Culiacan wins LMP pennant on Amezaga RBI single in 12th

Veteran Culiacan Tomateros infielder Alfredo Amezaga

Alfredo Amezaga's bases-loaded single with one out drove in Joey Meneses from third base broke a 4-all tie as the Culiacan Tomateros went on to top the Navojoa Mayos, 6-4, Sunday night in Navojoa to win Game Seven of the Mexican Pacific League championship series.  The win gives manager Benji Gil's Tomateros their eleventh MexPac pennant and a berth in the upcoming Caribbean Series in Guadalajara.  Culiacan has won two Serie del Caribes, in 1996 and 2002.  The Mayos were looking for their third LMP title since the team's inception in 1959-60 and their first since 1999-2000.

Navojoa got off to an early 1-0 lead when Leo Heras' second-inning single off Culiacan starter Sergio Mitre brought in Fernando Flores, but the Tomateros struck back in the top of the fourth when Meneses belted a Tyler Alexander delivery for a two-run homer to take a 2-1 lead.  Not do be outdone, Jesse Castillo returned the favor with a two-run blast of his own off Mitre in the bottom of the fifth to put the Mayos back ahead, 3-2, but Culiacan drew even in the top of the seventh when Justin Greene hit a bases-loaded pitch from reliever Esteban Haro off the glove of Navojoa third baseman Jovan Rosa to plate Ronnier Mustelier from third.

Castillo crunched his second longball of the night in the bottom of the eighth (this one off Derrick Loop) to push the hometown Mayos back on top, 4-3, but Sebastian Elizalde lofted a sacrifice fly with the sacks full in the top of the nine to send Jose Guadalupe Lopez home to knot the game back up and in effect send it into overtime.  After two scoreless innings, Amezaga's safety broke the deadlock for good and the visitors added an insurance run when Andy Wilkins scored on Jonathan Aceves' sacrifice fly to center, a play that drew an appeal from Mayos skipper Willie Romero on Wilkins' tag-up that was turned down by the umpires to give the Tomateros their eventual 6-4 margin.  Culiacan closer Chad Gaudin pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to earn the save for Casey Coleman's relief win.  Carlos Bustamante, who served up the ageless Amezaga's fateful safety, took the loss for the Mayos, who used eleven pitchers in the must-win game.  The Tomateros used six hurlers themselves as a full house of 11,500 at Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria watched a game that went 5 hours and 11 minutes.

After opening the title series with two losses at home last weekend, the Mayos stayed alive by winning two of three contests in Culiacan to bring the finals back to Navojoa and the last remaining old-school ballpark in the MexPac, now that facilities in Mazatlan and Los Mochis are being modernized.  The Mayos won last Tuesday's first game at Estadio Tomateros, 4-2, as the Mayos' 13-hit attack was keyed by a two-run Rosa homer and a solo blast from Alejandro Gonzalez.  The visitors then knotted the series up at two games apiece one night later with a 5-3 triumph led by Paul Leon's two-run homer and run-scoring single.

The Tomateros fought back Thursday by topping Navojoa, 5-3, as Leon scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh on a Flores single.  Wilkins contributed two hits (including a solo longball) and two RBIs for the Tomateros, raising his average in the title series to .462.  Three consecutive sellouts drew 56,130 to the ballpark in Culiacan before the series moved back north to Navojoa for Game Six with the Tomateros holding a 3-games-to-2 lead.

Back home to end the series one way or another, the Mayos took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on Saturday's Game Six when Alejandro Gutierrez socked a solo homer to straightaway center off Tomateros starter Edgar Gonzalez and made it 2-0 one frame later on a bases-loaded walk to Heras that brought in Max Ramirez from third.  The Mayos lead held until the top of the eighth when a Fernando Perez solo homer put Culiacan on the board and a subsequent two-run single from LMP batting champion gave the visitors a 3-2 lead, but Leon's homer in the bottom of the ninth knotted the game up and Randy Arozarena's walkoff single ended the game with a Navojoa win to force Sunday's deciding game.

