SULTANES ONE WIN FROM SERIE DEL REY, LMB SOUTH TIED AT 1-1

Does this picture really need a caption?

The Monterrey Sultanes stand one game away from a berth in the Serie del Rey (Series of Kings) after winning the first three games of their Mexican League North Division Championship Series over Monclova.  Monterrey is seeking their tenth LMB pennant since the team's 1939 inception while the Acereros are chasing Monclova's first Liga flag.  The two teams have met nine times in the playoffs, with Monterrey winning eight of them while Sutanes skipper Roberto Kelly is trying to outmanage his Monclova counterpart, Pedro Mere, for a LMB North title a second time this year (Mere was dugout boss in Tijuana in the Spring season).

Monterrey opened the series last Thursday with a 4-3 win in Monclova as Yadir Drake belted a tiebreaking solo homer in the top of the ninth and Sultanes closer Wirfin Obispo struck out Cade Gotta swinging in the bottom of the frame to close out the game and earn the save.  Setup man Nick Struck pitched a scoreless eighth to qualify for the win while Zack Segovia (who gave up the Drake longball) took the loss for the Acereros.  Monterrey leadoff hitter Julio Borbon had three hits, including a solo homer off Monclova starter Andre Rienzo.  Erick Aybar singled and socked a solo homer for the Acereros.

A two-run roundtripper by two-time LMB home run champion Felix Perez gave Monterrey a 5-3 lead in Game Two's third inning as the Sultanes went on to score twice more in the top of the fourth (courtesy of a two-run Borbon bomb) and sail to a 7-3 win Friday.  Monclova ace Josh Lowey had an uncharacteristic bad outing, giving up seven runs on as many hits (including homers by Perez, Borbon and Agustin Murillo on a solo blast in the top of the first) in four innings to earn the loss.  Darin Downs struck out four Acereros batsmen in 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the win.  The game took over five hours to complete (including a two-hour rain delay), ending after 12:30 in the morning.

Returning home with a 2-0 advantage, the Sultanes added to Monclova owner Gerardo Benavides' misery by topping his Acereros again on Sunday, 8-6, as 15,758 watched at Estadio Monterrey (a total of 17,000 fans attended the first two games at 11,000-seat Estadio Monclova).  No late heroics required in this one either, as Monterrey built an 8-0 lead after three innings and coasted to the win.  Jose Amador and Ramiro Pena homered for the Sultanes while Drake sent his second ball to the streets in three games with a three-run dinger (Amador's also rang up three on the scoreboard).   Monterrey starter Edgar Gonzalez faded after a strong start but stayed ahead long enough for the win despite overall so-so numbers of four runs on eight hits in five innings as the Acereros fought back to within two runs by game's end.  Rienzo, who had a terrific regular season for Monclova but has struggled in two outings against Monterrey in this series, took the loss after allowing Amador's three-run longball in the first inning (the only one he would pitch, it turned out).  If the Acereros lose this series, what will Mere's job running the team with a volatile owner ike Benavides be worth?

Monterrey outlasted Tijuana in seven games to advance past the first round, with that series ended by a 4-3 win on the road last Tuesday as the Sultanes survived two Jorge Cantu homers and a late surge by the Toros in the form of a two-run bottom of the ninth off Obispo, who continued to struggle a bit before getting Jose Guadalupe Chavez on a swinging strikeout with tying run Dustin Martin standing on second to end the game (and Tijuana's season with the Toros' second consecutive LMB North finals loss in 2018).  Monclova had the LMB's best record in the fall season before eliminating Dos Laredos in the opening round to advance to the LMB North finals.

The Sultanes will try to close out the series at home Monday night (and will host Game Five as well, if needed, on Tuesday).
 

GUERREROS BOP DIABLOS TO KNOT LMB SOUTH FINALS AT 1-1

Yuniesky Betancourt saluting his fans in Yucatan

Yuniesky Betancourt went 4-for-6 with two homers and three RBIs as his Oaxaca Guerreros manhandled their "big brother" Mexico City Diablos, 13-3,  in Sunday's rain-delayed Game Two of the Mexican League South Division Championship Series afternoon in front of 5,425 at a packed Estadio Fray Nano in the nation's capital.  The win evened the series at one game apiece.

