LMP PLAYOFFS OPEN; FIRST REINFORCEMENT DRAFT HELD

  The 2021-22 Mexican Pacific League playoffs began on Christmas Day. All eight teams battled it out in four first-round series openers, with the visiting team coming away victorious in three of them.

In a series that may capture the most attention among observers, defending champion Culiacan (who were the eighth and lowest postseason seed this winter) won at top-seed Navojoa, 8-5, on Saturday. The Tomateros knocked out Mayos starter Octavio Acosta with four runs in the top of the second inning and never looked back.  Culiacan was holding a 5-3 lead when they scored three more times in the eighth, including a two-run single by Jose Guadalupe Chavez with the bases loaded. 

Asael Sanchez rapped a two-run homer for Navojoa in the bottom of the frame to make it a two-run game, but that would end the scoring for both teams. Manny Barreda got the win for Culiacan despite a less-than-sterling five innings of work (three runs on four hits and five walks) while Acosta was tagged for the loss as over 10,000 were in the stands at Navojoa’s Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria, the largest gathering among the four openers.

Elsewhere, Monterrey pulled out a road win at Hermosillo, 5-4, in eleven innings to open their set on Saturday night. With the score knotted at 4-4 after ten frames, Anthony Giansanti opened the top of the eleventh for the Sultanes by getting on base after an error by Naranjeros shortstop and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Andres Martin, setting the stage for a Miguel Torrero single to put the visitors ahead by a run. Nathanael Santiago, who tossed a scoreless tenth for Monterrey, came out and pitched an unblemished eleventh to seal the win.

The Obregon Yaquis traveled to Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon for their series opener at Guasave and came away with a 3-1 win on Christmas. The Yaquis drew first blood in the top of the third when Ian Miller scored on Alonzo Harris’ sacrifice fly and Victor Mendoza later singled in reinforcement Isaac Rodriguez with the second run of the entrada. The Algodoneros closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Yadir Drake singled in Jhoan Urena but Obregon scored the final run of the night for both teams two frames later when Michael Wing and Juan Carlos Gamboa hit back-to-back doubles off Gusave starter Jordan Kipper, who lasted one more batter before being pulled. Kipper took the loss while Obregon starter Jake Thompson earned the win with five innings of four-hit, one-run pitching.

Jalisco became the only home team to win their series opener after outlasting visiting Mexicali, 10-9, in 12 innings at Guadalajara. The Charros had built a 7-2 lead (aided by a trio of solo homers from Christian Villanueva, Japhet Amador and Agustin Murrillo in the bottom of the fourth) before the Aguilas plated one run in the top of the eighth and four more in the top of the ninth as Luis Jimenez stroked a two-run double and later scored on a Aneuty Tavarez double to even the score at 7-7. Both teams scored twice in the tenth but the night’s heroics belonged to Charros shortstop Missael Rivera, who led off the 12th with a double and advanced to third before coming in with the game-winner on Villanueva’s sacrifice fly to right to end a game that featured a combined 28 hits and 11 walks.  

Fifteen minutes after the final regular season game concluded, the eight playoff teams held a so-called reinforcement draft of players from Mazatlan and Los Mochis, the two clubs that didn’t advance. With the first pick, Obregon chose Los Mochis second baseman Isaac Rodriguez. Guasave followed by plucking another second sacker, Mazatlan’s Ramon Rios, while Hermosillo took Venados infielder Isaac Paredes with the third pick. In all, 16 Los Mochis and Mazatlan players were selected over two rounds, nine of them pitchers.

A similar draft will be held prior to the semifinals and finals. The eventual champions will be able to load up on more reinforcements before heading the the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo with a roster that bears little resemblance to their regular season lineup. A similar process is carried out in other winter leagues, making the Serie del Caribe more a tournament of all-star teams than league champions.

PADRES SIGN MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE MVP CARRILLO

After being named Most Valuable Player of the Mexican Winter League this season, Yucatan Lions outfield prospect Oliver Carrillo, has been signed by the San Diego Padres.   

A 5’11” 210-pounder, Carrillo caught the attention of the San Diego organization after leading the LIM in several offensive departments playing for a team of players from the Yucatan, Veracruz and Durango LMB organizations. He came very close to obtaining the Triple Crown by being champion with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs, plus a .586 on-base percentage and an .806 slugging percentage,  finishing second in batting percentage at .441.

Nicknamed “Chanito,” Carrillo was one of the young players to make their debut this year in the Mexican League with the Leones, playing one inning in right field and going 0-for-1 in his lone plate appearance as a pinch-hitter for Luis Juarez during a June 6 game against Quintana Roo. 

The veteran Juarez took the youngster under his wing and has said “It’s a pleasure and a pride that young people like him get to have these kinds of opportunities and it is a case of perseverance of someone who did not give up. Many times they told him no and he did not get tired. He gave himself to baseball as he should and received a very large reward.”.

Carrillo’s training began after he was signed by Yucatán at the Academia de Beisbol del Pacífico. "The process has always been strong. I lasted three years at the Pacific Baseball Academy, then they sent me to the Monterrey Academy to continue with my training and thank God the results were good," said the right-handed batter who’ll turn 20 on January 19.

During his stay as a Leones recruit, Carrillo has also shone in different national and international tournaments, being the champion and best hitter in the International Series of Prospects organized by PROBEIS and managed by Yucatan’s incoming sports manager, Santos Hernandez.

The native of Rosario, Sinaloa, signed in the presence of Padres scout Emmanuel Rangel and was accompanied by Leones co-owner Erick Arellano, who commented that he feels proud and excited by the signing of the Sinaloan player, since he had to look at the process within the academy. "Several organizations had been following him,” said Arrellano, “but what really motivated this team (the Padres) was the season he had in the Winter League. He is a healthy boy and while I am happy with all the signatures, this one has a special feeling." 

Through their Pacific Baseball Academy in Mazatlan, the Leones have managed to place a total of 38 players with Major League Baseball organizations in six years.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Miguel “Pilo” Gaspar, C

A defensive genius, Pilo Gaspar was recognized internationally as one of the best receivers in Mexican baseball and a consistent batter who could get a hit off any pitcher at the most opportune moment.

  

In 1949, he began playing professionally in the old Pacific Coast League with Guaymas and was the Rookie of the Year that winter.  The 6’1” 178-pound Gaspar went on to play minor league ball for eight seasons in the United States, including three years in the Orioles farm system and one with the Dodgers. The earliest part of his summer career was spent with Laredo, where he hit 44 homers between 1950 and 1951 (including four in one April 1951 game against Texas City.  Ironically, he only whacked 29 more roundtrippers over the final 26 years of his pro career.

 

Gaspar played 11 games in 1951 for Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican League but did not come home to play for good until 1958, when he played 81 games for both the Tecolotes and Yucatan and hit .282 with five homers.  He eventually settled in behind the plate for Veracruz in 1959, and played 11 seasons for the Aguilas, topping the .300 mark four times (including a career-best .330 in 1961).  Pilo was in his 40’s when he moved on to Union Laguna for two years beginning in 1970, hitting .292 and .269. 