Meneses was named Finals MVP after Game Seven. The Culiacan-born first baseman, a free agent after seven years in the Braves system, had a quiet regular season for the Tomateros with a .248 batting average to go with five homers and 32 RBIs in 66 games before turning in a standout postseason by batting .348 with five longballs and 13 ribbies in 18 games over three stages.  The 6'3" 25-year-old hit .370 with a pair of homers, six runs and five RBIs in the title series.

The Tomateros will be joined in Guadalajara by the Anzoategui Caribes of Venezuela, who beat Lara in six games for the crown, and the defending champion Caguas Criollos, who won their second straight Roberto Clemente League title in Puerto Rico by topping Santurce, 2 games to 1, in their final series capping a season abbreviated by Hurricane Maria.  Two more teams will be determined this week.  The Granma Alazanes took a 3-games-to-2 lead over Las Tunas in the Cuban National Series finals with a 3-2 win Sunday night.  In the Dominican League championship series, the Cibaenas Aguilas have won two of three games against Licey in their best-of-7 set.

The Caribbean Series will open Friday.


Tucson, El Paso interests explore potential Mexican League franchises

Mexican League president Javier Salinas

Citing his league's return to Laredo, Texas via the newly-moved Dos Laredos Tecolotes, Mexican League president Javier Salinas says there's interest in bringing LMB teams to at least three more cities in the USA.  According to Puro Beisbol, Salinas said "Cities like Tucson, San Ysidro, California and El Paso want to have a Mexican League team, on both borders, and there is a history between us and Laredo that was formed in 1930.  I think this will be a watershed and I think that together, we are going to be able to make a very good story out of this."

Tucson would seem a natural location for ann MXL beachhead in the States.  The southern Arizona city has a metropolitan population of one million people (of whom about 40 percent are Hispanic), no viable in-season competition for the sports entertainment dollar after the popular University of Arizona baseball team finishes their home schedule in May and TWO ballparks (Hi Corbett Field and Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium) that have both hosted MLB spring training games and AAA teams.  Mike Feder, who organizes the Tucson Baseball Fiesta every October, is a two-time Pacific Coast League Executive of the Year and knows how to operate a team.  From this standpoint, Tucson is the best open market north of the border for the Liga, although baseball historically has received lukewarm interest there.

El Paso would certainly rate as prime territory for Mexican League expansion.  While similar in population to Tucson, with a million people residing in El Paso's metropolitan area, the market swells to more than 2 million when Greater Juarez is factored in.  Arguably a better baseball town that Tucson, minor league ball has been a constant part of El Paso's summer fabric since 1930 and 9,725-seat Cohen Stadium is available.  The problem?  El Paso's already got a AAA team, the PCL's Chihuahuas, playing at a newer facility, Southwest University Park (7,500 capacity).  That team finished fourth in the PCL attendance derby with 544,668 fans attending 69 games, an average of 7,894 per opening.  Does anyone imagine MiLB president Pat O'Connor doing nothing if an LMB team comes to El Paso?  Neither do I.  The answer might be to set up across the border at 15,000-seat Estadio Juarez Vive with a heavy marketing effort in Texas, but I'm not convinced that O'Connor would allow that, either.

That leaves San Ysidro, which sits across the Mexico-California border from Tijuana and has a population of 28,000 with neither a history of pro ball or a suitable ballpark for even a Rookie league team.  While San Ysidro has easy access to the lucrative San Diego market to the north, one could expect Tijuana Toros owner Alberto Uribe to raise a hand at an Assembly of Presidents meeting and say, "Hey, wait a minute!" if San Ysidro is even considered in jest for an MXL franchise.  Not gonna happen at this point.

After all is said, Tucson would appear to be the clearest destination for the Mexican League as their second set of footprints in the fertile-but-untapped Southwest USA market.  It's obvious that Salinas is willing to listen but it'll ultimately be up to investors anywhere to blaze that trail first.


Tim Johnson named new Tigres skipper for 2018

New Quintana Roo Tigres manager Tim Johnson

It's been quite a year for Tim Johnson.  After starting 2017 as manager for the San Luis Algodoneros, a Puebla Pericos affiliate playing in the Class AA North Mexico League (or LNM), the former Brewers infielder and Blue Jays manager found himself summoned to Puebla in early June to replace Von Hayes as the Pericos helmsman with the team holding a 26-28 record.  He went on to take the defending champions to a 30-26 mark the rest of the way for a second-place finish in the LMB South, a division playoff title and a berth in the Serie del Rey against eventual winners Tijuana for the second year in a row.  Johnson did this with a roster decimated when owner Gerardo Benavides transferred most top players on the 2016 champions to his hometown Monclova Acereros, who were eliminated in the first round by Monterrey.  His reward?  Being let go in favor of Lorenzo Bundy during the offseason.

