocked from the unbeaten ranks when he took a 3-0 loss in Navojoa last Tuesday, but his 5-1 record still gives him the MexPac lead in wins among pitchers (eleven pitchers are tied for second with three victories) while Wade's 2.43 ERA ties him for second with Hermosillo's Arturo Reyes and Jamie Lugo of Navojoa, behind the 2.11 mark of Jalisco hurler Elian Leyva.  Mexicali veteran Javier Solano struck out four Jalisco batsmen last Friday in a no-decision to bring his season total to 39 whiffs in 47.1 innings pitched.  Culiacan closer Casey Coleman earned three saves last week, giving him 14 for the winter (two more than Navojoa's Jesus Pirela).

FINAL LMP FIRST HALF STANDINGS: Culiacan 21-14 (8.0 points), Mazatlan 18-17 (7.0), Hermosillo 18-17 (6.0), Obregon 18-17 (5.0), Mexicali 17-17 (4.5), Navojoa 17-17 (4.0), Jalisco 15-20 (3.5), Los Mochis 15-20 (3.0).


MONCLOVA'S PEGUERO NAMED LMB FALL 2018 MVP

Fall MVP Francisco Peguero of Monclova

Monclova Acereros outfielder Francisco Peguero has been named Most Valuable Player for the Mexican League's Fall 2018 season.  Since making his pro debut at 18 in 2006 with the Giants' Domincan Summer League affiliate, Peguero had fashioned a decent minor league career as a .300-level hitter with good speed and some gap power and had a couple short stints with San Francisco in 2012 and 2013 before making his LMB debut with Quintana Roo in 2015, when he hit .294 with 16 homers in 98 games.  He went to Monclova in 2016 and had a .311 season at the plate with 15 more homers but was released the following February.

Peguero then went to Japan, playing with the Toyama Thunderbirds of the independent Challenge League in 2017 and doing well enough to sign a deal with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League, but was released on June 29 after playing 50 games for the Marines' minor league team.  The 30-year-old Dominican signed the same day with Monclova and went on to post a strong Fall season with a .368 average augmented by 13 homers and 60 RBIs for the Acereros in 52 games and playing errorless ball defensively in left field.  Although the Steelers once again failed to win a pennant after a stellar regular season, Peguero's performance was good enough to garner MVP honors.  Teammate Jesse Castillo won the Spring MVP crown after a .376/13/57 campaign over 57 contests.

Yet another Acereros performer, Josh Lowey, was named Pitcher of the Year for all of 2018.  Arguably the best pitcher in the Mexican League the past five years, Lowey posted a combined 14-5 record with a 3.12 ERA and 133 strikeouts over 144 innings for Monclova.  Nicknamed El Alcalde (or "The Mayor") by Monclova fans, the soon-to-turn-34 Floridian pitched independent ball for six seasons before coming to the Liga in 2014, where he's compiled a 55-24 overall record with a 2.97 ERA in the hitter-friendly LMB, striking out 655 batters in 640.1 innings.  Lowey is currently pitching for Escogido of the Dominican League, where he has a 4-2 mark and 2.78 ERA in six starts for the Leones.

Three other pitchers garnered 2018 LMB honors.  Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo was selected Relier of the Year after going a combined 5-3 with 24 saves in 52 appearances for Fall champion Monterrey.  Obispo had a sub-3.00 ERA both seasons for the Sultanes (2.54 overall) and now has 74 saves over three years with the team after splitting the previous ten summers with mostly AAA teams for four MLB organizations with a couple stints in Japan thrown in.  

Left-hander Romario Gil was chosen Rookie of the Year after the Culican native (who turned 24 in September) went a combined 6-2 with a 3.01 ERA in 17 starts for Puebla in 2018.  Although Gil cooled down with a 2-2 Fall mark for the Pericos after going 4-0 and 2.47 in the Spring season, he's expected to be one of the first players chosen in next month's dispersal draft when players from the former Puebla, Aguascalientes, Union Laguna and Leon teams are made available to the remaining 12 Liga teams for 2019.  

Dos Laredos hurler Jose Oyervides is the 2018 Comeback Player of the Year.  A former Padres and Astros farmhand who made his Mexican League debut with Reynosa in 2009, the 36-year-old Oyervides has pitched in five LMB All-Star Games since 2010 for Nuevo Laredo, Laguna and Monclova.  A Laredo product, the 5'11" righty came out of a short retirement this year but was released by the Acereros after only winning one game with an 11.25 ERA in the Spring season.  He then went 4-1 and 3.29 in 12 starts for his hometown Tecolotes in the Fall after being assigned to Dos Laredos the same day he was released by the Steelers. 

First-year Monterrey pilot Roberto Kelly was named Manager of the Year after leading the Sultanes to the Fall pennant, their first since 2007.  Taking the reins from former big league shortstop Felix Fermin last winter, the former Yankees outfielder rebuilt the underachieving Sultanes (who routinely played well in the regular season but fell short in the playoffs) into a team that relied as much on pitching, defense and aggressive baserunning as hitting prowess.  Kelly replaced players he didn't think fit the image he wanted and brought in the ones who did. While Monterrey stayed true to form by finishing first in the LMB North last Spring with a 37-20 record but losing to Tijuana in the division finals, they went 34-23 in the Fall to come in third before topping Tijuana, Monclova and Oaxaca in the postseason to win the city's tenth Mexican League championship.

The LMB also named their Dream Team for both 2018 seasons.  One notable omission was Jesse Castillo, the Monclova third baseman who was the Spring MVP before a creditable Fall en route to a combined .351/17/100 in 108 contests.  Instead, the Liga gave the nod to Monterrey veteran Agustin Murillo, who went a combined .317/16/70 for the Sultanes and played well in the clutch during the fall playoffs.