Betancourt, who brought attention to himself in less glorious fashion after a first-round game last week (more on that later), put the Guerreros ahead 1-0 in the top of the first with a two-out solo homer off Diablos' starter Patrick Johnson on Saturday.  The hosts fought back and carried a rain-delayed 3-1 lead into Sunday before Oaxaca regained the nod with four runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by Julian Ornelas' two-run single.  The Warriors never looked back and Betancourt's two-run homer in the ninth capped the scoring.  Irwin Delgado took the Game Two win after five innings in relief on Sunday, giving up three runs, while Gonzalo Sanudo absorbed the loss for Mexico City. 

The Diablos won the series opener Friday, 8-6, before 5,842 aficionados as Mexico City fans are finally coming out to support their 16-time champions, who drew an average gathering of 2,613 attendance per opening during the regular season (11th in the Liga).  Red Devils shortstop Juan Carlos Gamboa gave the home fans something to cheer about with a fourth-inning grand slam off Oaxaca starter Jose Medina, erasing a 4-0 Guerreros lead with one swing.  A Michael Choice double later in the same frame plated David Vidal with the go-ahead run, but the visitors reclaimed the advantage with two runs in the top of the fifth, including Henry Urrutia's leadoff homer against Diablos starter Octavio Acosta.  Mexico City took the lead back for good in the bottom of the fifth when Vidal singled Luis Jimenez in with the tying run and later scoring the eventual game-winner on an Emmanuel Avila groundout.  Arturo Lopez retired two batters in relief for the Diablos and was given the win for short work while Axel Rios took the loss for Oaxaca.

The Diablos advanced to the LMB South title set by eliminating Puebla in the first round, 4 games to 1, wrapping up the series last Sunday.  Defending champion Yucatan stretched Oaxaca to a seventh game before the Guerreros prevailed, 5-2, in extra innings last Thursday in Merida as Jay Austin capped a three-run top of the eleventh with a two-run homer.  After the game, Betancourt (who played for the Leones last year) waved to some of his former Yucatan fans but failed to raise his thumb and three of his remaining four fingers in the effort.  Maybe he was tired.

Game Three of the LMB South title set is slated for Tuesday at Oaxaca's Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos.  The current Diablos-Guerreros series has created some controversy simply from its makeup.  Billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu owns both teams, something allowed in Mexican baseball, and the relationship is somewhat similar to that of the New York Yankees and Kansas City A's in the late Fifties and early Sixties...if that relationship seemed almost incestuous, this one would bring a Child Protective Services caseworker rapping at the door with sheriff's deputy in tow.  Harp, who has reportedly been angered by the LMB rulings against his Diablos in both the Rookiegate scandal and the upholding of slugger Japhet Amador's suspension in Japan (see below), is in a can't-lose position since ONE of his teams will reach the Serie del Rey.  Even then, he loses because if Mexico City wins, they were SUPPOSED to while if the Guerreros advance, that means "suspended" (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) Diablos GM Francisco "Pollo" Minjares loaded the wrong team.


NPB RATIFIES AMADOR SUSPENSION, SIX-MONTH BAN UPHELD

DH Japhet Amador is expected back in Jalisco

Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball has ratified the six-month suspension handed to Mexican slugger Japhet Amador on August 9 after the Rakuten Golden Eagles designated hitter tested positive for chlorthalidone and furosemide, both banned substances that can serve as "masking agents" for performance-enhancing drugs.  The Eagles appealed the suspension on August 22, the last day an appeal could be filed before a deadline passed, and the NPB eventually ratified its initial decision.

Amador tested positive after giving a urine sample following a June 13 interleague game against the Chunichi Dragons at home in Sendai.  The 6'4" "El Gigante de Mulege" first offered testimony at a July 30 hearing, saying he'd never knowingly take a banned substance but declining to appeal the test results, and gave another explanation on September 4.  The NPB ratification was handed down Friday and marks the fifth time that Japanese baseball's governing body has suspended a player for doping since drug testing was introduced in 2007; Amador's suspension is the first since 2011.

