Mayora falls one game short of Liga hit streak record

Durango Generales third baseman Daniel Mayora went 0-for-2 in a Tuesday night home game against Leon to see his hitting streak come to an end at 35 games.  Mayora's skein brought him to within one game of tying the Mexican League record of 36 consecutive games with a hit, set in 2000 by third baseman Luis de los Santos of Saltillo and tied by Quintana Roo second sacker Carlos Gastelum in 2012.

Mayora's last hitless game had come on May 5 against Union Laguna during the Generales' first-ever homestand following a month of games on the road to open the season while Estadio Francisco Villa was undergoing renovations needed to host the former Carmen Delfines.  The streak opened one night later when Mayora topped an Enrique Legucha pitch to send a slow roller to third and beat Jaime Pedroza's throw to first for an infield single for his only safety in a 1-for-5 outing.  Not the most auspicious start, perhaps, but from that game forward, Mayora went more than six weeks without being held hitless while seeing his batting average rise from .323 to a .363 mark.  Until Tuesday.

Batting in the cleanup slot, Mayora had no luck against Leon's crafty veteran starter Walter Silva, lining out to right fielder Junior Lake to open the second inning, drawing an inning-opening walk in the fourth and grounding out to third baseman Miguel Torrero to lead off the bottom of the seventh.  Mayora's last chance for a hit came in the ninth with the score tied at 2-2, but had the bat taken out of his hands when Leon reliever Fernando Villalobos intentionally walked him to set up a double play after Henry A. Rodriguez had bunted Daniel Nunez from first to second base.  That strategy became moot two batsmen later when Jairo Perez launched a three-run walkoff homer to give the Generales a 5-2 win.

The versatile Mayora, who can also play second base and shortstop when not manning the hot corner, is in his first Mexican League season but is no rookie.  The 5'11" product of Venezuela, who'll turn 32 next month, is a case study in persistence.  Mayora signed with Colorado as a free agent in 2005 and began his pro career with the Rockies' Casper affiliate in the rookie Pioneer League, hitting .263 with 1 homer.  Mayora spent a total of six season in the Colorado system, reaching as high as AA Tulsa, topping the .300 mark twice while being named to the Northwest League All-Star Team in 2006 and getting a South Atlantic League All-Star Team berth in 2007.

He opted for free agency after the 2010 season and began to bounce around the minors, first by signing on with Tampa Bay and splitting 2011 between Rays affiliates in AA Montgomery and AAA Durham and batting a combined .288 with 9 homers while being tabbed for the Southern League All-Star Game.  Mayora then inked a free agent deal with San Francisco for 2012 and hit .281 at AA Richmond, earning a nod for the Eastern League All-Star Game that year (his fifth such selection in six years).

Even so, the Giants released him the next March and he ended up spending 2013 with Bridgeport of the independent Atlantic League and hit .306 for the Bluefish, earning yet another All-Star Game call. That was enough for the Dodgers to sign him after the season and ship him to AA Chattanooga in 2014, where Mayora posted a .302 average with the Lookouts.  He spent yet another year in AA for the 2015 campaign, this time for the Dodgers' Tulsa farm club, and batted .248 while battling injuries.

Once again, the 5'11" infielder chose free agency after the season but this time signed on with Rimini of the Italian Baseball League for 2016 and hit .311 in 33 games to finish eleventh in the batting race for the Coppa Italia champions.  Mayora has also spent nine seasons with the Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League, batting .281 for the Leones over that span.  His career average at all levels since 2005 is .294 over 1,523 games with 105 homers and 135 stolen bases.

It's been a long and winding road for Daniel Mayora, who's making the most of his first Mexican League campaign.  He appeared in his seventh All-Star Game in six leagues Sunday in Campeche, grounding out to short in his only plate appearance after replacing Tijuana's Alex Liddi at third base in the fifth inning.  He was batting .364 (eighth in the LMB) after going 2-for-3 in Durango's 4-1 win over Leon Wednesday night.

Cantu named to MLB's World Baseball Classic All-Time Team

While eleven years is usually a little early to name an "all-time team" for pretty much everything, Major League Baseball has constructed such a collection of ballplayers from past World Baseball Classics (an event that debuted in 2006 and has subsequently been held in 2009 and 2013).  Reynosa native Jorge Cantu, who played for Mexico in all three previous WBC's, was named as the third baseman on an All-Time Team that includes the likes of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez and Cooperstown candidates Miguel Cabrera and Ichiro Suzuki.