2018 MEXICAN LEAGUE DREAM TEAM

SP-Josh Lowey, Monclova

RP-Wirfin Obispo, Monterrey

C-Ali Solis, Monterrey

1B-Felix Perez, Aguascalientes-Monterrey

2B-Isaac Rodriguez, Tijuana

3B-Agustin Murillo, Monterrey

SS-Jose Guadalupe Chavez,Tijuana

LF-Francisco Peguero, Monclova

CF-Cedric Hunter, Leon

RF-Yeison Ascencio, Mexico City

DH-Luis Juarez, Yucatan 

CHANGES IN DURANGO: OJEDA, CARRILLO GONE

Ex-Durango team president Miguel Ojeda (center)

In a surprising development, the Mexican League's Durango Generales have parted ways with both team co-owner Miguel Ojeda and manager Matias Carrillo.  While the second-year franchise missed the playoffs twice in 2018, attendance at Generales home games averaged over 3,000 per game to rank in the top half for both mini-seasons and it was believed that the presence of both Ojeda in the front office and Carrillo in the dugout gave the team a stability that was lacking during their chaotic first season in  2017.

Ojeda signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh in 1993 and went on to play in Major League Baseball as a catcher between 2003 and 2006, including three seasons with San Diego, hitting .224 with 15 homers in 212 games.  His best year was in 2004, when he batted .256 with eight homers in 62 games for the Padres.  The Guaymas product wound up spending 20 seasons in pro ball before retiring after a 2012 season in which he hit .256 with Quintana Roo over 99 games.  He then went into managing and led the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (for whom he played from 1995 to 2003) to the 2014 LMB pennant, turning in a 70-42 regular season record before winning 12 of 14 games over three playoff series.

Ojeda was one of a group of investors to buy the financially-plagued Generales last February, serving as team president along with a seat on the team's board of directors.  Ojeda has sold his shares in the team to the remaining ownership group and will reportedly return to Mexico City to serve as the Diablos' general manager in 2019.

Outgoiong Durango manager Matias Carrillo

The man Ojeda brought to manage Durango when Joe Alvarez was let go after taking the club to a 24-33 record in the Spring 2018 season, Matias Carrillo, will not be back in the Generales dugout next year. Team GM Francisco Lizarraga was quoted in Durango's El Siglio earlier this month that Carrillo does not enter into their plans for 2019.  "We have not talked to him," said Lizarraga.  "Today he is still our manager because we have not yet decided who we are going to bring in, but it is more likely that we will change our manager."  The Generales have already signed Ricardo Osuna as pitching coach next year and are looking over candidates to take over for Carrillo as helmsman.

Like Ojeda, Carrillo had a short major league playing career, batting .251 without a homer in 107 games for Milwaukee and Florida between 1991 and 1994.  His Mexican League career was far more successful as "El Coyote" spent 20 his 28 professional seasons with the Mexican League's Tigres franchise in Mexico City, Puebla and Quintana Roo after spending 1982 and 1983 with Poza Rica.  Carrillo hit .335 with 2,484 hits in his 22-year Liga career, belting 325 homers and driving in 1,526 runs and was a member of five LMB championship teams as a player before retiring as a player following the 2009 season.  He later managed Quintana Roo to the 2011 Serie del Rey title by sweeping their longtime rival Mexico City Diablos in four straight games.

Since then, however, Carrillo's career has taken the twists and turns typically seen south of the border, although some remain inexplicable.  After another LMB South title in 2012, he was fired by Tigres owner Carlos Peralta for "poor performance" with two weeks left in the 2013 regular season and the Cancun club holding a 55-43 record.  He was quickly hired by Yucatan and led the Leones for the final 12 games of the regular season but felt the axe one month into the 2014 campaign after winning just 8 of Yucatan's first 26 games.  Carrillo's next job was another pit stop, this time joining Tijuana shortly after his ouster in Merida.  Taking over a Toros team that was 18-23, Carrillo led the borderites to a 37-35 record the rest of the way but was sent packing after Tijuana failed to reach the postseason.  

Carrillo's strangest firing may have come in Puebla, where he was hired during the 2015 season and managed the Pericos to a 38-38 record, getting the okay from owner Gerardo Benavides for the following year.  However, after leading Puebla to an LMB-best 38-15 record going into the 2016 All-Star Break, he was canned in favor of ex-MLB infielder Cory Snyder, who went on to take the squad to the pennant.  His winterball managerial resume has been no less nomadic, as he's led four different teams, mostly successfully.  Carrillo was the Mexican Pacific League Manager of the Year with Guasave in 2010-11, took Hermosillo to a Caribbean Series title in 2014 and won another Manager of the Year award with Navojoa in 2016-17, three months before being sent packing by Mayos owner Victor Cuevas.

THE AXEMAN COMETH: THREE LMP SKIPPERS FIRED

Former Obregon manager Oscar Robles

Baseball Mexico readers for any length of time will be familiar with what we lovingly call the Mexican Managerial Merry-Go-Round, in which baseball managers south of the border are hired and fired with almost alarming frequency.  It’s something that didn’t happen as much last summer in the Mexican League, where most firings happened in early July between that league’s two seasons, but the Mexican Pacific League appears bent on making up for it.  No less than three LMP skippers had already been dismissed before three weeks of the regular season schedule had been completed.