The massive Amador was hitting .269 with 20 homers over 62 Pacific League games this summer when abdominal pain sidelined him on July 3, according to the Mainichi website in Tokyo, after a slow start that saw Amador shipped to the minors for a short spell.  In three seasons with the Eagles, he's batted .250 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 222 games.  Amador came to Japan following a banner year in Mexico, beginning with a Mexican League MVP season for Mexico City after hitting .346 with an LMB-leading 41 homers over 103 contests and culminating in a winterball season in Jalisco, where he hit .288 with another 14 homers over 58 games before signing with Rakuten and heading to Japan, missing the Mexican Pacific League playoffs.

The Mexican League chose to honor Amador's regular season ban, preventing him from playing for the Diablos Rojos this summer. Diego Alejandro Reos of Informador.mx says Amador is expected to report to the Guadalajara team for training camp this Thursday, as per Charros' GM Ray Padilla.  "It's very important to have him from the start," Padilla said, "and more because he'll come to take 20 days of training and that'll be great for us.  He'll surely get into a good rhythm and help us a lot from the first game."  Regarding Amador's NPB ban, Padilla offered this (translated) quote: "These are situations that are foreign to us, to our organization, so we cannot comment at this time.

"It is benefitting us instead of harming us.  If he made a mistake he will show his face, but in no way does it affect us."

MONCLOVA, DIABLOS ADVANCE TO DIVISION FINALS

Monclova and Mexico City have both reached their respective Mexican League division finals for the Fall 2018 playoffs by copping first round wins in five games over Dos Laredos and Puebla, respectively.  The two teams clinched their division semifinals Sunday with home wins.  Being a host team has not been a guarantee of success thus far in the playoffs:  Of the 20 games played through Sunday, ten were won by the visiting team.  The most extreme example has come in the Yucatan-Oaxaca series, during which the visiting team won the first four games before the Guerreros topped the defending champion Leones, 5-1, Sunday in Oaxaca's Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos.


LMB NORTH SEMIS: MONCLOVA 4, DOS LAREDOS 1

Monclova IF Danny Espinosa at bat

The Acereros won the first two games of the series at home before copping two of three games on the road at Estadio Nuevo Laredo to move on to the LMB North Championship Series.  Monclova opened last Monday by winning an 11-10 slugfest thriller in which the Acereros' Francisco Peguero launched a walkoff solo homer in the bottom of the tenth inning off Tecolotes reliever Tyson Perez.  Peguero, who finished seventh in the Liga's regular season batting derby with a .368 average, aided Monclova's cause earlier in the evening with a three-run double in the eighth.  The Acereros followed up last Tuesday by topping the Tecos, 7-4, as two-time MVP Jesse Castillo and former MLB infielder Danny Espinosa each belted two-run homers to pace Monclova's attack in Game Two.

The series shifted to the Mexico-Texas border for the next three games, with the Tecos winning Thursday's Game Three, 7-2, thanks in no small part to Josh Rodriguez' three-run homer in the second inning.  Former Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown (who cracked 27 homers for Philadelphia in 2013) aided the Dos Laredos cause by going 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and another counter driven in.  Monclova came back Friday after trailing 4-2 through the fourth inning to score six unanswered runs in an 8-4 Game Five victory.  Castillo pounded a three-run longball in the fifth to put the Acereros ahead while Chad Gotta and Espinosa both added homers in the sixth and seventh frames respectively.  After Game Five in Nuevo Laredo was rained out Saturday, the Acereros closed out the series with a 3-1 triumph.  Ace Josh Lowey, who finished 6-3 in the regular season, held the Tecos to one run on four hits over 7.2 innings to earn the win as Espinosa capped a solid first round performance by going 2-for-3 with a double, run and RBI while Juan Perez socked a two-run homer.

