Los Mochis, Mexicali win classic Game Sevens, will play for LMP pennant

Sebastian Valle's two-run double was the key blow in a three-run seventh inning as Los Mochis punched their ticket to the Mexican Pacific League championship series Thursday night with a 3-1 home win over Culiacan.  The Caneros will face Mexicali, who reached the title series thanks to a Herculean performance from closer Jake Sanchez (pictured), who pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless relief as the Aguilas outlasted Hermosillo, 4-3, in 16 innings.

LOS MOCHIS 3-6-1, Culiacan 1-8-2

This one was a pitcher's duel all the way, as Caneros starter Roy Merritt locked horns with his Culiacan counterpart, Zack Dodson as the two Texans traded zeros on the scoreboard through five innings. Tomateros rightfielder Joey Meneses led off the third with the game's first hit on a single, but died there as Merritt retired the next three batters in order.  Culiacan finally broke through with the first score of the night in the top of the sixth.  Veteran Jose Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez started things off with a one-out single, then moved to third when Ramiro Pena lashed a double to third.  After intentionally walking Eugenio Velez to load the bases, Merritt was replaced by Isaac Rodriguez, who plunked Issmael Salas with his first pitch to give Rodriguez an easy stroll home to put the Tomateros ahead, 1-0.  That was all it took for Mochis manager Luis Sojo to yank Salas and bring in Santiago Gutierrez.  After Gutierrrez got Oscar Robles to pop out in foul territory, Sojo then waved Jon Sintes in from the bullpen to end the inning on a Meneses fly out.

Dodson carried the lead into the bottom of the seventh, when the game turned.  After giving up a leadoff single to Leandro Castro on his 87th pitch of the night, Dodson was pulled by Cuiliacan skipper Che Reyes in favor of middleman David Goforth.  The Brewers righty was able to get Saul Soto to foul out to leftfielder Ryan Lollis but then walked Yosmany Guerra on five pitches to put two men on with Valle coming up.  The newly-acquired Mariners farmhand drilled a 2-and-1 Goforth offering into right field for a two-bagger to bring in Castro and Guerra, giving the Caneros the lead, with Valle advancing to third on a Rodriguez throwing error.  That was enough for manager Reyes, who called in MLB vet Oliver Perez to face pinch-hitter Sergio Garcia.  The Nationals right-hander struck out Garcia for the second out but was then tagged for a triple to right by Velez, with Valle crossing the plate to make it a 3-1 Mochis lead and that was all she wrote for the visitors.  Sergio Romo tossed two scoreless innings for his fifth playoff save to end the game and close the series for the Caneros.

Sintes was credited with the win for his perfect one-and-a-third innings of pitching, but the table was more than set by Merritt's 5.1 opening innings of work.  The seven-year Mets minor leaguer let up six hits with one runner scoring in a solid performance.  As good as the 31-year-old lefty was, Dodson may have been a little better as the one-time Pirates fourth-rounder allowed just two hits and two walks in six frames, allowing one run and striking out four.  Goforth took the loss for the Tomateros as another sellout crowd of 11,132 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra celebrated the Caneros moving one step closer to their first pennant since 2002-03.

MEXICALI 4-18-1, Hermosillo 3-12-1

The "other" semifinal was likewise a pitching-dominated matchup as Hermosillo and Mexicali took their fight into double overtime before the Aguilas finally shook off the Narajeros, 44-3, in 16 innings.  The contest looked like it might turn into a slugfest as both teams scored twice in the first inning.  Hermosillo  got on the board when O'Koyea Dickson singled in Jason Bourgeois and Carlos Gastelum came in on a Jose Amador safety, both off Aguilas starter Kameron Loe.  The Aguilas punched back when Chris Roberson led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a Yuniesky Betancourt double one out later.  Betancourt subsequently moved to third on a C.J. Retherford single and scored when Luis Juarez hit a sacrifice fly to right.