After a .250 campaign with Tampico in 1972, Gaspar went on to play two more years with Chihuahua before hanging up his catcher’s mitt following the 1974 season at the (reported) age of 45.  He singled and doubled in two pinch-hit opportunities for Chihuahua in 1976, and went 2-for-9 in five more games in 1977, even attempting to steal a base (he got caught) before stepping down for good. 

Over his long professional career, Pilo played in 2,604 games, totaling 2,419 hits, 346 doubles and 1,062 RBIs and hitting .288. In the Mexican Pacific League, Gaspar spent several winters with Guaymas, Navojoa and Hermosillo, connecting for 503 hits and an average of .262. Gaspar, who managed Mexican League teams in Veracruz, Chihuahua and Quatzocoalcos, was elected to the Salon de la Fama in 1994.

Gaspar was mentioned in Bill Heward’s 1974 gem of a book, “Some Are Called Clowns,” a diary of Heward’s 1973 season with the barnstorming Indianapolis Clowns.  The book touched on Mexican baseball in one chapter, including this passage quoting one of Heward’s teammates who spent time south of the border: “Our catcher was a guy named Pelo (sic) Gaspar, out of Sonora, Mexico. Some say he’s 42. Other guys who’re in the know say he’s 50. What a baseball head!  I never saw him blow a popup.  Pelo had a fabulous arm.  I never saw a guy steal on him. Pelo’s right index finger was broken and bent sideways about 45 degrees. The players who didn’t know him would thumb their noses and say, ‘Aw, crooked finger.’ But when he threw out two or three of them they forgot about his finger.”

CASTRO OUT AS MEXICO MANAGER AHEAD OF OLYMPICS

Juan Castro fired as Mexico Olympic manager

    With little more than a month prior to the planned opening of the Tokyo Olympics, Juan Gabriel Castro has been fired as manager of Mexico's Olympic baseball team. Castro himself tweeted that he had been relieved of his duties, as has the team's general manager, Kundy Gutierrez.

    “Just to give you the very sad and unfair news that we received today,” Castro's tweet opened, “the FEMEBE (Engineer Enrique Mayorga) and the president of the Mexican Baseball League (Horacio de La Vega) made the decision to let us know that they do not want us to continue leading the team.

    “The details? Many of you already know them, but in a little while we will let you know the same ones through this and many other means. Thank you and we remain at your service.”

    Castro has been serving as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff this season under manager Joe Girardi. He led Mexico in the 2019 Premier12 tournament as the Verdes Grande qualified for their first-ever Olympic baseball appearance after replacing Dan Firova at the helm weeks before the tournament began. Gutierrez, a 42-year-old Mexican American, had been the National Team GM after a career in the construction business. Mayorga has been the head of FEMEBE (Mexican Baseball Federation) since 2017 while de la Vega was hired to run the Mexican League in late 2019, replacing Javier Salinas.

FEMEBE leader Enrique Mayorga

    At least one Mexican journalist speculates that president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had a hand in the exits of Castro and Gutierrez. Both had complained publicly about expected funds for the trip to Mexico not being released by CONADE (National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport), an agency charged with overseeing Mexico's Olympic effort this summer.

    CONADE's director, Ana Guevara, is a 44-year-old former Olympic track athlete from Sonora who served in the Mexican Senate before being appointed by AMLO to her current post in late 2018. Both Guevara and Lopez Obrador have past political ties to the National Action Party (PAN). While it would not be out of the realm of possibility that Lopez Obrador, a self-described baseball fanatico, was involved in Castro's and Gutierrez' firings, there is no evidence that he had a hand in the move.

    The firings have created a backlash among the players. Tito Escobar of El Jonronero tweeted that more than two dozen of the 100 players under consideration for Mexico's Olympic team have opted out of the trip to Tokyo in protest: “They tell me more than 30 renowned players and considered in the Mexican baseball pre-selection list, that after what happened with Castro and with GM Kundy Gutierrez, they get off the boat due to the mismanagement of the FEMEBE and the rest of those involved. They prefer not to attend.”

    Castro's replacement has not been named and Ii's a safe bet that this episode is far from over.

ROJAS FIRED AS MONTERREY SKIPPER, GASTELUM BROUGHT IN

Homar Rojas canned after ten games

    The often-referenced “Mexican Managerial Merry-Go-Round” was fired up just two weeks into the 2021 season, but this time the Mexican League's Monterrey Sultanes have done a housecleaning that included their front office as well as their manager and coaches.

    After the legacy team won just two of their first eight games on the abbreviated schedule, manager Homar Rojas was fired last Wednesday, with the usual “wishing you the greatest of success in the projects you decide to undertake in the future” line inserted into the team's press release announcing the veteran skipper's removal. Rojas managed the Sultanes' Mexican Pacific League team last winter before taking over their Liga club after Roberto Kelly decided to not manage this summer due to stated concerns over the pandemic.

    One of Rojas' coaches, Antonio Aguilera, ran the team on an interim basis before Sergio Gastelum was brought in to manage the Sultanes. Then Aguilera was summarily fired, along with pitching coach Arturo Gonzalez (an LMB legend whose 232 career wins ranks sixth among Liga hurler) and all other members of Rojas' staff after Gastelum arrived with five coaches of his own. Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros reports that two of the fired coaches are considering suing the Sultanes, who are co-owned by the Grupo Multimedios conglomeration and longtime Monterrey baseball figure Jose “Pepe” Maiz, a member of Mexico's 1957 Little League world champions.

    Gastelum is expected to shake up the playing roster as well, and he'll have a new front office working with him toward that end. In addition to the firing of Rojas and his staff, the purge included both sports director Manuel Flores and sports manager Grimaldo Martinez. Flores was replaced as sports director by Jesus Valdez, Junior (son of longtime Mazatlan GM Jesus “Chino” Valdez, who now holds a similar role with the expansion Veracruz Aguilas). Valdez will oversee both of Monterrey's LMB and Mexican Pacific League teams. Martinez was let go to make room for Manuel Velez, who will serve as an advisor for the Sultanes' Sports Directorate.

Sergio Gastelum new skipper in Monterrey

    Monterrey began the season with five consecutive losses for the first time since 1978 and were tied with Durango for the LMB North basement when Rojas was fired after a 14-3 road loss last Tuesday to the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. The Sultanes ranked ninth in the Liga with a .283 team batting average but the pitching was second to last among the 18 teams with a 7.15 ERA.

    Gastelum has jumped on and off the merry-go-round since leading Oaxaca to an unexpected appearance in the Fall 2018 Serie del Rey, where they ironically lost to the same Monterrey team he's now managing after finishing the regular season with a 26-30 record and having to win a play-in game at Leon to qualify for the playoffs. Following a 2019 season in which the Guerreros finished second in the LMB South with a 68-51 mark before a first-round playoff loss to Yucatan, the 42-year-old Obregon product was named manager of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.

    The former star infielder (who played 22 years in the LMB) led the Red Devils in training camp last year before the 2020 season was canceled due to the Wuhan virus, then was let go after team eecutive Miguel Ojeda was sent back to the dugout after a front office battle that resulted in GM Francisco “Pollo” Minjarez' firing.