The Acereros will next play the winner of the Tijuana-Monterrey series in the North finals, beginning later this week.


LMB NORTH SEMIS: MONTERREY 3, TIJUANA 2

Monterrey IFs Agustin Murillo and Ramiro Pena

The teams split the first two games of the set in Tijuana, with the visiting Sultanes using four solo homers to beat the Toros, 7-4, last Monday.  Ex-Yankee infielder Ramiro Pena, a Monterrey native in his first LMB season, was joined by veterans Chris Roberson, Agustin Murillo and Jose Amador in going deep in the Sultanes' Game One win.  The Toros bounced back Tuesday with a 6-3 Game Two win behind Fernando Perez' three-run home run.  Shortstop Jose Guadalupe Chavez chipped in with a pair of hits, a run and an RBI  as TJ evened the series at a game apiece.

The two teams moved to Monterrey for the next three games.  Game Three on Thursday at Estadio Monterrey saw the Toros take the lead in the series with a second straight 6-3 triumph.  Longtime Cuban National Team star Frederich Cepeda and former MLB infielder Jorge Cantu each socked two run homers for the winners and Chavez added three hits.  The Sultanes knotted the series up at 2-2 by taking a 4-3 Game Four win Friday.  This one came down to the bottom of the ninth, when Murillo followed a Pena triple with a two-run walkoff homer off Toros closer Daniel Moskos to send 13,423 Monterrey fans home happy.  Sultanes starter Dallas Marinez, a Yankees minor leaguer who pitched in the All-Star Game between seasons while on loan to Leon before the cash-strapped Bravos shipped him north, had a strong outing by hurling 5.2 shutout innings and allowing just two hits.  The Sultanes took Saturday's Game Five by a 10-4 count in a contest that was closer than the final score indicated until the hosts put eight runs on the scoreboard in the seventh inning, keyed by a Roberson three-run homer.  Amador contributed three hits and two RBIs to the Monterrey attack.

After Sunday's travel day, Game Six is scheduled for Monday night in Tijuana.  Should the Toros win, the deciding contest is slated for Tuesday night.


LMB SOUTH SEMIS: MEXICO CITY 4, PUEBLA 1

Mexico City P Luis Mendoza

The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won the final two of three games in Puebla to finish their series with the Pericos and move on to the South Division Championship Series.  The first two contests were played at Estadio Fray Nano in the nation's capital, with the Diablos winning both, starting with last Tuesday's 8-4 Game One victory.  Newcomer Michael Choice, a former Rangers outfielder who joined Mexico City as a free agent on August 16, had a great night with a two-run homer, a pair of doubles and five RBIs for the winners.  Game Two also went the Diablos' way, 12-4, with Mexico City posting a nine-run seventh inning.  The Red Devils sent 15 men to the plate during that outburst, with speedster Carlos Figueroa singling, doubling, scoring twice and driving in two runs during the frame.

The series shifted to Puebla for the next three games, with the Pericos picking up their only win in Game Three, 7-6, last Friday.  Puebla benefitted from a Bernardo Heras solo homer during a three-run sixth inning during which the Parrots overcame a 6-4 deficit.  That would be the Pericos' last gasp of 2018 as the Diablos came back to win the next two contests at Estadio Hermanos Serdan.  Game Four began on Saturday before rain pushed its conclusion to Sunday, ending with a 7-3 Mexico City conquest.  Outfielder Yeison Asencio, who hit .386 in the regular season, contributed a single and double, scoring one run and adding two ribbies to negate Delmon Young of Puebla, who went 4-for-4 with an RBI.  Former MLB and NPB pitcher Luis Mendoza (who was MVP for the Pacific Coast League in 2011 and the Caribbean Series in 2013) got the win after allowing a single run in 6.2 innings while scattering seven hits while Diablos first baseman Luis Jimenez collected three of Mexico City's five hits, including a three-run homer off Puebla starter Josh Outman in the third.

The Diablos will await the winner of the Yucatan-Oaxaca series to learn who they'll be playing in the LMB South Championship Series later this week.