The 2-2 score held until the top of the fifth, when Dickson lofted his third homer in two nights into the left field bleachers off a Barry Enright serving, but the hosts came back in the seventh on Yordanys Linares' two-out single to left that plated Ramon Rios.  Linares tried taking second on the hit but was thrown out by Dickson in left. After that, it was nothing but goose eggs on the board inning after inning as the game ended at 2:33AM local time.  The contest finally concluded in the bottom of the 16th, beginning with Roberson's leadoff single off Hector Galvan.  The ex-Phil then advanced to second on a Jon Del Campo sacrifice bunt, took third when Betacourt singled and eventually scored the semi-winning run when LMP bat champ Luis Suarez poked a bases-loaded single to right off Hermosillo reliever Wilmer Rios.

Loe was touched for five hits and two runs in the first, only getting one batter out.  One-time Braves prospect Edgar Osuna pitched 3.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball after relieving Loe, but it was closer Jake Sanchez who reached back for Mexicali with an outing that legends are made of.  The 2013 Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year entered the contest in the top of the eighth and pitched into the 15th, blanking the Orangemen over 7.2 frames on two hits and two walks while racking up eleven K's in a 116-pitch performance.  Javier Solano took over for Sanchez and was credited with the win, but the mound belonged to the Cal Baptist product Thursday night as 13,110 fans were in the stands at Estadio B'Air when the game began.

Enright had a fair start for Hermosillo, giving up three runs in 6.2 innings with no walks.  Six relievers combined to held the Aguilas scoreless until the end.  Galvan suffered the loss despite 3.1 otherside good innings in which he let up only two hits and struck out two.  Betancourt and Juarez each had four of the Aguilas' 18 hits while Amador finished with four hits of his own.

Culiacan, Hermosillo win; Game Seven semis set for Thursday

Both Culiacan and Hermsosillo had to win road games Wednesday to stay alive in their respective Mexican Pacific League semifinal series.  The Tomateros and Naranjeros responded to the "Win-or-go-home" challenges by copping victories to extend each set to a seventh and deciding game Thursday night.  Ramiro Pena's three-run homer highlighted a six-run outburst in the sixth inning, propelling Culiacan to a 9-2 triumph in Los Mochis as a standing-room crowd of 11,192 watched at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada.  Hermosillo likewise won big, 7-2, in Mexicali as Dodgers farmhand O'Koyea Dickson (pictured) walloped two homers in front of a full house of 17,000 at the Aguilas' Estadio B'Air.

Thursday's Game Sevens in Los Mochis and Mexicali will both get underway at 7:30PM Mountain Time.

Culiacan 9-13-1, LOS MOCHIS 2-5-0

As seems his wont, Hector Daniel Rodriguez has brought his "A" game to the postseason for Culiacan.  The Tomateros' homegrown lefty went 4-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 13 starts during the regular season, a subpar winter for him.  Since the playoffs began, however, the 32-year-old lefty has kicked into overdrive and the result is a 4-0 record with a 2.52 ERA, including Wednesday's 9-2 win at Los Mochis.  Rodriguez allowed one run while scattering five hits in six innings for the Tomateros, striking out nine Caneros batsmen and walking two.  Sixty of his 93 pitches went for strikes before leaving the game with a 6-1 lead.  Rodriguez has earned a reputation as a big game pitcher, winning the MVP award at last winter's Caribbean Series as a reinforcement pickup of the champion Mazatlan Venados.

The contest was competitive for the first few innings.  Culiacan drew first blood by scoring a run on a Joey Meneses sacrifice fly to center in the top of the second that brought in Ronnier Mustelier.  Mochis tied it up at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when vet Saul Soto doubled in Leandro Castro from first.  One of the ageless wonders of Mexican baseball, the 38-year-old Soto is hitting .343 in the playoffs while, like Rodriguez, playing for his hometown team.  Culiacan broke the tie with two runs in the fifth as Caneros starter Luis Niebla self-destructed by giving up two hits, walking two more batters and hitting a batter before he was mercifully lifted for Isaaac Jimenez, who got Issmael Salas to fly out with the bases loaded to keep the floodgates from opening.  That happened in the sixth, when six more Culiacan runners crossed the plate to make it 8-1.  Pena's three-run bomb was the deepest cut as eleven Tomateros strode to the plate against four Mochis pitchers.  From that point it was acamedic, although the Caneros did score one final run in the seventh.