TOROS, PERICOS LEAD TIGHT EARLY LMB STANDINGS

 

LMB batting leader Isaac Rodriguez

   Tijuana and Puebla have taken the lead in their respective Mexican League divisions after two-plus weeks of the LMB's 66-game 2021 schedule, but nobody is running away with things as three teams are within two games of the Toros in the LMB North while only a game-and-a-half separates the Pericos from four other squads in LMB South.

    Tijuana completed the weekend with an 11-4 record with a 7-6 loss Sunday in Monterrey after winning the first two games of the series. The final contest was tied at six runs apiece going into the bottom of the ninth inning, when the Sultanes loaded the bases off Toros reliever Josh Corrales, who then gave up a walkoff walk to Ramon Rios on five pitches to push Andres Martin across home plate to complete Monterrey's first win in three games under new manager Sergio Gastelum. The Sultanes went 2-0 under interim helmsman Antonio Aguilera before he was sent packing Friday in last week's team housecleaning.

    Expansion team Guadalajara is a game behind Tijuana with a 10-4 ledger after taking two of three games in Mexico City. The first two tilts were slugfests, with the Mariachis taking an 8-7 Friday win as Adrian Gonzalez up-the-middle single in the top of the 14th scored Luis Sardinas from second with what proved to be the winning run the go-ahead run. One night later, Guadalajara piled up 20 hits en route to a 10-5 victory with Gonzalez, Niko Vasquez and Beau Amaral each collecting three hits (and Amaral scoring three times). The Diablos avoided the sweep Sunday with a 7-3 triumph, capping a weekend in which the two teams combined for 40 runs on 75 hits over the three-game set.

    In the LMB South, Puebla held on to first in the standings at 10-5 despite losing two of three weekend games in Leon. The Bravos outscored the Pericos, 5-3, Sunday thanks in part to ageless Chris Roberson, who homered, doubled, walked and scored three times in a 3-for-3 afternoon batting second ahead of another former longtime Monterrey star, Agustin Murillo. With the win, Leon won for the eighth time in their last ten games to pull within a game of Puebla at 9-6, also trailing 9-5 Mexico City and 8-5 Yucatan.

    The Leones have leveled off after a hot 8-0 start to the season by splitting their last ten contests, including a solid 9-2 win in Merida Sunday over rival Quintana Roo. Yucatan got solo homers from both Art Charles and Humberto Sosa, who'd gone hitless his first seven games before going 2-for-3 Sunday as a seven-run sixth broke the game wide open. The Tigres outhit the Leones by a 12-9 margin hurt themselves by only batting 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine baserunners stranded.

Masaru Nakamura in NPB days

    As might be expected in the early season (especially in a hitter's league like the LMB), batters are ahead of pitchers. Even though only five teams are hitting above the .300 mark after 15 games, with Guadalajara leading the way at .356, twelve teams have collective ERAs above 5.00. Durango's staff is allowing a generous 8.79 per game, which might explain their 4-11 record.

    Tijuana second baseman Isaac Rodriguez heads a list of 14 batters at .400 or above with a .473 average after 14 games, ahead of Guadalajara's Vasquez (.465) Eliezer Ortiz of Aguascalientes (.458). Oaxaca infielder Orlando Pina and Saltillo first baseman Henry Urrutia are tied for the lead with seven homers each and Guadalajara's Sardinas is tops with 21 RBIs, two up on three other batters who have 19 ribbies each. Reigning MVP Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca leads the LMB with 11 stolen bases, four more than TJ's Rodriguez.

    Two hurlers are tied for the lead with three wins apiece, although neither has much else to brag about. Guadalajara starter Masaru Nakamura is 3-0 but with an ERA of 5.53 while Puebla middleman Yosshel Hurtado's 3-0 record comes with a 9.45 ERA after eleven appearances. Nakamura toiled nine seasons in Japan's NPB for the Nippon Ham Fighters before making his Liga debut this season. 

    Pitching hasn't been totally hapless in the LMB thus far in 2021. Seven starters sport ERAs below 2.00, with Tigres veteran Wilfredo Boscan's 0-0 record after three starts betraying his 0.53 ERA. Oaxaca's Hector Hernandez is 0-2 and 7.29 after four starts, but his 25 strikeouts in 21 innings leads the loop. Three closers have five saves each: Tijuana's Fernando Rodney, Carlos Bustamante and Laguna's Jenrry Mejia. Rodney is still the roller-coaster ride he was in MLB with four walks over seven innings in as many appearances, but he's also whiffed eight batsmen and has a 1.29 ERA.

YAQUIS TOP MOCHIS IN GAME 7, VS. JALISCO IN FINALS

After dropping the first two games of their Mexican Pacific League playoff semifinal series in Los Mochis, the Obregon Yaquis fought back and won the final two tilts of the set (also on the road) to beat the Caneros, 4 games to 3, reaching the championship series against Jalisco, who topped Mazatlan in five contests in the other semi matchup.  As might be deduced, however, the Yaquis didn't win the easy way.

Obregon Yaquis pitcher Francisco Rodriguez

Obregon was able to tie the series at two games apiece by winning last Monday and Tuesday.  In Game Three at Nuevo Estadio Yaquis, Jose Aguilar lined a single to center field off Andres Avila to score Yordanys Linares from second in the bottom of the tenth inning for a walkoff 4-3 win over the Caneros.  Obregon carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the ninth before Rudy Amador, Esteban Quiroz and Leandro Castro each socked solo homers off Yaquis closer Maikel Cleto to tie the game and set the stage for Aguilar's heroics in the next frame.  Obregon knotted the series one night later with a 2-0 shutout over the Caneros with Francisco Rodriguez and three relievers combining on a 3-hitter.  Rodriguez, who pitched for the Los Angeles Angels in 2010 and 2011, gave up two hits in 5.1 frames for the win as Victor Mendoza's two-run single in the bottom of the first against Mochis starter Danny Rodriguez provided all the scoring Obregon would need.  The Caneros regained the series lead on Wednesday with a whitewash of their own, a 4-0 triumph behind the pitching of Ariel Pena (who scattered three hits and struck out 10 over six innings) and three relievers.  Diory Hernandez' RBI double in the bottom of the fourth broke a scoreless tie and Saul Soto rapped a two-run single to give Los Mochis a 3-0 lead while Jonathan Jones added a leadoff homer one inning later for insurance.  Hernandez and Quiroz had three hits each for the winners while Dustin Martin had two of the Yaquis' five hits.

The series shifted to Los Mochis, where the Caneros needed just one win to punch their ticket to the finals.  They never got it, as Obregon won Friday's Game Six by a 4-3 count to tie the semis at three games each.  The Yaquis scored all four of their runs in the top of the first off Yoanis Quiala, who gave up a two-run double to Mendoza in a 32-pitch inning.  Los Mochis plated three scores of their own in the third off Yoanner Negrin with Quiroz providing the key blow with a two-run single.  Negrin settled down and eventually earned the win while Quiala absorbed the loss.  Santiago Gutierrez pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit relief in defeat for the Caneros after replacing Quiala in the second.  The Yaquis, who missed the postseason the previous two winters, advanced to the finals by winning Saturday's Game Seven, 6-2, as Rodriguez tossed 5.1 innings of two-run ball for his second win in five nights.  Obregon built an early 3-0 lead against Caneros starter Jaime Lugo, although the first two were unearned via a wild pitch and an error, and steadily pulled away.  Linares, Julio Valdez and Isaac Paredes combined for six hits, four runs and two RBIs to account for all the Yaquis' scoring as Obregon capped their series comeback with two consecutive wins away from home.