Cantu got the nod ahead of Dominican Adrian Beltre (another HOF-worthy player) and Yuriesky Gurriel of Cuba, according to Matt Kelly of MLB.com.  The former Rays infielder batted .317 with four homers and 17 RBIs in 15 total WBC contests.  Cantu had a memorable 2009 Classic, raking for a .360 average including five doubles, a pair of longballs and six ribbies in four games as Mexico advanced to the second round of the tournament before being knocked out by Cuba.

Here is MLB.com's All-Time WBC Team:

PITCHER - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japan
CATCHER - Ivan Rodriguez, Puerto Rico
FIRST BASE - Miguel Cabrera, Venezuela
SECOND BASE - Robinson Cano, Dominican Republic
THIRD BASE - Jorge Cantu, Mexico
SHORTSTOP - Jimmy Rollins, USA
LEFT FIELD - Yoenis Cespedes, Cuba
CENTER FIELD - Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rico
RIGHT FIELD - Ichiro Suzuki, Japan
DESIGNATED HITTER - Frederich Cepeda, Cuba

What's ironic about Cantu's selection is that the 35-year-old had reportedly indicated interest in playing in his fourth WBC, which begins Thursday when Mexico hosts Italy in a Pool D game at Guadalajara's Estadio Jalisco.  However, even with the recent roster churn from players choosing to remain in their spring training camps north of the border, Cantu's phone has yet to ring.

He certainly has the bonafides, with an eight-year MLB career for five teams that netted a .271 average, 104 homers and 476 RBIs.  Cantu was named by Tampa Bay sportswriters as the Rays' 2006 MVP after whacking 28 homers and driving in 117 runs to go with a .289 average.   Two years later, he knocked out a career-high 29 homers as Tampa Bay set a record with four infielders each hitting 25+ homers in the same season.

Since his last major league campaign in 2011, Cantu eventually landed in Quintana Roo for 2013, and hit .270 with 31 homers in 83 games for the pennant-winning Tigres.  That led to a year in Korea, where he batted .309 with 18 homers for the Doosan Bears in 2014 before returning to the Mexican League the following year.  After another productive season in Cancun, aiding the Tigres to another Liga title with a .351 average, 25 homers and 100 RBIs, Cantu was sent Tijuana after a slow start last year and wound up playing 82 games but only posting .225/7/43 numbers for the Toros.  He'll be back with manager Pedro Mere's club again this year.

But he'd really prefer to be in Guadalajara this week.

Kyle Farnsworth signs with Reynosa, tosses two scoreless frames against Aguascalientes

Kyle Farnsworth's long strange trip through the world of sports has taken him to Reynosa, where the 16-year MLB veteran reliever signed a contract with the Mexican League Broncos last weekend.

This is not the Wichita native's first go-round in the Liga.  Farnsworth spent part of last season in Puebla, where he was 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in 17 appearances for the Pericos.  Prior to signing with Reynosa, the 6'4" 230-pound righty was playing minor league amateur football with the Orlando Phantoms of the Florida Football Alliance.

The sometimes-controversial Farnsworth has been one of the more well-traveled players in the Majors since his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1999, going 5-9 with a 5.09 ERA as a starter that year before being converted into a middle reliever the following spring.  After six seasons calling Wrigley Field home, Farnsworth's journey through the bigs took him to Detroit, Atlanta, New York, Detroit (again), Kansas City, Atlanta (again), Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and New York (again, this time with the Mets) between 2005 and 2014.  In 893 appearances during his MLB career, Farnsworth had a 43-66 record with 57 saves, including 25 for the Rays in 2013, with a 4.26 ERA.

Farnsworth made his first appearance Sunday against Aguascalientes in Reynosa, pitching scoreless ball in the eighth and ninth innings and striking out three as the Broncos fell, 1-0.  Seventeen of his 24 pitches were strikes.

TIGRES GM VALENZUELA NAMED ASSOCIATE SCOUT FOR TAMPA BAY

Quintana Roo Tigres sports manager Mario Valenzuela has joined the Tampa Bay Rays staff as an associate scout. It’s Valenzuela’s second talent-searching stint for Tampa Bay, having done some scouting between 1999 and 2004. He also was a team scout for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 1996.

An offer was reportedly made to Valenzuela to return to work for the Rays last February, when Tampa Bay scouting chief Carlos Alfonso was in Cancun to take a look at fellow Cuban Leslie Anderson, one of 20 players who defected from the island nation on a boat to Mexico just prior to last year’s Baseball World Cup. The 28-year-old Anderson signed with the Rays for a reported $3.75 million.

Valenzuela, who will continue his duties with the Tigres, will be an associate under the Rays’ top scout in Mexico, Oaxaca Guerreros manager Eddy Diaz.