Mustelier finished the night with three hits, two runs scored and one driven in for Culiacan, who also got two hits each from longtimers Jose Manuel Rodriguez and Oscar Robles.  Niebla took the loss for Mochis, although special mention should be given to reliever Lenix Osuna, who faced five batters and allowed four runs (including Pena's blasted) without retiring a batter.  Onetime Red Sox minor leaguer J.C. Linares had two of the Caneros' five hits, including a double, while throwing out Culiacan's Ryan Lollis at the plate from center field to end the third inning.

Hermosillo 7-12-0, MEXICALI 2-12-2

Dickson had a huge game at the plate for the Naranjeros, going 3-for-4 with two homers, four RBIs and a pair of runs to pace Hermosillo's must-win 7-2 road triumph at La Nida in Mexicali.  It was a forgettable night for both starting pitchers, with Travis Blackley of Hermosillo and Mexicali's Hector Velazquez combining to cough up 15 hits and six runs over eight innings between them.  It was left to unsung Jose Samayoa to relieve Blackley and hold the fort until the Orangemen offense found its bearings.

The Naranjeros got on the board in the top of the first via a two-out Dickson solo homer off Velazquez to left. Xorge Carrillo scored on a force out in the second to pull Mexicali even.  Hermosillo responded by adding a run in the third when Jason Bourgeois came in on a Dickson groundout, but the Eagles came back again to knot the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third as Luis Juarez doubled off Blackley and then scored on an Agustin Murrillo single up the middle.  Hermosillo effectively put the game away with two runs in the fifth on Dickson's second homer (with Carlos Gasteul on base) and two more in the sixth when a Bourgeois single and an error by Naranjeros centerfielder Chris Roberson plated Sergio Burruel and Jorge Flores to make it a 6-2 tilt.  Hermosillo added a final run in the ninth, but it was superfluous by then.

Blackley struggled into the fourth frame, when he was relieved by Samayoa with two on and one out.  It took two pitches for Samayoa to get Ramon Rios to ground to third for a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.  Samayoa, a Hermosillo product who spent time in the Rangers system, got the win after throwing four innings of shutout ball, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out two.  Velazaquez took the loss for the Aguilas as the Pitcher of the Year candidate's playoff miseries continued, giving up four runs on seven hits and two free passes to see his postseason ERA rise to 8.38.  Rafael Martin got his fifth save in January for the Naranjeros.  Besides Dickson, the Hermosillo bats were also led by Gastelum's two hits and two runs plus Bourgeois' two hits, a run and RBI. Yordanys Linares (no relation to Mochis' J.C., although both are Cubans) went 4-for-4 for Mexicali, but neither scored nor drove in a run.

Pena, Aguilas top Hermosillo, 6-1, to take LMP semifinal series lead

Mexicali 6-11-1, HERMOSILLO 1-6-2

The Mexicali Aguilas knocked Hermosillo starter Juan Pablo Oramas out of the game in the second inning and went on to beat the Naranjeros, 6-1, Tuesday to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in their Mexican Pacific League semifinal series.  A near-sellout crowd of 15,932 watched the contest at Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora as Mexicali pitcher Miguel Pena (pictured) turned in a strong 6.1 innings of work on the mound, throwing 67 of his 88 pitches for strikes.

The Aguilas staked Pena an early 2-0 lead by scoring twice in the top of the first inning.  Chris Roberson and Ramon Rios led the game off with back-to-back singles off Oramas, with Robo moving to third on Rios' safety.  After Oramas struck out Yuniesky Betancourt and got C.J. Retherford to pop out to first, MexPac batting champ Luis Juarez singled up the middle to bring Roberson in from third.  Agustin Murillo then lifted a fly ball to center that dropped in for a single to plate Rios from second, giving Pena a cushion before ever taking the hill.