Jalisco Charros infielder Jose Amador

The Yaquis will face a well-rested opponent in the Jalisco Charros, who reached their first LMP title series in five winters after beating Mazatlan in five games.  After Jalisco won the first two games in Mazatlan, the Venados won a rain-delayed Game Three, 7-3, in Guadalajara.  The contest was tied at 2-2 Monday night before rain forced the game to be carried over to Tuesday, when Mazatlan posted four runs in the fifth as Ramon Rios and Asael Sanchez had run-scoring singles and Edson Garcia contributed a two-out, two-run single off Jalisco hurler Manuel Flores.  Rios finished with three hits (two of them doubles), two runs and two RBIs in what would be the Venados' lone win of the series.  The Charros' Japhet Amador powered a two-run homer off Irwin Delgado in the second. 

Jalisco then won the next two games at home, starting with Wednesday's 6-3 triumph thanks to a five-run bottom of the first (four scores coming with two out, two on an Agustin Murillo fly ball to right that was muffed by Edson Garcia, allowing Amador and Henry Urrutia to cross the plate.  Jalisco's Orlando Lara pitched six innings and allowed one run for his second win of the series while batterymate Gabriel Gutierrez socked a solo homer off Venados starter Konner Wade in support.  Sebastian Valle and Anthony Giansanti both went deep for Mazatlan.  The Charros closed out their semi in Thursday's Game Five, 10-6, as Jalisco overcame an early 2-0 deficit by scoring runs in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.  Jose Amador (no relation to Japhet) paced the 15-hit Horsemen attack by going 3-for-5 with a pair of two-run homers while Murillo also belted a longball for the winners.  Valle and Giansanto homered again for Mazatlan in defeat while Rios added three hits and two ribbies.

After Obregon and Jalisco closed out their Final Four wins, both took part in a reinforcement draft Saturday.  The Yaquis took a pair of second basemen in Los Mochis' Quiroz and Mazatlan's Rios while the Charros took starting pitchers Manny Barreda from Culiacan and Los Mochis' Quiala.  Quiroz is perhaps more versatile than Rios, with about as many games at third base and shortstop as at second, and he would give Yaquis manager Sergio Gastelum more options.  Barreda was not chosen in the previous two reinforcement drafts despite finishing second to Jalisco's Elian Leyva, the LMP Pitcher of the Year, with a 2.65 ERA.  He started one game for the Anzoategui Caribes in the Venezuelan League semifinals last week, getting rocked by the Caracas Leones for four runs on six hits in 1.1 innings, but returned to North America after the Caribes were eliminated.

The MexPac championship series will open Monday night in Guadalajara at 9:15 Eastern as the Charros host Obregon.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Championship Series
Game 1  Monday, January 21 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco
Game 2  Tuesday, January 22 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco
Game 3  Thursday, January 24 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon
Game 4  Friday, January 25 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon
Game 5  Saturday, January 26 (9:10PM) Jalisco at Obregon*
Game 6  Monday, January 28 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco*
Game 7  Tuesday, January 29 (9:15PM) Obregon at Jalisco*
*-if necessary.  All times Eastern.


MANNY RODRIGUEZ REPEATS AS LMP MVP, LEYVA PITCHER OF YEAR

LMP Most Valuable Player Manny Rodriguez

Jalisco Charros second baseman Manny Rodriguez has been selected as the Mexican Pacific League's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season and the third time in his winterball career.  The 36-year-old Guasave native earned 74 of 117 votes, or 63.25% of ballots cast by journalists covering the LMP.  Los Mochis outfielder Leandro Castro came in a distant second with 15 votes (12.82%), followed by league batting champ Francisco Peguero of Hermosillo with 13 votes (11.11%), Obregon slugger Jesus Valdez (11 votes, 9.40%) and Navojoa's LMP home run king Jovan Rosa (4 votes, 3.42%).

Rodriguez was eighth in the MexPac with a .313 batting average and led the loop with 52 RBIs, his 80 hits were one behind Hermosillo's Jasson Atondo, he tied Castro for third in the LMP with 13 homers and matched Los Mochis' Isaac Rodriguez with 41 runs scored (ten behind leader Alonzo Harris of Navojoa).  With his third MVP trophy, the Jalisco team captain now trails only the legendary Hector Espino, who won six such awards over his MexPac career.

LMP Pitcher of the Year Elian Leyva

The LMP league office has named other award-winners for the 2018-19 regular season, including Rodriguez' teammate Elian Leyva as Pitcher of the Year.  Although the Cuban-born Leyva did not receive a single MVP vote, the Charros' right-hander led or tied for the circuit lead in several pitching categories including wins (6), earned-run average (2.02), strikeouts (67) and WHIP (1.08).  He became only the fifth man in MexPac history to cop the Pitching Triple Crown and the last since Francisco Campos of Mazatlan turned the trick in 2003-04.  Leyva, who was called to rest last week by the Atlanta Braves before MLB spring training opens next month, easily outdistanced the POY field with 90.60% of votes cast on 106 of 117 ballots cast by cronistas, while Culiacan's Manny Barreda and Jaime Lugo of Navojoa each picked up four votes and another Mayos pitcher, Marco Carrillo, earned the final three.

LMP Reliever of the Year Casey Coleman

Culiacan closer Casey Coleman earned 99 of 117 votes (84.62%) to win Reliever of the Year honors after leading the LMP with 22 saves, breaking the Tomateros' old mark of 21 set by Jose Silva in 2007-08.  Coleman turned in a microscopic ERA of 1.24 while striking out 37 batters and walking only five over 36.1 innings pitched in 34 appearances.  The ex-Cubs pitcher, whose grandfather and father both pitched in MLB All-Star games during their respective careers, far outdistanced his nearest competitors; Mazatlan's Brandon Cunniff and Los Mochis's Jose Valverde (himself a former MLB All-Star) each picked up seven votes.

LMP Rookie of the Year Jasson Atondo

Continuing the trend of non-competitive awards balloting, Hermosillo second baseman Jasson Atondo received 92 of 117 votes (78.63%) to walk away as this winter's Rookie of the Year.  Besides leading the MexPac with 81 hits, Atondo finished second to teammate Francisco Peguero in batting with a .351 mark after topping the table for a number of weeks before a late-season fade.  Atondo also finished fifth in runs scored with 39.  Navojoa pitcher Jose Isidro Marquez, son of the Mexican League's all-time saves leader, finished second to Atondo with 10 votes (8.55%), followed by Los Mochis middle reliever Daniel Duarte's eight votes (6.84%) and seven votes (5.98%) for Obregon setup man Jesus Aguamea.