Johnson has shown he's nothing if not a survivor, however, and Quintana Roo Tigres owner Fernando Valenzuela was obviously impressed enough when Johnson's Pericos eliminated the Tigres in the playoffs last August to hire him in Cancun for 2018.  Johnson will take over the reins from Hector Hurtado, a former MXL catcher for 22 years who himself had assumed team leadership during last season when manager Roberto Vizcarra (who led the Tigres to two pennants, including their 12th and last flag in 2015) was sacked.

Johnson takes over a team with a glorious past but an uncertain future.  The Valenzuelas are locked in battle with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos over five prime Tigres prospects who were transferred to the Diablos while sales negotiations with former owner Carlos Peralta were ongoing, a move former Tigres exec and current Diablos GM Francisco "Pollo" Minjarez called a "gentleman's agreement.  Two of those prospects were subsequently sold to the Texas Rangers for a combined US$2.7 million, money the cash-strapped Valenzuela's could use in Cancun.  A complaint has been filed with Minor League Baseball and Fernando has said that he would consider putting the Tigres back up for sale if he is not given restitution.  The Diablos have reportedly offered US$500,000 but were turned down.

On the field, the Tigres are a team in transition, too.  Many veterans have been shown the door over the past two years to make the team younger.  Still, some longtime LMBers like Carlos Gastelum, Sergio Contreras and Pablo Ortega are still on the roster.  Johnson will not have the communication problems with players that helped sink Wally Backman as manager in Monclova (Johnson was considered as Backman's replacement at the time) and he has the luxury of playing in the weaker LMB South, although Mexico City swapping places with Leon make it a tougher division.  On the other hand, he takes over a heritage franchise that has never caught on in either Puebla or Cancun since moving out of Mexico City in 2002 and is now operating with precarious finances since the Valenzulas' two partners bailed on them not long after the sale, leaving the former Cy Young winner solely responsible for a team no longer receiving the sort of largesse from the State of Quintana Roo that Peralta enjoyed.

Again, Johnson has shown resilience since tall tales of service in Vietnam led to his firing in Toronto after a winning 1998 season.  He has bounced between Mexican and independent teams in the US ever since, always finding work.  He's shown he can win south of the border, copping a Mexican League title with Mexico City in 1999 and Mexican Pacific League titles leading Hermosillo in 1989-90 and 1991-92.  Winning either MXL pennant in 2018 with the Tigres is highly unlikely and the snake-bitten franchise may have to be willing to settle for some resilience themselves.

Five Liga teams go 6-2 for first week of season, Oaxaca out the gate at 0-8

The Mexican League's 2016 season got into full swing last week after home-and-away series marked Opening Weekend, and no less than five teams are off to 6-and-2 starts.  In the LMB North, Monclova and Monterrey are tied for the division lead while Yucatan, Campeche and defending champion Quintana Roo are atop the LMB South standings.

Both Campeche and Quintana Roo are riding five-game win streaks going into Monday's travel day.  The Piratas took a 3-2 win at Veracruz Sunday as a double by shortstop Paul Leon (pictured) in the top of the ninth inning drove in C.J. Retherford with what proved to be the game-winning run.  Leon also homered and finished the game with three hits to raise his team-leading average to .448.  The Tigres completed a three-game sweep of the Guerreros in Oaxaca with a convincing 8-2 win Sunday as first baseman  Jorge Vazquez homered twice and singled to drive in four runs.  Oaxaca starter Ruddy Acosta only last 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits to drop to 0-2 for the young season.