The first to go was Obregon’s first-year manager Oscar Robles, who was given his walking papers on October 24 just nine games into the 2018-19 season (during which the Yaquis went 3-6).  Obregon was in last place at the time of the former MLB infielder’s dismissal, a little early for the panic button to be pressed but the Yaquis’ board of directors proved themselves up to the task.  Robles was a late arrival in Obregon due to his managerial duties with the Tijuana Toros during the LMB’s Fall season in which his team stretched eventual champion Monterrey to a seventh game in their first-round playoff series before a season-ending 4-3 loss on September 17.  Robles has been replaced on an interim basis in Obregon by Sergio Gastelum, a longtime former infielder who managed Oaxaca to a surprising Serie del Rey appearance in October after he replaced Joe Alvarez (who is managing in Mazatlan...for now) at the Guerreros’ helm in August.

Next to feel the axe was another ex-MLB infielder, Luis Sojo, who was jettisoned as manager in Mexicali on Friday after his Aguilas were swept in a three-game series at Hermosillo to fall to 7-9 on the young season.  Sojo managed Los Mochis to an unexpected appearance in the MexPac finals in 2016-17 before losing to Mexicali but was fired by the Caneros during the season last winter. He had been tabbed during the offseason to replace Pedro Mere in Mexicali when Mere failed to lead the Aguilas to a second straight pennant in 2017-18 after taking over for the fired Roberto Vizcarra.  In one of those ironic twists seemingly only seen in Mexican baseball, Mere had led Tijuana to the Mexican League pennant in 2017 after replacing none other than one Luis Sojo. Mere lasted with the Toros through the Spring 2018 schedule before being canned in Tijuana and eventually replaced by Robles. Back to Mexicali: Sojo will be replaced in the Aguilas dugout by yet another former Major League infielder, Juan Castro (a former Los Angeles Dodgers coach whose misadventures earlier this year with the Toros have rated their own stories here).

One day after Sojo’s exit from Mexicali, Lorenzo Bundy was handed his walking papers in Culiacan after the defending champion Tomateros started the season with an 8-10 record.  Bundy has managed almost every MexPac team in several winters as a bench boss and it was thought his hiring in Culiacan would bring a calmer presence to the Tomateros dugout after replacing the successful but volatile Benji Gil (one more former MLB infielder...see a trend developing?) when Gil took the season off to devote more attention to his son Mateo’s first year in the St. Louis minor league system after the Cardinals took the 18-year-old in the third round of the June draft.  Instead, the Culiacan front office decided that three weeks was enough to warrant another change. In a break with this story’s tradition, the Tomateros hired a former MLB catcher, Robinson Cancel, to replace Bundy at the helm. The team also let go bench coach Noe Munoz, who spent 24 seasons as a catcher in the LMB (mostly with Saltillo), along with Bundy. Munoz’ replacement in Culiacan? Luis Sojo.

ARIZONAN WADE LEADS FIRST-PLACE VENADOS MOUND STAFF

Mazatlan pitcher Konner Wade

Although the Mazatlan Venados have the Mexican Pacific League's highest team batting average at .285, eleven points ahead of Jalisco's .274 mark, the port city franchise's reputation over the years has been built on pitching and this winter appears to be no different.  The Venados, who have shown little offensive power thus far in the 2018-19 campaign (their six homers over 19 games are tied with Obregon for last in the MexPac), also top the pitching stats with a sparkling 2.57 ERA, well ahead of Culiacan's 3.30 mark.

One of the biggest reasons Mazatlan was tied with Jalisco for first in the MexPac with identical 11-9 records has been newcomer Konner Wade, who has moved to the head of manager Joe Alvarez' mound staff.  The former University of Arizona ace led the Wildcats to a 2012 NCAA championship before signing with Colorado as a seventh-round draft pick one year later.   A 6'3" right-hander, Wade went 29-35 with a 4.03 ERA over five seasons in the Rockies system before pitching with Sugar Land, Texas of the independent Atlantic League this summer, turning in an 8-6 record and a 3.10 ERA in 27 outings (including 21 starts) for the Skeeters.  Wade was brought to Mazatlan this winter along with a Skeeters teammate, second baseman Anthony Giansanti, as one of the team's import players and the Scottsdale native has definitely had an impact thus far.

Wade tossed six scoreless innings in Saturday night's 6-0 Venados win in Mexicali, scattering three hits and walking one Aguilas batter while throwing 54 strikes in a tidy 77-pitch performance.  He earned the win to go to 3-0 in four starts, tying relievers Dalton Rodriguez of Mexicali and Jesus Anguamea of Obregon for the LMP lead in wins while lowering his MexPac best ERA to 1.31, ahead of Navojoa's Jaime Lugo (1.57) and Jalisco's Elian Leyva (1.93).  Frankie De La Cruz, who took Saturday's loss for the Aguilas, is tied with Wade's Mazatlan moundmate Jose Hernandez and James Russell of Culiacan for the lead in strikeouts with 22 each. Three relievers have six saves apiece for most in that category: Andres Avila (Los Mochis), Casey Coleman (Culiacan) and Grant Sides (Jalisco).  Avila, who was named the LMP Reliever of the Year in 2016-17 after tying a league record with 23 saves for the Caneros, is coming off a forgettable season last winter in which he only earned one save in 26 trips from the Los Mochis bullpen.

Navojoa second baseman Alonzo Harris is continuing his breakout winterball season with the Mayos by leading the league in several offensive categories, including batting (.418), on-base percentage (.488), on-base+slugging (1.114), hits (28), runs scored (24) and stolen bases (8 in 9 attempts).  Jalisco first baseman/DH Japhet Amador is tops in both homers (5) and RBIs (19) in his first action since last summer's suspension in Japan for the use of banned substances, a suspension that was appealed but upheld by Nippon Professional Baseball and carried over by the Mexican League after his return home from Sendai.