LMP Manager of the Year Sergio Gastelum

The voting was much closer for Manager of the Year, which was eventually won by Obregon's first-year skipper Sergio Gastelum, who received 40 of 107 votes to come in at 37.04%.  Gastelum led Oaxaca to a surprise appearance in the Mexican League's Serie del Rey last fall in his managerial debut before the Guerreros fell to Monterrey in the title set and his work with the Yaquis implies that his initial success as a dugout boss with the Guerreros was no fluke.  Gastelum replaced Oscar Robles early in the 2018-19 season with the Yaquis at 3-6 and went on to lead Obregon to a 34-23 record over the 57 games he managed as the Tribe posted the best overall record in the LMP regular season and qualified for the postseason for the first time in three years.  Hermosillo skipper Bronswell Patrick came in second to Gastelum with 29 votes (26.85%), Jalisco manager Roberto Vizcarra was third with 18 votes (16.67%) and Culiacan's now-former manager Robinson Cancel was fourth by picking up 12 votes (11.11%).  Los Mochis helmsman Victor Bojorquez, who has done some great work for the Caneros himself, placed fifth with nine votes (8.33%).


ACAYUCAN TOPS XALAPA FOR LIV CROWN; BOTH QUALIFY FOR L.A.S.

Acayucan Tobis outfielder Yadir Drake

The Acayucan Tobis defeated the Xalapa Chileros, 7-2, Sunday afternoon at Estadio Emiliano Zapata in Oluta (an Acayuca suburb) in the seventh and deciding game of the Veracruz Winter League championship series.  No details of the game were available at BBM's post time. 

The victory gives the Tobis their second consecutive winterball league title and third in the past four seasons.  Acayucan won the Veracruz State Baseball League pennant last year in that circuit's second and final campaign under the guidance of former Brewers pitcher Narciso Elvira, who founded the loop in 2016 after the original LIV shut down operations due to financial difficulties.  Elvira's LVEB also struggled to make ends meet before the reconstituted LIV returned this winter under the leadership of sisters Regina and Fabiola Vazquez Saut.  Many baseball veterans played in the league this winter after Elvira's circuit relied almost entirely on younger (and less-expensive) players for two years, although the LIV retained the LVEB's practice of scheduling games only on weekends.

The Tobis and manager Felix Tejeda, a former Dodgers farmhand and Campeche Piratas reliever, found themselves in a tough spot right off the bat by dropping the first two games of the series at home, losing a 7-5 contest to Xalapa on January 5 and allowing two runs in a heartbreaking 8-6 loss on January 6.  Acayucan fought back the following weekend by scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning in a 11-5 road victory over the Chileros on January 11 but found themselves on the brink of elimination one day later after absorbing an 8-1 defeat.  The Tobis stayed alive and sent the series back to Acayucan by plating five runs in the first inning en route to a resounding 14-4 win in Xalapa as Heber Gomez blasted a grand slam while Yadil Mujica, Rogelio Noris and Eliseo Aldazaba combined for nine hits, five runs and three RBIs to narrow Xalapa's advantage in the best-of-7 set to one game.

The Tobis tied the series at three game apiece Saturday with a 4-1 Game Six win in Acayucan's Estadio Luis Diaz Flores.  The Mexican League's 2017 batting champion, Yadir Drake, had a big night for the Tobis by driving in fellow Cuban Yadil Mujica with the game's first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, doubling in another run in the bottom of the third and launching a solo homer to left in the seventh.  Eleven-year LMB veteran Yancarlo Angulo produced Xalapa's lone run of the game in the top of the ninth by  Tobis starter Jorge Quinones got the win by pitching 5.1 shutout innings while holding the Chileros to two hits.  Rookie Daniel Lobata took the loss for Xalapa.

According to the Latin American Series website, both the Tobis and Chileros will move on to co-host the event's eighth edition.  The six-team, 18-game tournament is scheduled to be played in four ballparks in the state of Veracruz.  The LAS is considered one tier below the Caribbean Series among international winterball events.  The Tobis and Chileros will play league champions from Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama and first-time entrant Argentina.  Curacao, which sent their top team last year, is sitting out this winter's tournament, hence the invite to the LIV runners-up.

Three games will be played on opening day Saturday: Xalapa vs. Panama at Beisborama 72 in Cordoba (a former LMB ballpark) at 1PM local as well as a 2PM doubleheader at Veracruz' Beto Avila Park with Colombia vs. Nicaragua followed by Acayucan vs. Argentina.  The title game is scheduled for February 1, most likely at Beto Avila Park, another former Liga venue with the largest capacity of the four facilities at 7,782 seats. and the site of the first Serie Latinoamericana in 2013.  The 27-year-old stadium served as home this winter for the LIV's Veracruz Rojos, who narrowly missed the postseason.

OAXACA TOPS SULTANES, STAY ALIVE IN SERIE DEL REY

Oaxaca's Samar Leyva stroked a bases-loaded pitch from Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo into the left field corner to bring in Yuniesky Betancourt with the winning run as the Guerreros topped the Sultanes, 6-5, in ten innings Sunday night at Oaxaca's Parque Eduardo Vasconcelos.  The win ended Monterrey's three-game Serie del Rey win streak and brought the Warriors to within a game of the Sultanes, who lead the Mexican League championship series, 3 games to 2.

Game Six is set for Tuesday night in Monterrey.

GAME 1 - Tuesday, October 2

Oaxaca 4-11-0, MONTERREY 1-3-1

W-A. Delgado. L-E. Gonzalez.

Oaxaca pitcher Alex Delgado

Alex Delgado mastered the Sultanes in the opener at Estadio Monterrey, blanking the hosts on two singles before exiting after 93 pitches with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Ex-Yankee Ramiro Pena did double off Samuel Zazueta in the eighth to score Ramon Rios and put the Sultanes on the board, but Oaxaca had been protecting a 4-0 lead since the second inning and a 1-2-3 ninth sealed the opening win on the road for manager Sergio Gastelum's club.

Yuniesky Betancourt doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored another to have a hand in every Oaxaca score but the story was Delgado, who battled out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the third when he induced Pena to pop out to Leyva at short and struck out Agustin Murillo to end the threat.  The 23-year-old Mexicali-born lefty struck out nine and walked two. Former Arizona starter Edgar Gonzalez took the loss for Monterrey in front of 21,909 at home.

GAME 2 - Wednesday, October 3

MONTERREY 7-9-0, Oaxaca 6-12-1.  

W-W. Obispo. L-C. Felix.

Monterrey third baseman Agustin Murillo

Murillo got revenge for his inning-ending whiff the night before in a huge way by drilling a two-run, two-out homer to left off Carlos Felix in the bottom of the ninth to erase a 6-4 Oaxaca lead and what looked like a sure Guerreros win. Two-time 2018 homer champion Felix Perez then launched a Felix pitch into the seats in right center to cap the stunning walkoff win and give the Sultanes a 1-1 split of the first leg of the Serie del Rey before another sellout crowd of 21,909 at Estadio Monterrey.

Perez ended the night with three hits and three runs for the winners, who touched Oaxaca starter Irwin Delgado (Alex' cousin) for four runs on six hits and three walks over the first six frames.  The Guerreros chased Monterrey starter Anthony Vasquez after 2.2 frames by plating five runs on seven hits as Oaxaca outhit the Sultanes, 12 to 6. Alan Sanchez had three safeties for the visitors, driving in three runs.  Wirfin Obispo pitched a scoreless ninth for the win while Felix was tagged with the loss.

