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.

Yucatan beats Leon in 11 on Francisco HR, lead series 2-0

Yucatan Leones designated hitter Juan Francisco

Designated hitter Juan Francisco was hitless as he approached the plate for what turned out to be his final at bat of the night, but the former Atlanta Braves infielder more than made it for it by belting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eleventh inning to give his Yucatan Leones a 5-3 win over the visiting Leon Bravos in their Mexican League South Division semifinal playoff series game in Merida.  The LMB South regular season champs now have a 2-0 lead in their best-of-7 set as the two teams move to Leon for at least two more games.

In the other LMB South semi Monday night, defending champs Puebla defeated Quintana Roo, 5-2, to go up 2-0.  In the LMB North opening round, Tijuana rebounded to beat Aguascalientes, 6-3, to even their series at 1-1 while Monterrey held off Monclova, 6-5, taking a 2-0 lead in that series.  Tuesday will be a travel day as all eight participants shift to ballparks in the cities of the lower-seeded teams for their respective Games Three on Wednesday night.

YUCATAN 5-8-0, Leon 3-10-0 (11)
W-Belisario (1-0).  L-F. Quintero (0-1).  T-9,682.  A-3:41.
Visiting Leon was able to build a 3-0 lead after Junior Lake scored from third base on a Niko Vasquez infield single in the top of the fourth inning, followed two frames later when Dan Johnson singled in Gilberto Mejia and a Vasquez sacrifice fly plated Lake.  Yucatan narrowed the gap to 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh when a groundout to first by ex-MLBer Juan Francisco brought in Diego Madero from third to break up Bravos pitcher Guillermo Moscoco's shutout bid.  Leon held their two-run advantage until the bottom of the ninth, when Ronnier Mustelier's run-scoring single to left brought in Leo Heras and a Francisco sac fly plated Diego Madera with the tying run, sending the contest into extra innings.  In the eleventh, Mustelier line a single to right, setting the stage for Francisco against incoming reliever Sergio Alvarado.  Francisco drove an Alvarado delivery over the left-field wall for the walkoff triumph.  Former Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario tossed three perfect innings for the win, striking out four, as the Leones took a 2-0 series lead.  Game Three is in Leon Wednesday.

PUEBLA 5-10-1, Quintana Roo 2-5-1
W-Outman (0-1).  L-Ortega (0-1).  A-7,305.  T-2:16.
Puebla broke a scoreless tie by putting three runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning and the Pericos went on to a 5-2 win over visiting Quintana Roo Tigres, taking a 2 games to 0 series lead in the process.  Starting pitchers Josh Outman of Puebla and venerable Pablo Ortega of the Tigres swapped zeros until the fourth, when an Issmael Salas double was followed by a homer to right by Jesus Arredondo to give the Parrots a 2-0 lead.  Ricky Rodriguez then hit a ground-rule double over the center-field wall and scored from second one out later on Hector Garanzuay's single to right.  Salas finished the night with two doubles and a single, scoring once and driving in two, while Garanzuay contributed a pair of singles to give the Pericos middle infielders five of Puebla's ten hits between them. Former MLB hurler Outman went eight innings for the win, giving up one earned run.  Deunte Heath, another ex-big leaguer, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.  Ortega, who turns 41 in November, let in five runs on nine hits in five innings for the loss.  Game Three is Wednesday in Cancun.

TIJUANA 6-8-1, Aguascalientes 3-9-1
W-M. Pena (1-0).  L-Flande (0-1).  A-15,327.  T-3:46.
Tijuana leadoff batter Jose Guadalupe Chavez collected three hits, scoring twice, and the Toros posted four runs (three unearned) in the bottom of the third inning to take a lead they'd never relinquish as the LMB North's top seed beat Aguascalientes, 6-3, Wednesday as 15,327 fans watched at Estadio Gasmart.  The Toros' win evened their series with the visiting Rieleros, 1 game to 1.  Aguascalientes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Dave Sappelt's two-out double up the middle brought in Eliezer Ortiz from first.  Things got rugged for Rieleros starter Yohan Flande in the bottom of the third as he walked Roberto Lopez to open the frame, committed a fielding error on a Chavez bunt and walked Dustin Martin to load the bases after striking out Isaac Rodriguez.  Flande then served up a two-run single to Cyle Hankerd. A Corey Brown sacrifice fly scored Martin with TJ's third run and Alex Liddi's single brought in Hankerd with a fourth score.  Miguel Pena pitched five strong innings for the win while Flande took the loss.  Game Three is slated for Wednesday night in Aguascalientes.

MONTERREY 6-14-2, Monclova 5-8-2
W-A. Castro (1-0).  L-R. Verdugo (0-1).  A-18,543.  T-3:22.
The Monterrey Sultanes built up a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning, then had to hold on for dear life to outlast the Monclova Acereros, 6-5, Monday to take a 2-0 lead in their series.  Jesus Montero's RBI single put the Sultanes ahead, 1-0, in the bottom of the first but it was a four-run third inning, keyed by Luis Juarez' three-run homer, that provided most of the Monterrey cushion.  Trailing 6-1 late, Monclova shaved one run off their deficit when Ruben Rivera belted a solo homer to lead off the eighth, but it was the ninth when things really got interesting.  Sultanes closer Wirfin Obispo replaced starter Angel Castro and gave up a leadoff walk to Carlos Quentin before striking out Matt Clark.  Quentin stole second uncontested with Tim Torres at the plate and scored on Torres' single to center.  2016 All-Star Game MVP Jose Amador then belted a two-run homer to make it a 6-5 contest before Obispo got the final two outs to end the game, then making an obscene gesture toward the Monclova dugout.  Montero and Zoilo Almonte each had three hits for the Sultanes, who travel to Monclova for Wednesday's Game Three.

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Yucatan at Leon (Yucatan leads series, 2 games to 0)
Puebla at Quintana Roo (Puebla leads series, 2 games to 0)
Tijuana at Aguascalientes (Series tied, 1 game to 1)
Monterrey at Monclova (Monterrey leads series, 2 games to 0)

LMB Division Championships result, highlights for Monday, August 29

MONTERREY 3-9-0, Tijuana 0-3-0 (Monterrey leads series, 2 games to 0)
W-Ma. Gonzalez. L-M. Pena. HR-Murillo (T). T-2:43. A-25,896.
Agustin Murillo's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning all but put the finishing touches on the Sultanes' 3-0 whitewash of Tijuana in their rain-delayed Game Two of the LMB North championship series in front of nearly 26,000 fans at Estadio Monterrey Monday.  The Sultanes had taken a 1-0 lead over the Toros at the bottom of the second frame Sunday afternoon when a cloudburst caused the umpires to suspend the contest for a day.  Five Monterrey pitchers combined on the three-hitter. with Mario Gonzalez credited with the win and Wirfin Obispo collecting the save.


TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Yucatan at Puebla (Estadio Hermanos Serdan) 8:00pm EDT