Los Mochis first baseman Saul Soto

Among  the four players trailing Amador with four roundtrippers each is venerable Los Mochis slugger Saul Soto, who played in his 16th Mexican League All-Star Game over the summer.  The 6'4" Soto, a 245-pounder who turned 40 in August, belted a pair of homers in a 6-1 Caneros win against Hermosillo Saturday to tie and pass Ronnie Camacho for sixth-place in LMP career homers with 140.  A Los Mochis native, Soto socked 14 homers over two Mexican League seasons this year to bring his LMB career total to 266 over 21 seasons for an overall number of 406 between the two leagues. He is just 42 hits away from 2,000 in Liga play en route to his potential selection to the Salon de la Fama, although the still-not-enshrined Matias Carrillo (an LMB career .336 average with 2,531 hits, including 330 homers) might caution Soto to not hold his breath.

MEXICO CITY'S NEW BALLPARK INCHES TOWARDS 2019 DEBUT

Mexico City owner Alfredo Harp Helu

The ongoing drama that has been the construction of Mexico City's new 15,746-seat ballpark may actually be nearing its conclusion.  The facility has been plagued by difficulties almost since ground was broken for it in late 2015, some of it brought about by last year's tragic earthquake in the region.  The countless delays have pushed back the Mexico City Diablos Rojos' relocation from tiny Parque Fray Nano several times from an original opening target of May 2017. However, it appears that there may finally be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and the Red Devils could in fact begin play at the start of the 2019 season.

Diablos owner Alfredo Harp Helu, who is privately financing the ballpark (which he is modestly naming after himself), recently toured the facility and was reportedly pleased by the progress he saw.  Harp was joined by team president Othon Diaz and a number of team board members as he traversed the stadium's exterior, including the stands, press and luxury boxes plus concessions areas. The group also went inside to take a look at the clubhouses, team offices and even the restrooms to gauge progress on the project.

The richest owner in Mexican baseball, with a fortune said to be worth over a billion dollars, Harp has come under fire for a number of things that have involved both his Diablos Rojos and their sister franchise, the Oaxaca Guerreros, with the Rookiegate imbroglio with the Quintana Roo Tigres being perhaps the most notable.  However, the cousin of tech magnate Carlos Slim (who Forbes magazine rated the world's wealthiest man between 2010 and 2013) has also been at the forefront of building a new Salon de la Fama for Mexican baseball in Monterrey after the former facility was shut down in 2012, leading to its treasures being boxed and placed in a storage unit until the new building opens next year.  

As well, the 74-year-old Harp has opened a baseball academy in Oaxaca and met with incoming Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (himself a huge baseball fan) in September to discuss creating more academies across the country for developing young ballplayers.  Harp is in a somewhat unique position in that while the LMB office reportedly supported Lopez Obrador's opponents in last summer's election, Harp was solidly behind the so-called AMLO and has the ear of Mexico's new president. Lopez Obrador was quoted on Mexico City's ADNpolitico's website as saying about Harp, "His foundation supports communities and promotes education, culture and sports; he likes baseball and is building a stadium in Mexico City.  He invited me to the inauguration and I accepted."

It’s not clear whether even a tentative date for that opener has been set.

LMB HONORS AMADOR'S NPB SUSPENSION FOR 2018

Japhet Amador during happier times in Mexico City

The Mexican League will recognize hulking slugger Japhet Amador's suspension from Japanese baseball by not allowing Amador to play over the remainder of the Liga's regular season and throughout the Fall playoffs.  Earlier this month, the Mulege Giant was ruled ineligible for six months from Nippon Professional Baseball after testing positive for chlorthalidone and furosemide, both banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).  Amador has said he plans to appeal the ruling.

There was speculation that the LMB would allow Amador to suit up for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, a flagship franchise who presently holds third place in the South Division with a 22-19 record and a likely postseason qualifier.  The Red Devils own Amador's Mexican League rights and billionaire majordomo Alfredo Harp Helu is the Liga's richest owner and a power among his peers.  However, last Thursday the LMB office in the nation's capital issued this Google-translated statement (with corrections for grammar only):

The Mexican Baseball League informs that it does not accept the movement by which the Meixco City Diablos Rojos sought the incorporation of Japhet Amador to their roster.  This is in support of the Japanese Baseball League (sic), which determined to suspend for six months after finding an adverse result in an anti-doping test for prohibited substances while playing for the Rakuten Golden Eagles team.

Amador tested positive for chlorthalidone and furosemide, according to a report by the Japanese League, chemical substances that are considered prohibited because they conceal the existence in the human body of other substances that improve physical performance.

The LMB promotes fair play and ethics on and off the field. Based on this premise, this decision was made. The league is still waiting for the investigation to end in the case of Japhet Amador.

The last time Amador played in Mexico City was in 2015, when he won MVP honors after batting .346 with 41 homers and 117 RBIs in 103 games. He'd certainly have provided a large boost to the Diablos, who beat Yucatan, 6-5, Sunday night at home on Daniel Jimenez' walkoff single that drove Jesus Fabela in from second with the winner.

The loss dropped Yucatan into second place at 24-18, a half-game behind 24-17 Puebla. The Pericos broke a tie with the Leones at the top of the standings by splitting a doubleheader in Campeche Sunday, losing the opener by a 3-2 count before winning the 4-1 nightcap thanks to Bernardo Heras' three-run homer in the top of the ninth. Leon has lost their last four games and seven of their last ten to fall from the LMB South lead into fourth place at 20-20, three games ahead of 18-24 Campeche in fifth.

The Monclova Acereros have won seven in a row to go to 32-9, best in the Liga and six-and-a-half games ahead of Dos Laredos. The 26-16 Tecolotes are a game up on Monterrey (25-17) while Tijuana (24-17) is right behind in fourth. Aguascalientes is three games out of playoff certainty with a 21-20 mark while Durango, Saltillo and Union Laguna all may as well be looking ahead to 2019.