GAME 3 - Friday, October 5

Monterrey 5-10-1, OAXACA 1-6-0  

W-J. DePaula. L-R. Acosta.

Monterrey pitcher Jose De Paula

Murillo's revenge carried past last Thursday's travel day and into Game Three in Oaxaca.  The veteran third sacker went 3-for-4 and homering off Erick Casillas in the top of the eighth to cap a night in which he also drove in Ramiro Pena with a second-inning single.  Pena, Julio Borbon and Felix Perez combined for another six hits, four runs and a ribbie for manager Roberto Kelly's Sultanes, who pulled into a 2-games-to-1 series lead in front of 7,000 onlookers in the Parque Eduardo Vasconcelos stands.

Former Yankees prospect Jose De Paula, who had only pitched winterball in his home Dominican Republic since 2015 before hooking on with Monterrey this year, tossed six shutout innings for the Sultanes.  He scattered five hits and a walk while striking out six. Ruddy Acosta absorbed the loss for Oaxaca, getting roughed up for three runs on four hits and three walks over 1.2 innings. The Guerreros got a single and double from Samar Leyva in the defeat.

GAME 4 - Saturday, October 6

Monterrey 3-9-0, OAXACA 2-8-2

W-D. Martinez. L-J.C. Medina.

Monterrey second baseman Ramon Rios

The Sultanes scored three runs in the top of the second, then had to hang on late for a 3-2 win in Oaxaca with 7,150 in attendance.  Jose Amador led off the second with a double off Guerreros starter Jose Carlos Medina, who then gave up consecutive singles to Chris Roberson, Ramon Rios (scoring Amador from third) and Sebastian Elizalde to bring in Roberson.  After an Ali Solis flyout, Julio Borbon's single plated Rios to give the Sultanes a 3-0 lead they carried into the seventh.

That's when Oaxaca fought back with two runs off reliever Felipe Gonzalez, who gave up an RBI triple to Samar Leyva before his pitch to Alejandro Gonzalez eluded catcher Solis, allowing Leyva to score but that's as close as it got.  Sultanes starter Dallas Martinez, another former Yanks farmhand, earned the win with six shutout innings while Medina was charged with the defeat. Amador had two hits for Monterrey while Julian Ornelas singled twice for the Guerreros.

GAME 5 - Sunday, October 7

OAXACA 6-13-1, Monterrey 5-16-1  

W-S. Zazueta. L-W. Obispo.

Oaxaca shortstop Samar Leyva

The Sultanes broke a 1-1 tie by scoring twice in the top of the fourth on a Ramon Rios double and Ali Solis, both with two out, and plating two more runs in the fifth on Ramiro Pena's leadoff homer against Alex Delgado and a Julian Ornelas RBI double to give Monterrey a 5-1 bulge.  With starter Marco Tovar having retired 10 of the last 11 Guerreros batsmen he'd faced since the first, the Sultanes appeared poised to win Monterrey's tenth LMB pennant before a full house of 7,230 hostile Oaxacan witnesses.

Instead, the Guerreros roared back to chase Tovar and tie the game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Julian Ornelas doubled in one run and later scored the tying tally on Henry Urrutia's groundout. The two teams then traded zeros into the bottom of the tenth, when Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo allowed a Yuniesky Betancourt single and walked both Dustin Geiger and Alan Sanchez to load the bases, allowing Samar Leyva's liner to left to bring Betancourt in with the walkoff run.  Obispo was handed the defeat while Guerreros middleman Samuel Zazueta got credit for the win.

Reyes shuts down TJ as Sultanes tie series; rainout in Puebla

The Monterrey Sultanes received another night of top-shelf pitching (this time from starter Jorge Reyes) and a clutch two-run homer in the seventh inning from Agustin Murillo in a 4-1 win over Tijuana Monday night.  The Sultanes evened their Mexican League Northern Division championship series with the Toros at two games apiece as 17,086 looked on at Estadio Monterrey.  In the LMB South title set, Monday's game between Yucatan and Puebla at Estadio Hermanos Serdan in Puebla was rained out.  The host Pericos lead that series, 2 games to 1.

Two contests are scheduled for Tuesday night.  The Leones and defending champion Pericos will try again to get Game Four in when Yucatan sends Jonathan Castellanos to the mound against Puebla starter Andres Meza.  Monterrey will host Tijuana in Game Five of their best-of-seven set.  Pitching matchups were not announced as of late Monday evening, but a rematch of last Thursday's series opener featuring Alex Sanabia of Tijuana and Monterrey's Javier Solano seems likely.  Sanabia and the Toros won Game One, 10-1.


MONTERREY 4-10-0, Tijuana 1-5-1
W-J. Reyes (1-0).  L-Mitre (0-1).  SV-Obispo (2).  A-17,086.  T-3:10.

Two-time Class AA All-Star Jorge Reyes won his second playoff contest for Monterrey, shutting Tijuana down for one run on four hits while striking out eight Toros in six innings as the Sultanes took a 4-1 Game Four victory over the Bulls at home Monday.  Nick Struck followed with two hitless innings of relief before closer Wirfin Obispo recorded his second save in as many nights.

Monterrey drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning after Agustin Murillo got on base after Tijuana opener Sergio Mitre handled Murillo's comeback tapper to the mound, only to have first baseman Jorge Cantu mishandle Mitre's throw to complete the 1-3 groundout.  Murillo took advantage of the miscue by moving to third on Leo German's line-drive double to left and coming in to score when Walter Ibarra grounded out to Cantu.

Reyes' only mistake came in the top of the fifth, when leadoff batter Cantu atoned for his bobble by launching a delivery into the left field stands for a homer, tying the score at 1-1.  The Sultanes regained the lead in the bottom of the frame when Ramon Rios grounded a single up the middle, moved to second on Zoilo Almonte's groundout to second and scored on a Jesus Montero single to right.  Murillo tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh by belting a two-out homer to left center off reliever Carlos Fisher, bringing in Montero from first to raise the Sultanes' lead to 4-1.

It was left to Struck and Obispo to close out the contest with no further scores by Tijuana, although Dustin Martin livened up the ninth by stroking a leadoff single against Obispo, stealing second without drawing a throw and taking third on a wild pitch to Alfredo Amezaga before Obispo struck out Amezaga swinging to earn the save for the second night in a row.  Struck, a 27-year-old righty from Mount Hood Community College in Oregon, has thrived as manager Felix Fermin's setup man in the postseason.  The ex-Cubs farmhand has tossed 9.2 scoreless innings in five playoff appearances, striking out ten and beating Monclova in the August 13 first round opener.

It was Reyes, however, who was the man of the match.  A Southern League All-Star in 2011 as a Padres minor leaguer and Texas League All-Star in 2015 while with the Braves organization, the 29-year-old Oregon State grad threw 59 of his 91 pitches for strikes and retired eleven straight Toros hitters before Cantu's homer.  Reyes had runners reach scoring position twice after that, but exited after the sixth with no further runs scored against him.  Pretty good performance for a guy that Sultanes part-owner Jose Maiz would have insulted for being Mexican-American had he pitched for Tijuana.