Pena, a Texan who spent four years in the Red Sox system, recorded a 1-2-3 bottom of the first before his teammates provided him an added pillow by scoring twice more in the second.  Yordanys Linares led off with a bunt toward the mound and was able to reach second when Oramas threw the ball past first sacker Efren Navarro. After Pena walked Roberson with one out, Naranjeros manager Lorenzo Bundy replaced him with Pablo Ortega, a 40-year-old veteran who was the Mexican League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 with Quintana Roo.  Rios greeted Ortega by lining a first-pitch single to left that brought Linares in and moved Roberson to second.  After a Betancourt single loaded the bases, Retherford sent a sacrifice fly to right that allowed Roberson to score from third, giving the Aguilas a 4-0 advantage.  O'Koyea Dickson led off the bottom of the second with a homer to right that put the Naranjeros on the scoreboard, but that was the only mistake Pena would make all night.

Hermosillo's Tim Torres made things interesting in the bottom of the fifth by protesting a called third strike, which earned him an early shower courtesy of home plate umpire Jaime Gutierrez, but that proved to be the last time the Orangemen would be heard from.  Mexicali scored insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, including a Retherford homer to straightaway center, but they weren't really needed as Pena and three relievers combined to scatter six Hermosillo hits, walking none and registering a combined seven strikeouts.  Aguilas closer Jake Sanchez whiffed Dustin Martin swinging to end the tilt and give the visitors the lead in the series, which now shifts back to Mexicali for Game Six.

Pena earned his second win of the playoffs (and first of the series) while Oramas, who just missed winning the regular season ERA title, was tagged with the loss as his postseason ERA ballooned to 9.64.  Ortega settled down to put in 6.2 innings for Hermosillo, allowing no earned runs on five hits while striking out six. Betancourt finished with three hits for the Aguilas while Roberson and Rios each chipped in with two.  Hermosillo had two-hit nights from Jose Amador and Sergio Burruel.

Since the series had been pushed back one day due to Saturday's rainout in Hermosillo, there will be no travel day break as the two teams play tonight in Mexicali.  Los Mochis hosts Culiacan for Game Six of their Final Four series with Culiacan Wednesday, with the Caneros holding a 3-games-to-2 edge in that set.

Hermosillo tops Culiacan 6-3 in Game 7, both to MexPac semis

Jason Bourgeois and Fernando Perez combined for six hits, three runs and three RBIs from the top two slots in the Hermosillo batting order to pace the Naranjeros' 6-3 win at Culiacan Monday night.  The victory gives the Orangemen a Game Seven win in the Mexican Pacific League first round series, but both clubs will advance to the LMP semifinals because Culiacan's three first-round wins topped Navojoa's two and Mazatlan's one to qualify the Tomateros for the fourth, or "lucky loser," Final Four berth.

Hermosillo 6-12-0, CULIACAN 3-6-0

An MLB outfielder for six teams from 2008 to 2015, Bourgeois (pictured) started the game off in the top of the first inning with a single off Culiacan starter Tony Cordova, then advanced to second on Efren Navarro's walk.  Both were then driven in when O'Koyea Dickson lashed a double past centerfielder Sebastian Elizalde to put the visitors up early. Perez gave Hermosillo a 3-0 lead in the top of the second by singling in Sergio Burruel from second.  The Tomateros got on the scoreboard when Iker Franco came in on Jose Manuel Orozco's groundout to short in the bottom of the third.  The two teams then swapped goose eggs until the top of the seventh, when Perez followed a Bourgeois double with a two-run homer to left center field off reliever Gerardo Sanchez to make it a 6-1 Hermosillo lead.  Culiacan cobbled together a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh as Jose Manuel Rodriguez scored on a groundout and Joey Meneses added a run on a sacrifice fly, but that was the last time either team would cross home plate.