While none of the upcoming midweek series are particularly compelling (Monclova at Aguascalientes looks the best), a potential dandy next weekend will be when Puebla visits Mexico City for three. The Pericos currently are two games ahead of the Diablos with fifteen games remaining in the regular season.

Yucatan's Leo Heras leads the LMB with a .429 average, 22 points ahead of Oaxaca's Yuniesky Betancourt's .407. Felix Perez of Monterrey is tops with 13 homers, and Puebla's Delmon Young continues to head the RBI list with 48. Tony Campana of Aguascalientes is still best with 19 stolen bases but Dos Laredo's Johnny Brown and Cade Gotta of Monclova are closing the gap with 17 swipes each.

Although the Mexican League is upholding its reputation as a hitter's circuit, five starters have ERA's of 2.03 or lower, four of them under 2.00. Monclova's Andre Rienzo (3-0) continues to head the list at 1.08, well below the 1.67 of veteran Jose Oyervides (also 3-0), who signed as a free agent with Dos Laredos for the Fall season after being released by Monclova following the Spring campaign. Mexico City's Patrick Johnson leads in wins with a perfect 7-0 record, Enrique Oquendo of Puebla's 54 strikeouts over 46 innings leads all pitchers while Monterrey's Wirfin Obispo and Josh Lueke of Monclova have 11 saves apiece.


LORENZO BUNDY SUCCEEDS BENJI GIL AS CULIACAN MANAGER

Former Culiacan manager Benji Gil in a quieter moment

Former big league infielder Benji Gil has unexpectedly resigned as manager of the defending Mexican Pacific League champion Culiacan Tomateros.  Longtime LMP skipper Lorenzo Bundy, presently managing Puebla in the Mexican League, was tabbed as Gil's successor in the Tomateros dugout.

The 45-year-old Gil was born in Tijuana and was the first Mexican to be picked in the first round of the MLB draft by Texas.  He went on to play all or part of eight Major League seasons between 1993 and 2003 with the Rangers and Angels, batting .237 with 32 homers over 604 games.  He was a member of Anaheim's 2002 World Series champions, going 4-for-5 with a double and scoring one run in the Halos' seven-game triumph over San Francisco.  Gil spent another eight years playing in the Mexican League for Tijuana, Monterrey and Chihuahua before retiring after spending a partial season with Oaxaca in 2011.

Gil also played 13 winters with Culiacan during his 19-year MexPac career during which he hit .263 with 64 homers in 669 games while winning four pennants and two Caribbean Series with the Tomateros.  He first became manager in Culiacan for the 2014-15 season and led the Tomateros to the LMP pennant before getting fired a year later after the club failed to reach the playoffs.  Gil was brought back to the Sinaloa city last fall and piloted the Tomateros to another pennant.  Although his ability to manage has been largely proven, Gil has also proven to be a volatile sort not averse to challenging his own players in the dugout or making obscene gestures after clinching a title on the road, but his departure from the Tomateros managership is for familial, not temperamental, reasons,  His son Mateo was chosen in the third round by St. Louis in the June draft and Benji said during a press conference that he wants to concentrate on Mateo's playing career in the Cardinals organization.  The elder Gil will take a consultant position in the Culiacan organization but his resignation two months before the LMP season begins drew consternation among Tomateros fans, who rank among Mexico's most devoted aficianados, as to who would replace him.

Enter Lorenzo Bundy.  The Philadelphia native was named as Culiacan's manager within days of Gil's resignation last week.  Bundy is no stranger to the MexPac.  He was let go in Hermosillo earlier this year after five seasons in his second stint managing the Naranjeros.  This winter will be Bundy's 25th season managing an LMP team after playing six years in the loop.  He's won pennants in Navojoa, Mazatlan and Hermosillo and won his 700th regular season game last winter, second only to Francisco "Paquin" Estrada's record 856 victories over 27 campaigns.  Bundy is currently in his first year managing the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos and has the Parrots leading the LMB South with a 24-17 record.  He's also coached in MLB with Colorado, Arizona, Miami and the Los Angeles Dodgers.


ENSENADA WINS SECOND STRAIGHT LIGA NORTE FLAG

LNM Finals MVP Yousamot Cota of Ensenada

A single by Ensenada's Yousamot Cota in the fifth inning drove in Luis Diego Rodriguez with the go-ahead run as the Marineros went on to beat San Quintin, 3-1, last Tuesday night at Ensenada's Antonio Palacios Sports Stadium.  The win gave the Mariners a 4-games-to-2 triumph over the Freseros in the Northern Mexico League championship series and a repeat pennant for the Liga Norte AA affiliate of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros, both owned by Alfredo Harp Helu.  Former MLB and Diablos catcher Geronimo Gil collected the title as Ensenada's first-year manager after replacing another former Mexico City star, Victor Bojorquez, in the dugout.

San Quintin took an early 1-0 lead in Game Six when Mario Cabrera scored on Fernando Inzunza's second-inning single but the Marineros knotted the score at a run apiece two frames later after Ramon Sesteaga's sacrifice fly to center field brought in Uriak Marquez from third.  Cota's RBI safety put Ensenada ahead for good in the fifth and a bases-loaded walk to Marquez in a later inning pushed Rodriguez across with an insurance run for the eventual winners.  Marineros starter Jesus Yave Estrada pitched one-run ball over five innings to earn the win while Luis Ramirez got the save.  Irving Machuca, who gave up the Cota single, was tagged with the loss for San Quintin.  Cota, a native of Hermosillo, was named the LNM Finals MVP after going 3-for-4 for Ensenada in Game Six while Italo Mota paced the Freseros attack with a pair of hits. 