Monclova extended their own win skein to four in a row Sunday by scoring eight runs in the bottom of the sixth frame to wipe out a three-run deficit in their 11-5 comeback win over Mexico City.  Jose Amador and Denis Phipps combined to drive in five runs for the Acereros as Amador cracked his second homer of the campaign during Monclova's outburst in the sixth.  The win came despite an outpouring of 17 hits by the visiting Diablos Rojos, including three for 21-year-old second sacker Samar Leyva, but the Red Devils left 13 runners on base after batting 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Monterrey outfielder Felix Perez is the early leader in the Mexican League batting race on an 18-for-33 performance for a .545 average, Tigres teammates Alex Liddi and Esteban Quiroz are tied for the lead in homers with four apiece while Liddi tops the loop with 16 RBIs (Liddi has also struck out 14 times in 35 at-bats thus far).  Puebla's Nyjer Morgan is tied with Irving Falu of Oaxaca for the stolen bases lead with 4 apiece.

Seven pitchers already have two wins against no losses, with Carmen's Mario Gonzalez the most effective of the bunch after throwing 12 shutout innings and allowing just 7 hits over his two starts.  Veracruz' Maneul Al Flores has been almost as good, giving up just four hits and no runs over 11 frames, but has only two no-decisions to show for it.  Antonio Guzman has 18 strikeouts in 12 entradas for Tabasco to top the K category while Campeche's Jose de la Torre has earned four saves in five outings to lead the circuit.

Attendance leaguewide has unsurprisingly dropped off after Opening Weekend but Monterrey is still looking strong after 25,845 fanaticos attended Sunday's 7-5 win over Saltillo home.  In three openings, the Sultanes are averaging 23,430. Yesterday's loss to the Tigres ended a miserable week at the gate in Oaxaca, where just 2,708 spectators per game attended seven Guerreros home games at Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos.

LMB NORTH STANDINGS: Monclova 6-2, Monterrey 6-2, Aguascalientes 5-3, Laguna 5-3, Reynosa 3-5, Saltillo 3-5, Mexico City 2-6, Tijuana 2-6.
LMB SOUTH STANDINGS: Campeche 6-2, Quintana Roo 6-2, Yucatan 6-2, Veracruz 5-3, Puebla 4-4, Carmen 3-5, Tabasco 2-6, Oaxaca 0-8.

Venados end CS first round at 4-0; to play Cubans in semis

Leadoff batter Jeremias Pineda (pictured) had a productive day at the plate, including one of four consecutive doubles during a six-run eighth inning, to pace the Mazatlan Venados' 8-4 win over Puerto Rico's Santurce Cangrejeros Friday as both sides wrapped up their first-round schedules.  With the win, Mazatlan finished the opening round-robin at 4-0 to earn the top seed at Saturday's semifinals in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

After the teams opened play by trading zeroes for two innings, Paul Leon put the Mexican Pacific League pennant-winners on the scoreboard in the top of the third when his grounder drew an errant throw into right field from Santurce third baseman T.J. Rivera (allowing Leon to take second), advanced to third on Ramon Urias' ground out to second and came in on a two-out Pineda line-drive single up the middle off Cangrejeros starter Hiram Burgos.

Venados starter Arturo Lopez fairly sailed through the first three frames before his defense pulled an epic fail in the fourth, allowing the Crabbers to take a 2-1 lead.  After Kennys Vargas flew out to lead off the frame, Leon mishandled a Rivera grounder to short for a error.  Henry Ramos then hit another grounder that Leon fielded cleanly and flipped to second sacker Ramon Urias to start a double play, only to have Urias miss the ball on the pivot.  Instead of the inning being over, Lopez served up a Danny Ortiz single to center that brought Rivera in with the tying run.

Then, as Lopez pitched to Joe Lozada, Santurce attempted a double-steal, drawing a throw from Mazatlan catcher Sebastian Valle that sailed high above second base into center field, allowing Ramos to pause briefly at third before lighting out for home and sliding in ahead of Justin Greene's throw to Valle for the go-ahead tally. Neither Puerto Rican run was earned but no further damage was done.

The two sides swapped two more scoreless frames before the Venados knotted the score in the top of the seventh when Pineda lined a two-out triple past Santurce centerfielder Ramos, then came in on Greene's bunt single down the third-base line to make it a 2-2 game.  Greene then took second with his third stolen base of the CS, but Alex Liddi popped out to first baseman Neftali Soto in foul territory to end the inning.