Bourgeois and Perez led Hermosillo's 12-hit attack while no Culiacan player had more than one safety in the Tomateros' 6-hit night, although Alfredo Amezaga and Elizalde both doubled.  Juan Pablo Oramas came back from a shaky first start to put in four strong innings for the Naranjeros, giving up one run on two hits.  It was Wilmer Rios who got the win in relief, however, while Hector Galvan picked up his first postseason save.  Cordova took the loss for the Tomateros, playing in front of a playoff-high 18,938 fans at home, by allowing three runs on six hits and two walks over five innings. The home side only won twice over seven games in this series, with Hermosillo taking three of four games in Culiacan.

The semifinals will open Wednesday night when Hermosillo visits Mexicali and Los Mochis welcomes Culiacan.


FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Los Mochis defeated Mazatlan, 4 games to 1
Game 1: LOS MOCHIS 2, Mazatlan 1
Game 2: LOS MOCHIS 6, Mazatlan 4
Game 3: Los Mochis 3, MAZATLAN 0
Game 4: MAZATLAN 7 Los Mochis 6
Game 5: Los Mochis 4, Mazatlan 3 

Mexicali defeated Navojoa, 4 games to 2
Game 1: NAVOJOA 4, Mexicali 2
Game 2: Mexicali 7, NAVOJOA 6
Game 3: MEXICALI 3, Navojoa 2
Game 4: MEXICALI 14, Navojoa 1
Game 5: Navojoa 8, MEXICALI 6
Game 6: Mexcali 6, NAVOJOA 4

Hermosillo defeated Culiacan, 3 games to 2
Game 1: CULIACAN 6, Hermosillo 3
Game 2: Hermosillo 6, CULIACAN 4
Game 3: Culiacan 8, HERMOSILLO 7
Game 4: HERMOSILLO 8, Culiacan 4
Game 5: Culiacan 6, HERMOSILLO 2
Game 6: Hermosillo 5, CULIACAN 4
Game 7: Hermosillo 6, CULIACAN 3

Caneros blank Venados, 3-0; defending champs facing elimination

Luis Niebla and MLB vet Sergio Romo combined to spin a five-hit shutout as the Los Mochis Caneros defeated the Mazatlan Venados, 3-0, Wednesday night in Mazatlan to take a commanding 3-games-to-0 lead in their Mexican Pacific League first round playoff series.  One more loss would close out a first-round loss for the defending league and Caribbean Series champions.  Elsewhere in LMP playoff action, Culiacan outlasted Hermosillo, 8-7, to take a 2-games-to-1-lead in their best-of-7 set while Mexicali went one up in their series with top seed Navojoa by slipping past the Mayos, 2-3, Wednesday in the border city.  Game Four for all three series will be played Thursday night.


Los Mochis 3-10-0, MAZATLAN 0-5-2

Former Twins and Orioles outfielder Lew Ford's third inning double plated Eugenio Velez with the only run Los Mochis would need as the Caneros went on to whitewash the defending champs, 3-0, in front of 9,761 fans at Mazatlan's Estadio Teodoro Mariscal.  The Venados now face the daunting task of winning four straight games to win the series, although a couple of wins might be enough to advance them to the semifinals as the so-called "lucky loser" entry.

The 40-year-old Ford (pictured), who's spent most of the past four summers playing independent ball with Long Island of the Atlantic League since he last appeared in MLB with Baltimore in 2012, went on to put up a 4-for-5 night at the play for Mochis, added an RBI in the top of the ninth one inning after Saul Soto's single brought in J.C. Linares with the Caneros' second score of the night.  Soto and Jesus Arredondo each had two singles for Mochis.  Catcher Erick Rodriguez, not known for his bat, had three of Mazatlan's five hits while Cyle Hankerd and Carlos Munoz each singled but only one Venados baserunner reached second base all game.

It was a game for pitchers, however, as Niebla and Romo combined for eight strikeouts and walked only two Venados batsmen.  Niebla went eight innings for the win, allowing four hits and whiffing seven, while Romo picked up his second save of the series by pitching a scoreless ninth in his effort to draw an offer from an MLB organization as a free agent after nine years, three World Series titles and an All-Star Game appearance with the San Francisco Giants.  Walter Silva pitched in lard luck for Mazatlan, letting in no earned runs (Velez reached base on an error in the third) and scattering six hits and two walks over six innings of work in a very creditable start.