The pennant is Ensenada's third in the Liga Norte, with the Sailors joining San Luis as the only two teams to never miss the postseason in the circuit's seven season.  The Marineros also won the LNM title after the loop was formed in 2012 following a split among teams in the Northern Sonora League, which dated back to 1944.  The LNS lasted another three seasons before going on hiatus after the 2014 campaign, a break that stretched into its fourth year in 2018.  Current LNM teams in Puerto Penasco and Caborca shifted to the Liga Norte following the LNS shutdown.

Toros trash Ohtani as TJ tops Angels, 8-7, in Tempe

If the Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros were supposed to be intimidated while facing the pitches of the most-ballyhooed rookie in Major League Baseball this season, they did a lousy job of looking the part.  The Toros traveled north from their Tucson training camp to Tempe last Friday for a contest against the Los Angeles Angels and their Japanese wunderkind, Shohei Ohtani. 

The 23-year-old Ohtani distinguished himself over five seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League by combining a fastball that could top 100 MPH with a power-laden bat to become a three-time All-Star, an All-PL pick as both a pitcher and designated hitter and the PL MVP during the Fighters' 2016 Japan Series championship season.  After batting .286 with 48 homers and 166 RBIs over 403 games for the Hokkaido team while pitching his way to a 42-15 record with a 2.52 ERA, he was posted as a free agent among MLB teams last fall, bidding for the two-way star's services in the majors was very spirited until Ohtani signed with the Angels for $3.27 million over six years (the MLB minimum, as required by rules) plus a $2.35 million bonus.  Scouts have estimated his "real" value over the course of his Halos' contract as closer to $200 million.

Even with all that preceding him last Friday, the Toros treated Ohtani like any veteran-laden team would treat a rookie pitcher: As rudely as possible by racking up six runs on six hits and one walk over three innings off the 6'4" righty en route to an 8-7 win over the Angels.  Granted, the Tijuana win came in a "B" game against the American League West team, but the victory gives the Toros triumphs over teams from MLB, the Korea Baseball Organization and Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League.  Ohtani did strike out five TJ batsmen but he also struggled with his command (plunking Cyle Hankerd twice), his fastball generally topped out at 95 MPH and he gave up a homer to right field by veteran outfielder Dustin Martin in the first inning.  Former MLBer Jorge Cantu, who decided to NOT retire after all, whacked a pair of doubles off Ohtani, eventually scoring on a Juan Apodaca single after his first two-bagger in the second frame and driving in Martin and Hankerd in the third with another double.

Even with the early offensive outbursts, the Toros were eventually tied with the Angels, 7-7, in the top of the ninth when Eudor Garcia singled in Jose Guadalupe Chavez with the eventual game-winning run.  Jesus Pirela held the Angels scoreless in the bottom of the ninth to save the win for Tijuana reliever Danny Gutierrez, who'd pitched the eighth and gave up the two tying runs.  As for Ohtani, whose outing was witnessed by Angels GM Billy Eppler and pitching coach Charles Nagy along with about 300 in the Diablo Stadium stands?  "I feel like I made a lot of good pitches," he said through an interpreter, "and quite a few bad ones."  Catcher Rene Rivera, a MLB veteran and Ohtani's batterymate on Friday, simply said, "It's going to be a process. It's going in a good direction."

The Toros returned to camp in Tucson after the game to continue preparation for their March 22 season opener against Monclova at home in Estadio Gasmart.


Mexican League to stream 140 games live on Facebook in 2018

After a tumultuous first six months on the job, new Mexican League president Javier Salinas has probably been ready for any good news that comes along.  The former Liga MX soccer marketing executive, who was brought to the LMB in no small part for his background of bringing a sports league into more peoples' homes, had some good news for baseball fans last week when he announced that a total of 140 Liga games will be streamed live on Facebook in 2018.

The plan is two carry 132 games split between the LMB's two regular seasons, plus another four games apiece for the Liga's two playoff tournaments.  Isaura Morales, who heads Facebook's alliances with Latin American sports leagues and teams, says, "This collaboration between the LMB and Facebook is part of our commitment to innovate ways in which baseball fans can watch and follow their favorite team from anywhere.  By offering transmissions through Facebook Live, the LMB can reach new audiences in a truly interactive and social way."

For his part, Salinas says, "We're very excited to become pioneers of live sports broadcasts in the country, since our number one priority is to satisfy our fans.  That's why we signed this agreement with Facebook, because we know it's a platform capable of of offering our audiences a unique experience that can be enjoyed from any device.  We're sure our fans will be very happy with this new way to transmit our games."

The first Facebook stream of a Mexican League game is scheduled for the March 22 season opener in Tijuana between the defending champion Toros and their LMB North rival Monclova Acereros.  The LMB's Facebook page can be accessed at www.facebook.com/LigaMexicanadeBeisbol.



Bronswell Patrick chosen as new skipper in Hermosillo

The Hermosillo Naranjeros have picked a former major league pitcher as their new manager, replacing Lorenzo Bundy at the helm.  Bundy completed his 23rd season as a Mexican Pacific League manager last winter, winning his 700th career regular season game (second only to Francisco "Paquin" Estrada's 856 over 27 campaigns) and taking the Orangemen to the MexPac playoffs before losing to Navojoa in the first round.  The Philadelphia native spent five seasons with the Naranjeros after previously managing six other MexPac teams (the only LMP squad he HASN'T managed is Jalisco).  He's won pennants with Navojoa and Mazatlan and Hermosillo and is beginning his first season managing Puebla in the Mexican League after his contract with the Naranjeros did not renew his contract for 2018-19.