After Jesus Barraza blanked the Cangrejeros in the bottom of the seventh, Mazatlan kicked open the flood gates by sending ten batters to the plate en route to six runs on as many hits.  The frame was highlighted by consecutive doubles from Cyle Hankerd, Urias, Pineda and Greene, with Hankerd's and Urias' two-baggers driving in two runs apiece.

Bolstered by the 8-2 lead handed over to them, Barraza and three other relievers combined to hold Santurce to one run in the eighth and one more in the ninth, a drop-off from the Mazatlan bullpen's three previous outings but good enough for Barraza to be awarded the win while wrapping up the Venados' fourth straight triumph in Santo Domingo this week.

Pineda, Greene and DH Javier Vazquez each had three of Mazatlan's 15 hits, with Pineda (who'd gone 0-for-8 before Friday's game) scoring twice and driving in two runs while Greene batted in two more.  Although he wasn't the pitcher of record, Lopez gave manager Juan Jose Pacho six strong innings, allowing no earned runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking none.  Efrain Nieves bore the brunt of Mazatlan's eighth-inning outburst, allowing all six runs in two-thirds of the frame for the loss.

The win clinches the top seed for the 4-0 Venados in Saturday's semifinal, one game better than Venezuela's Aragua Tigres at 3-3 and two up on Santurce's 3-3 mark.  Ciego de Avila needed eleven innings to nudge host Escogido, 4-2 Friday night, giving the Cubans a 1-3 first round record and the final berth in the semis while the Dominicans finished 0-4.  Aragua plays Santurce at 3:00PM ET in Saturday's first game while Mazatlan meets Ciego de Avila in the 7:50PM nightcap.

Mazatlan posts second straight shutout; one win from MexPac flag

Ageless Walter Silva (pictured) turned in another quality start and Paul Leon had two hits, including an RBI double, as the Mazatlan Venados registered their second consecutive shutout over the Mexicali Aguilas, 2-0, Sunday to take a commanding 3-games-to-1 lead in the Mexican Pacific League championship series.

The two teams swapped zeroes into the fifth inning.  Mazatlan starter Walter Silva tossed four frames of one-hit shutout ball while Mexicali opener Marco Duarte lived dangerously, allowing six hits and a walk through four innings without getting nicked for a run.  Duarte began the bottom of the fifth by walking Erick Rodriguez and giving up a Paul Leon single, leading Aguilas skipper Edgar Gonzalez to bring Manuel Chavez in from the bullpen.  Jeremias Pineda moved Rodriguez and Leon up with a sacrifice bunt and then Justin Greene was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Esteban Quiroz then lifted a sacrifice fly to Alex Liddi in right, bringing Rodriguez in with the game's first run.

The Venados stretched their lead to 2-0 in the sixth when a Leon double to center off Francisco Rodriguez brought pinch-runner Jose Figueroa in from second.  Mazatlan threatened to burst the dam by loading the bases, but Jake Sanchez got Greene to tap the ball back to the mound for an inning-ending toss to first for the out. After that, it was a matter of collecting the final nine Aguilas outs as Jesus Barraza, Sergio Valenzuela and Steven Hensley combined to throw three innings of one-hit shutout ball, with Hensley inducing Yuniesky Betancourt into flying out to Pinedas in right to end the game.

Leon's two hits led Mazatlan.  Four different players had hits for Mexicali, with Ramon Urias and Jon Del Campo contributing doubles, but the Aguilas had a second straight bad night in the clutch by going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position as Mexicali's scoreless streak hit 20 innings.  Although Silva spun those sparkling front four frames, Jesus Sanchez pitched a scoreless fifth and earned the win.  Hensley picked up his sixth postseason save.  Duarte suffered the loss for Mexicali.

Game Four is scheduled for Monday in Mazatlan.  Javier Solano is the expected starter for Mexicali while manager Juan Jose Pacho will send out Amilcar Gaxiola.

MAZATLAN 2-9-1, Mexicali 0-4-0
W-J. Sanchez (1-0).  L-Duarte (1-2).  T-3:14.  A-14,950.

MexPac Playoff Scoreboard: FRI, Jan. 15, 2016

Obregon and Mazatlan went deep into extra innings in a pitchers' duel in one Game Five in the Mexican Pacific League semifinals Friday night, while Mexicali took advantage of Navojoa's penchant for self-destruction with three unearned runs in a crazy 4-3 Aguilas win on the Mayos' home turf in the other Final Four battle.