Mitre took the loss for Tijuana but the former Yankees reliever did not pitch badly, giving up one earned run and scattering eight hits over five innings, striking out two with no walks.  Mitre's control was even sharper than Reyes' as 55 of his 79 deliveries went for strikes, but that error by Cantu hurt him early and his own rocky fifth inning hurt later.

Pitching rules the night in Monterrey, Puebla clutch wins

Puebla closer Deunte Heath receiving high-fives after win

Although the Mexican League has gained a well-earned reputation as a hitter's league over the decades, both of Sunday's division championship series games were most influenced by the men on the mound.  Puebla starter Jaime Lugo scattered five hits over seven shutout innings to lead the Pericos to a 2-1 home win over Yucatan to take a 2-games-to-1 lead in their LMB South title series.  In the LMB North, Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez combined with two relievers to limit Tijuana to two runs on seven hits in the Sultanes' 4-2 victory against the Toros.  Tijuana still leads that set, 2 games to 1.

Game Four in both series is slated for Monday night.  Yucatan will send Jonathan Castellanos to the mound in Puebla against Pericos starter Andres Meza while in Monterrey, Jorge Reyes will take the hill for the Sultanes against Sergio Mitre and Tijuana.


PUEBLA 2-10-0, Yucatan 1-5-0
W-Heath (1-0).  L-Fr. Rodriguez (1-1).  A-11,812.  T-2:37

Puebla's Jaime Lugo and Yucatan's Jose Samayoa locked up in a pitcher's duel into the seventh inning and the respective bullpens carried it to the end as the Pericos slipped past the Leones, 2-1, on a ninth-inning run Sunday night in Puebla.  A season-high crowd of 11,812 witnessed the proceedings at Estadio Hermanos Serdan in the colonial city.

Lugo and Samayoa swapped zeros until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Pericos catcher (and 2017 LMB batting champ) Cesar Tapia lined a Samayoa delivery over the left field wall for a home run to give Puebla a 1-0 lead.  The Parrots clung to their narrow lead through the seventh, but the Leones tied it up in the top of the eighth when closer Deunte Heath (who was replacing Lugo) was touched for a solo homer to left by Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle.  Heath settled down to retire the side without any further damage and pitched a scoreless ninth, setting up late heroics by Tapia and Alberto Carreon.

Ex-MLB hurler Francisco Rodriguez took over on the hill for Yucatan in the bottom of the ninth and immediately gave up a leadoff single to Tapia, who then advanced to second when Hector Garanzuay walked. Both runners moved up on Sergio Perez' bunt single and Carreon delivered the game-winning blow by smoking a Rodriguez delivery to left, bringing Tapia across with the walkoff run.

Tapia, Perez and Carreon each had two of Puebla's ten hits while Valle singled and homered for Yucatan. While Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings for the Pericos, allowing three hits and striking out five, the win went to Heath, who blew the save on Valle's homer but otherwise had a creditable two-inning appearance. Samayoa let in one run on five hits and one walk over six frames for the Leones, good enough to win most nights, but Rodriguez was tagged with the loss after giving up three hits, a walk and the game-winning run without retiring a batter in the ninth.


MONTERREY 4-9-0, Tijuana 2-7-1
W-Ed. Gonzalez (1-0).  L-M. Pena.  A-23,176.  T-3:04.

Although the pitching in this game wasn't as dominant as the contest in Puebla, former Arizona hurler Edgar Gonzalez turned in a strong performance Sunday in Monterrey as the Sultanes topped Tijuana, 4-2, in Game Three of their LMB North Division championship series.  The Toros still lead the set, 2-games-to-1, but a throng of 23,176 were in the Estadio Monterrey stands to see the Sultanes bounce back after two losses in the border city.

Gonzalez and Toros starter Miguel Pena were both working on shutouts through the first three innings before Tijuana scored the first run of the night in the top of the fourth when Corey Brown clubbed a Gonzalez serving over the wall in right-center field to put the visitors up, 1-0.  Pena was struck by three bolts of lightning in the bottom of the fourth when he gave up solo roundtrippers to Ramon Rios, Luis Juarez and Daniel Mayora to fall behind, 3-1.  Pena recovered to get the final two outs of the inning, but the wounds would prove mortal with Gonzalez shutting down the potent Bulls.  The Sultanes added an insurance run in the fifth when Rios doubled in Chris Roberson.

The Toros did score once more in the top of the sixth on Roberto Lopez' leadoff homer off Gonzalez, but that would prove to be the last hit of the night for Tijuana as Gonzalez, Nick Struck and Wirfin Obispo would combine to allow just one walk en route to recording the final twelve TJ outs of the contest.  The Toros ended the night with seven hits, but the longballs by Brown (who also singled) and Lopez were the only ones of any significance.  Rios had two doubles and a homer for the Sultanes, scoring twice for the winners, while Juarez and Luis Flores each had a pair of hits.

Gonzales tossed six innings of two-run, seven-hit ball for the win, striking out five in a solid performance while Obispo's scoreless ninth was worth a save.  Pena suffered the loss by allowing all four Monterrey runs on five hits in 4.2 entradas, striking out five and walking one.

Linares, Arballo sparkle as Mochis wins title set opener

J.C. Linares socked a two-run homer to stake Los Mochis starter Julian Arballo (pictured with a good reason to smile) a first-inning lead and the former Yankees prospect went on to toss six innings of shutout ball as the Caneros topped Mexicali, 3-1, Saturday in the opening game of the Mexican Pacific League championship series.  An SRO crowd of 11,132 jammed into the Caneros' venerable Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada, which opened in 1947 as Estadio Mochis.

LOS MOCHIS 3-4-0, Mexicali 1-9-0

After the visiting Aguilas were held scoreless in the top of the first, Mexicali starter Miguel Pena got the first two Mochis outs of the bottom of the frame before walking Lew Ford.  Pena was one strike away from retiring the side when Linares cracked a homer over the wall in left center to put the Caneros up, 2-0.  From that point, Arballo and Pena were locked in a pitcher's duel that lasted through the sixth with no more scoring from either side. A leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh by Ford off a Pena pitch brought the Mochis lead to three.  After Pena allowed a Linares single next, Mexicali skipper Roberto Vizcarra came to the mound and waved in Edgar Gomez from the bullpen.  Gomez finished the inning without further damage, but the only sign of life the Aguilas would show the rest of the night was a Ramon Rios solo homer in the eighth off Oliver Perez, a reinforcement pickup from Culiacan.  For all intent and purposes, the night belonged to Arballo and the Caneros bullpen as Sergio Romo recorded the final three Mexicali outs in the top of the ninth to end the game and earn the save.

Arballo allowed only six baserunners over his six innings, all on singles with only Xorge Carrillo reaching second base.  The Cal Baptist product struck out six in his 82-pitch outing as five Caneros pitchers combined to whiff ten Mexicali batsmen.  Despite allowing all three Mochis runs on two homers in six innings of work, Pena did not pitch badly.  The left-handed Texan, who spent four years in the Red Sox system, only allowed two other hits, walked one and struck out four.  All Pena was lacking over 78 pitches was luck as his Aguilas teammates actually outhit Mochis, 9-to-4.  Jason Bourgeois (a reinforcement from Hermosillo) and Yuniesky Betancourt each had two hits for Mexicali.  Linares, himself a former Bosox farmhand who was Pena's teammate at Portland in 2013, had two safeties for the Caneros, including the biggest one.