Enter Bronswell Patrick.  The 47-year-old Greenville, South Carolina product was a 23rd round draft pick by Oakland in 1988 out of high school, embarking that summer on an 18-year career in pro ball, reaching the majors in 1998 with Milwaukee (for whom he was 4-1 with a 4.69 ERA in 32 appearances (including three starts) and 1999 with San Francisco (1-0, 10.31 in six trips from the bullpen).  Patrick became the first Brewers pitcher to homer in a game since former infielder Skip Lockwood went deep in 1971, two years before the advent of the designated hitter.  He went on to pitch two years in Mexico City, going 11-7 in 2001 and 13-2 in 2003 for the Diablos to book-end a 2002 season spent in Korea, where he was 5-7 for the Samsung Lions.  Patrick wrapped up his playing career in 2006-07 when he pitched six games that winter for Los Mochis, losing both decisions and posting a 5.75 ERA for the Caneros.

Patrick has coached over the past decade in the San Diego system, starting with the Padres' Arizona Rookie League team in 2008.  This summer, he'll serve as pitching coach for the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League.  While Hermosillo marks his first managerial job, Patrick served as the Naranjeros pitching coach in the past.  He headed the Hermosillo mound staff during their last championship season of 2013-14 and was Bundy's pitching coach for the 2016-17 campaign.  Upon his appointment to his new post in Hermosillo last week, Patrick said, "Over the last couple years while I was a pitching coach with the Naranjeros, I thought about being a manager.  It was something I wanted to do and in recent years that thought's been in my head, so now I'm happy that the Naranjeros and (owner) Enrique Mazon have given me the opportunity to manage the club."

Joining Patrick's coaching staff will be new batting coach Darryl Brinkley, a longtime minor league outfielder who spent time in the Padres, Orioles and Pirates systems but mostly played for teams in independent leagues as well as in Mexico and Korea before retiring after 16 seasons in 2009 after batting .297 with 13 homers in 97 games for Edmonton in the Golden Baseball League.  Brinkley played all or part of eight seasons in the Mexican League, leading the San Luis Tuneros in 2006 with a .355 batting average for manager Dan Firova (now in Monclova).

Mayos first to reach LMP semis; Hermosillo, Mazatlan out

Navojoa Mayos knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa

The Navojoa Mayos were the first team to qualify for the Mexican Pacific League playoff semifinals after bouncing first-half champion Hermosillo in five games, capping the set with a Friday win.  The Mayos pitching staff was the story of this series, holding the Naranjeros to a miniscule .153 batting average.  Outfielder Cedric Hunter contributed a .313 mark, including the lone homer for the Orangemen, but Hermosillo hitters were putty in the hands of Navojoa hurlers Hector Velazquez, Jaime Lugo and especially veteran knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa, who won both his starts and limited the Naranjeros to two unearned runs on five hits in 12.1 innings.  Hermosillo was shut out twice and held to one run once before being eliminated, 4-3, on Friday night to send home 13,195 disappointed fans at Estadio Sonora.  Mexican League MVP Jesse Castillo topped the Mayos offense by going 7-of-18 (.389) with five RBIs, including two ribbies in a three-hit Game Five.  Randy Arozarena had four hits and scored twice in Friday's clincher.

While the Mayos move on in the hope of securing Navojoa's first LMP pennant since 1999-2000, ironically under current Hermosillo manager Lorenzo Bundy, the Naranjeros were the first team to exit the MexPac playoffs and face a long offseason with plenty of questions about what went wrong.  Bundy's job status after several winters with the team is in more doubt than ever.

A Philadelphia native who lives in Tucson between seasons, Bundy won't have long to lick his wounds.  He was hired last week to replace former MLB infielder Tim Johnson as manager of the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos for the 2018 season.  Johnson took over the defending champion Pericos from Von Hayes in early June and led the team to an unexpected return to the LMB championship series after owner Gerardo Benavides transferred most of the Parrots' roster to his other Liga team in Monclova.  Bundy coached under Don Mattingly in Miami last summer.

Navojoa defeated Hermosillo, 4 games to 1
Jan. 1  NAVOJOA 5-9-0, Hermosillo 0-1-1 (Eddie Gamboa tosses 7 innings of 1-hit shutout ball)
Jan. 2  NAVOJOA 3-5-1, Hermosillo 0-5-2 (Hector Velazquez blanks Naranjeros over 5.1 innings)
Jan. 4  HERMOSILLO 4-6-0, Navojoa 3-10-1 (Cedric Hunter homer in 7th breaks 3-3 tie)
Jan. 5  Navojoa 5-7-1, HERMOSILLO 1-3-2 (Jovan Rosa hits 2-run HR, Jesse Castillo has 2 RBIs)
Jan. 6  Navojoa 4-10-2, Hermosillo 3-8-1 (Jesse Castillo 3 RBIs on 3 hits, Randy Arozarena 4 hits)


Aguilas crush Mazatlan, 10-1, Sunday to qualify for second round

C.J. Retherford had 3 game-winning hits for Mexicali

Defending champion Mexicali was stretched a little farther in their opening round series, requiring six games to eliminate Mazatlan.  The Aguilas punched their way to a resounding 10-1 win Sunday at home, banging out 20 hits to the delight of the Estadio Gasmart crowd.  The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Eagles plated three runs on four hits, including an RBI double by C.J. Retherford, and never looked back.  Chris Roberson, Walter Ibara and Luis Juarez had three hits apiece while Xorge Carrillo belted a two-run homer in a four-run Mexicali sixth.  Aguilas starter Sergio Mitre was the beneficiary of his mates' hitting outburst and earned the win after tossing six frames of one-hit shutout ball.