Culiacan 8-11-0, HERMOSILLO 7-9-2

Unlike the Los Mochis-Mazatlan game, pitchers didn't have a lot of say in Culiacan's 8-7 win in Hermosillo Wednesday night with a sellout crowd of 16,329 clicking the turnstiles at Estadio Sonora.  Not that there weren't a lot of pitchers involved, as the two teams combined to send 14 hurlers to the mound while 15 runs and 20 hits were piled up on the night.

A Joey Meneses single off Hermosillo starter Juan Pablo Oramas drove in Maxwell Leon (son of former MLB pitcher Maximino Leon) with the game's first run for Culiacan in the top of the first inning, followed by a Ramiro Pena sacrifice fly that brought Ryan Lollis in from third for the Tomateros' second run.  Efren Navarro's homer off Culiacan's Patrick McCoy put the Naranjeros on the board, but Culiacan scored twice in the third on Issmael Salas' two-run homer and three more in the top of the fifth when Jose Manuel Rodriguez socked a two-run homer of his own and Salas singled in Meneses to make it a 7-1 Tomateros lead.  Then things got interesting, as Hermosillo batted around the order and scored five runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth, with O'Koyea Dickson's three-run longball off reliever Juan Ramon Noriega's third pitch the key blow.  Pena singled in Lollis in the top of the sixth to make it an 8-6 Culiacan lead and while Hermosillo scored once more in the bottom of the seventh, they couldn't draw even as the Tomateros hung on for the win to go up 2-games-to-1 in the series.

David Goforth pitched two scoreless innings in relief for Culiacan and was credited with the win.  McCoy was pulled after allowing the first three Hermosillo batters reach base in the fifth (all scored).  Goforth was one of seven relievers trotted out by Tomateros manager Che Reyes.  Oramas, who led the LMP in earned-run average much of the regular season, absorbed the loss for the Naranjeros by giving up five runs in 4+ frames himself.  Culiacan now leads the series, 2 games to 1.


MEXICALI 3-7-0, Navojoa 2-6-2

Veteran centerfielder Chris Roberson's three-run homer in the second inning held up as Mexicali went on to a 3-2 win over regular season champ Navojoa with 12,387 onlookers at La Nida (The Nest) in the border city.  The win puts the Aguilas up 2-games-to-1 in their first-round series.

MexPac batting champ Luis Juarez opened the bottom of the second with a double off Navojoa starter Zack Dodson, who then got Xorge Carrillo to line out to second and struck out Jon Del Campo to come to within one out of escaping the frame unscathed.  Dodson walked Ramon Rios, however, sending Roberson to the plate.  After watching the first pitch for a called strike, Roberson lofted a fly ball over the head of Mayos left fielder Christian Zazueta that landed in the seats to put the Eagles up 3-0.  It was an atonement of sorts for Roberson after the 2014 Caribbean Series MVP committed two errors on one fly ball in Mexicali's 7-6 knucklebiter win in Navojoa on Monday.  Navojoa came back in the top of the fifth when Alan Sanchez doubled in Quincy Latimore for one run and Fernando Flores scored from third on Zazueta's groundout, but that would be all the scoring for the night as five relievers would follow Mexicali starter Efren Delgado to post zeros over the Mayos' final four innings.

Delgado ended up with the win after going five frames and allowing both Mayos runs on three hits, striking out seven batters and walking just one.  Dodson took the loss for Navojoa, throwing 91 pitches over 5.1 innings, allowing seven hits (including Roberson's dinger) and walking three.  Jake Sanchez' dominance from the bullpen during the regular season has carried over into the playoffs as well, with the Californian sealing the win with 1.1 unblemished innings for his second save of the series.  Sanchez has now allowed one earned run (and four walks) in 34 innings over 32 combined trips from the pen for manager Roberto Vizcarra's Aguilas.