Game Two will be played Sunday night at 5PM MST (0000 UTC) in Los Mochis.  After Monday's travel day, the next three games of the title series are scheduled to be played in Mexicali, all at 7:30PM PST (0330 UTC) in the 17,000-seat Estadio B'Air, or La Nida (The Nest).  The Caneros are looking for their fourth pennant since their first season in 1947.  Their last championship came in 2002-03.  Mexicali has won three flags since their 1976 debut, most recently in 1998-99.  The 1985-86 Aguilas went on to win the Caribbean Series under Salon de la Fama manager Ben "Cananea" Reyes.

Mexicali pounds Navojoa, Mazatlan stays alive

The Mexicali Aguilas routed top-seed Navojoa, 14-1, Friday to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in their Mexican Pacific League first round playoff series.  Also Friday, the Mazatlan Venados prevented a Los Mochis sweep with a tight 7-6 win in the Pearl of the Pacific while Hermosillo evened up with Culiacan at two games each by doubling up the Tomateros, 8-4.  Game Five action is slated for Saturday in Mazatlan, Mexicali and Hermosillo before the series shift locales on Sunday as needed.

MEXICALI 14-16-0, Navojoa 1-3-1
Believe it or not, the Mayos led this one early.  After a scoreless first inning, Navojoa went up 1-0 in the top of the second when Christian Zazueta drilled a two-out double to left field off Mexicali starter Miguel Pena, scoring Niko Vazquez from third base. The roof promptly caved in for the visitors as the Aguilas scored five runs in the bottom of the second and three in the third to go up 8-1.  The two teams swapped zeros from the fourth frame until the bottom of the sixth, when the Eagles erupted for four more runs to make it a 12-1 game.  The hosts added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth as 15,577 people watched at  Estadio B'Air in the border city.

Key scoring plays for the Aguilas were Yuniesky Betancourt's three-run double in the second inning, RBI doubles by Ramon Rios and C.J. Retherford in the third, Jon Del Campo's three-run homer in the sixth and Rios' two-run longball in the eighth.  In all, Mexicali collected 16 hits and 6 walks off five Navojoa pitchers, with Mayos starter Fabio Castro (1 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 4 BB) taking the loss after allowing the first Mexicali batters to reach base in the second, including a leadoff homer from Mets farmhand Xorge Carrillo (pictured).  The bottom third of the order did the most damage for the winners as Carrillo, Del Campo and Rios combined for 11 hits (including three homers and two doubles), 9 runs scored and 8 RBIs.

All that offense made life easy for Aguilas starter Pena, who lasted seven innings and gave up just three hits and one run, walking none and whiffing three for the win.  Yair Lozoya and Francisco Rodriguez each turned in 1-2-3 innings in relief against the shellshocked Mayos.


MAZATLAN 7-5-2, Los Mochis 6-9-5

It wasn't pretty, but Mazatlan manager Daniel Fernandez wasn't in the position to be choosy about how his team won.  The defending LMP and Caribbean Series champion Venados parlayed five hits, two walks and five Los Mochis into a 7-6 home win over the Caneros Friday night.  In doing so, the Deer stayed alive by bringing their series deficit to 3 games to 1.  A crowd of just 8.572 was on hand at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, the lowest attendance of all twelve postseason encounters involving six cities.  It's been a season-long puzzle for Mazatlan, the only MexPac team to draw fewer than 200,000 fans during the regular season (albeit barely below that number).

Mazatlan went up 2-0 on Jesus Fabela's RBI single in the second inning and Drew Maggi scampering home on a double-play grounder in the third entrada.  Los Mochis roared back with three runs in the fourth, taking the lead when Sebastian Valle lumbered in from third on a Jesus Sanchez wild pitch, and racked up three more scores in the fifth (key blow: two-run double from Fernando Inzunza) to take a 6-2 lead.  The Venados got one run back in the bottom of the fifth when Fabela scored on a double-play grounder, ironically topped by Maggi, to cut Mochis' lead to three.  Mazatlan drew even with three runs in the seventh, tying the score when Caneros reliever Jon Sintes uncorked a wild pitch to Cyle Hankerd, allowing Roberto Valenzuela to come in from third.  The Venados won in walkoff fashion when Fabela opened the bottom ninth by beating out an errant throw to first by Mochis shortstop Isaac Rodriguez, moved to second on a Valenzuela sacrifice bunt and scored on Maggi's line drive single to right, ending the contest.

Arturo Barradas went a third of an inning in the ninth as the last Mazatlan pitcher and his one out was enough for him to be the winning pitcher.  Ernesto Zaragos started for the Venados and struck out six in 3.1 innings, but he also let in three runs on four hits and three walks over 76 pitches before skipper Fernandez had finally had enough (conversely, home plate umpire Oswaldo Meza had finally had enough of Fernandez in the eighth and tossed him.  Sintes both blew a save opportunity and took the loss despite 20 of his 29 pitches going for strikes.  The real story for Mochis pitchers was that of seven runs allowed by three pitchers, only two were earned as the trio otherwise combined on a five-hitter.


HERMOSILLO 8-7-2, Culiacan 4-7-2

Outfielder Jason Bourgeois scored three runs on two hits (including a homer) and a walk as the Hermosillo Naranjeros topped the Culiacan Tomateros, 8-4, Friday with a standing-room-only crowd of 16,302 at Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora.  The first-round series is now tied at two games apiece.

The contest was tied ar 2-2 when Bourgeois led off the bottom of the third inning with a single and sped to third on Carlos Gastelum's single to left.  Bourgeois then scored on a sacrifice fly, Gastelum took second when Culiacan reliever Jose Sanchez balked with O'Koyea Dickson batting.  Clearly rattled, Sanchez then walked both Dickson and Dustin Martin to load the bases for Jose Amador.  At this point, Tony Cordova came in for Sanchez and induced Amador to ground into a fielder's choice, with Gastelum coming in from third to make it a 4-2 Hermosillo lead.  The Naranjeros added two more runs during another crazy inning in the fourth (two singles, three walks, two wild pitches) and were never threatened again.  In all, Culiacan pitchers issued nine walks, hit a batter and allowed seven base hits for a total of 17 baserunners.  Amazingly, the Naranjeros were only 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position yet still scored eight times.  Ryan Lollis and Oscar Robles each had two singles for the Tomateros.

The recipient of all the Culiacan mound staff largesse was Naranjeros starter Pablo Ortega, who turned 40 in November.  The ageless righty struck out seven in five innings but it was anything but smooth sailiing.  Ortega let in four runs on five hits and a pair of free passes, but still got the win.  Gerardo Sanchez was tagged with the loss for the Tomateros but it was a group effort by the eight pitchers who saw duty.  Victor Marte did toss 2.2 hitless innings in relief with four strikeouts, but Marte also let fly with a bases-loaded wild pitch that brought Bourgeois in from third.

It was that kind of night.