Up until Sunday's win, C.J. Retherford had a week he'll tell his grandsons about by personally delivering the game-winning hit in Mexicali's first three victories.  The former White Sox minor league infielder was irate about being left off the Aguilas roster for the Caribbean Series last winter under then-manager Roberto Vizcarra and has returned to the postseason with a vengeance.  Retherford's RBI double in the bottom of the ninth ended the Aguilas' 2-1 win in Game One last Monday, followed by a walkoff solo homer in the eleventh one night later as the borderites triumphed, 3-2.  After one day off and a Mazatlan win Thursday behind Brian Hernandez' 3-run blast, Retherford was at it again Friday, when his solo homer in the top of the ninth accounted for the game's lone run in the Aguilas' 1-0 win at Mazatlan as Mexicali starter Justin De Fratus and Venados' Dustin Crenshaw swapped zeros until reliever Nick Stuck gave up Retherford's dinger.

 After a sketchy first half under Vizcarra, who was fired less than a year after leading the Aguilas to last winter's pennant, Mexicali has responded under Mere (who piloted Tijuana to the LMB title this summer) by running away with the second-half title.  The Eagles are hoping for a second straight trip to the Serie del Caribe and Retherford wants to make sure he's not forgotten if they make it to Guadalajara.  Mazatlan is done for the season after manager Daniel Fernandez' squad won just two first-round games.  Jalisco's win at Culiacan Sunday night ensured both those teams will advance no matter who wins Game Seven of that series Monday.

Mexicali defeated Mazatlan, 4 games to 2
Jan. 1  MEXICALI 2-4-0, Mazatlan 1-7-0 (C.J. Retherford hits walkoff RBI double in 9th for win)
Jan. 2  MEXICALI 3-10-0, Mazatlan 2-6-0 <11> (C.J. Retherford belts walkoff solo HR in 11th)
Jan. 4  MAZATLAN 3-8-0, Mexicali 0-2-1 (Alejandro Soto, two relievers combine on 2-hitter)
Jan. 5  Mexicali 1-6-0, MAZATLAN 0-3-0 (C.J. Retherford's 1B in 9th drives in game's lone run)
Jan. 6  MAZATLAN 5-10-1, Mexicali 3-9-2 (Brian Hernandez 3-run HR in 7th keys comeback win)
Jan. 7  MEXICALI 10-20-1, Mazatlan 1-4-0 (Xorge Carrillo had 3-run HR as Aguilas had 20 hits)


Charros blank Culiacan, 2-0, to force Game Seven on Monday

Jalisco slugger Japhet Amador has 4 homers in 6 games

In what has turned out to be the best of the MexPac's three opening-round playoff series, the Culiacan Tomateros have traded victories with the Jalisco Charros throughout the first six games of their set, including a Jalisco win Sunday night in Culiacan to tie things up at three games apiece and force a Game Seven on Monday at Estadio Tomateros.  Regardless of who cops the series, both teams will advance to the LMP semifinals because the club that comes up short will have won three games in a losing effort.  That'll be enough to punch a ticket to the semis as the first round's "lucky loser" by nudging out Mazatlan (two wins) and Hermosillo (one win) for most wins in a series loss.

David Reyes was joined by four Jalisco relievers, including MLB free agent Sergio Romo, in tossing a combined three-hit 2-0 shutout Sunday as 15,148 onlookers watched in Culiacan.  Reyes tossed five innings of hitless ball with four strikeouts before being replaced after 78 pitches with a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Japhet Amador's leadoff homer in the fourth (the Mulege Giant's fourth roundtripper of the series after failing to go deep in his final nine games of the regular season). Manuel Flores, who replaced Reyes, lost the no-hit bid by allowing singles to Rico Noel and Joey Meneses in the sixth but those were the only safeties the Tomateros would pick up all night.  Jabari Blash, who was dealt from San Diego to the Yankees in last month's trade that sent Chase Headley back to the Padres, hit a solo insurance homer for the Charros in the ninth as Romo worked the last two frames for his second save.

Culiacan opened the series last Monday with a 2-1 win in Guadalajara and the two combatants have gone back and forth since.  If Game Seven holds to form, the Tomateros would win the series but Mazatlan's loss in Mexicali Sunday takes the pressure off both squads.  While there've been some strong performances in this matchup of two longtime rivals (and hosts of the 2017 and 2018 Caribbean Series), Amador has stood out by socking homers in each of the past three contests.  Three of his dingers in the series have been solo shots as the Rakuten Golden Eagles DH has a .333 average over six playoff contests.  The massive slugger will spend his third summer in Japan later this year.

Starters have been announced for Monday night's deciding game.  Former Yankees prospect Will Oliver (who's spent the past four years pitching independent ball) will be on the hill for Jalisco after a no-decision last Thursday, when he allowed two runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings in a 3-2 loss.  He went 1-4 with a 4.18 ERA in the regular season.  Salvador Valdez will be handed the ball by Tomateros helmsman Benji Gil.  Valdez gave up two runs on four hits over six innings in last Tuesday's 4-2 home loss to Jalisco.  The Culiacan-born righty was 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA in eight starts for the Tomateros.
 
Culiacan and Jalisco are tied, 3 games to 3
Jan. 1  CULIACAN 2-1-2, Jalisco 1-6-1 (Two runs score on Ronnier Mustelier ground-out in 4th)
Jan. 2  Jalisco 4-8-1, CULIACAN 2-8-0 (Gabriel Gutierrez singles and homers with 2 RBIs)
Jan. 4  Culiacan 3-8-0, JALISCO 2-7-0 (D'Arby Myers singles twice, walks, scores, drives in run)
Jan. 5  JALISCO 7-17-1, Culiacan 6-10-0 <12> (Agustin Murillo doubles, scores winner in 12th)
Jan. 6  Culiacan 5-7-0, JALISCO 4-8-0 (Ali Solis 3-run HR in 4th for Tomateros holds up)
Jan. 7  Jalisco 2-5-2, CULIACAN 0-3-0 (Japhet Amador hits 4th playoff HR in road shutout)