MAZATLAN 3-9-1, Obregon 2-7-1 (13)
W-R. Espinosa (1-0).  L-M. Carrillo (1-1).  T-4:36.  A-9,897.
Spectators at Mazatlan's Estadio Teodoro Mariscal had another thriller as the Venados and visiting Obregon took a 2-2 ballgame into the 13th inning before a wild pitch gave Mazatlan a 3-2 win. The Yaquis drew first blood in the top of the first inning when Justin Greene came in from third on Max Ramirez' sacrifice fly to right field, giving Obregon a 1-0 lead. The score stood until the bottom of the sixth, when Mazatlan pinch-hitter Carlos Munoz stroked a two-out, two-run single off Obregon starter Arturo Lopez to give the Venados a 2-1 advantage. The Yaquis came right back in the top of the seventh when Daniel Castro drilled a double off Mazatlan reliever Kenneth Sigman to plate Alfredo Amezaga with the game-tying run. And that's where the scoring stopped until the bottom of the 13th.
Olmo Rosario popped a leadoff single for the Venados, then moved to second on Munoz' sacrifice bunt. Obregon reliever Marco Carrillo intentionally walked Paul Leon (pictured) to get to Jose Felix, who then singled to left. Rosario rounded third but was cut down at the plate on a throw from Leo Heras while Leon advanced to third. Then, with a 1-and-2 count on Jesus Fabela, Carrillo uncorked a wild pitch that brought Leon streaking home with the game-winner.
Regular season ERA champ Alejandro Soto was merely terrific for Mazatlan, pitching six innings and allowing one run on three hits while throwing strikes on 64 of 92 pitches, good for seven strikeouts.  Five Venados relievers combined to hold Obregon scoreless over the final six innings, with Roberto Espinosa getting the win. Lopez went 5.2 frames for the Yaquis, letting in two counters on four hits. Nine men trotted out from the Obregon bullpen to hold Mazatlan scoreless from the sixth inning until the final pitch seven innings later.  Rosario and Cyle Hankerd each had two hits for Mazatlan while Greene and Amezaga both had two for Obregon, but this was a pitcher's night right up until the end. Despite losing the heartbreaker, the Yaquis still lead the semi series, 3 games to 2.  Game Six is Sunday in Obregon.

Mexicali 4-9-1, NAVOJOA 3-5-2
W-J. Sanchez (1-0).  L-Bustamante (0-2).  T-3:04.  A-10,982.
Navojoa took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning before imploding in the eighth inning as Mexicali scored a 4-3 road win Friday night in front of 10,982 horrified onlookers at Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria.
After Mexicali starter Javier Solano battled Navojoa's Jose Oyervides over four scoreless innings, the Aguilas scored a run in the top of the fifth when Xorge Carrillo doubled and later came home when Mayos shortstop Jose Guadalupe Chavez coudn't find the handle on a Rickey Alvarez grounder in what was to prove a foretelling moment. Navojoa put up three on the board in the bottom of the frame as Fernando Flores smoked a two-run double and scored when Solano threw away a Diego Madera bunt, putting the Mayos up by two. Mexicali drew a run closer in the top of the sixth when C.J. Retherford's pop single just beyond Chavez' grasp at short sent Chris Roberson in to score, cutting Navojoa's lead to 3-2. After the teams swapped some zeros through the seventh, things got ugly.
Mexicali tied the game in the top of the eighth when Mayos third baseman Nate Tenbrink made a bad throw on a Welington Dotel grounder to bring in Roberson from third, then reliever Carlos Bustamante served up a wild pitch to Luis Juarez, allowing Yuniesky Bentacourt to plate the go-ahead run. The Mayos had two innings to make amends but couldn't advance anyone past second before time ran out.
Jake Sanchez pitched a scoreless seventh and got the win for Mexicali while Bustamante was tagged with the loss. Betancourt had three hits and a run for the Aguilas while Carlos Moncrief singled, doubled and scored for the Mayos. Mexicali now leads the series, 3 games to 2, as the two teams head north to the border for Sunday's Game Six.