LMB SOUTH SEMIS: OAXACA 3, YUCATAN 2

Oaxaca P Alex Delgado

Of the four first round playoff series in the Mexican League's second season, this one has been the most surprising.  The Oaxaca Guerreros have won one LMB pennant (in 1998, two years after their inaugural season) and are rarely a factor in the rare times they advance to the postseason.  Thus expectations were low after the Warriors beat a reeling Leon team in a one-game wild card contest after a 26-30 regular season to qualify for a first-round series with defending LMB champion Yucatan.  Instead, new manager Sergio Gastelum has taken the Guerreros to within a game of meeting Mexico City in the division finals. 

Oaxaca won the first two games of the series in Merida, starting last Monday with a 4-1 Game One triumph behind the solid work of Guerreros starter Alex Delgado.  A Mexicali native in his seventh Liga season at the tender age of 23, Delgado limited the Leones to one run in three hits in seven innings of work, striking out nine and walking none.  Older brother Irwin Delgado followed Alex to the mound one night later in Oaxaca's 6-3 Game Two win at Parque Kukulcan, tossing six frames of one-run ball with seven whiffs before serving up a leadoff homer to Eric Aguilera in the bottom of the seventh.  Ex-Seattle shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who was second in the LMB with a .406 batting average during the regular season, had a pair of singles for the Guerreros and drove in two runs.

The series then shifted to Oaxaca, where Yucatan won twice to give the road team victories for the first four games of the set.  After a Thursday rainout, the Leones took Game Three, 3-1, Friday as starter Cesar Valdez went seven innings and scattered six hits in a one-run outing.  Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle, a big-game player, contributed a run-scoring double while shortstop Walter Ibarra added an RBI single.  The Leones evened the series at two games each on Saturday by doubling up the Guerreros, 10-5, in Game Four.  Oaxaca was leading 5-4 after six innings before Yucatan scored two runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames to pull away.  Ibarra and Leo Heras powered homers for the Leones and Humberto Sosa had three hits with as many RBIs as a combined 17 pitchers took the hill in the marathon contest, which took 4 hours, 21 minutes to complete nine innings.  The Guerreros took their last home game of the series Sunday with a 5-1 Game Five victory.  Once again, Alex Delgado was sterling on the mound for the winners by allowing one run on three hits in six innings, striking out eight.  Henry Urrutia knocked out a two-run homer in the first inning as the Guerreros were up 5-0 after two entradas and coasted to the win.

The series moves back to Yucatan for Game Six Tuesday night at Parque Kukulcan, where Game Seven (if needed) would be played to determine who'll face Mexico City for the LMB South title.

OAXACA WINS PLAY-IN GAME; PLAYOFFS OPEN MONDAY

Oaxaca OF Yordanys Linares returns to dugout

The playoff matchups for the Mexican League's fall season have been set after the Oaxaca Guerreros took a 26-30 record and a fifth-place South Division finish to Leon for a wild-card came (necessitated by the Guerreros finishing one game behind the Bravos in the standings) and beat the 26-28 Bravos by a 7-6 score to slip into the Liga's final remaining postseason berth.

It was a disappointing finish to the year for the Bravos, who had led the LMB South in recent weeks despite a makeshift infield and seemed in position to continue playing after the regular season ended.  Instead, Leon will be sitting out the playoffs while Oaxaca celebrates their first postseason appearance since 2015.  It almost didn't turn out that way for the Guerreros, who fell behind 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning Saturday after the Bravos' Marco Jaime singled in Felix Pie and Michael Bernal off Oaxaca starter Jose Carlos Medina.

The Guerreros fought back with three runs in the top of the fourth when Jay Austin stroked a leadoff double and scored on a Dustin Geiger single, after which Henry Urrutia belted a homer to right against Leon opener Guillermo Moscoso to give the visitors a 3-2 advantage.  Moscoso settled down to retire the side and post two more scoreless frames before his Bravos teammates came back in the bottom of the sixth.  A Pie solo homer to tie the contest was followed by Medina's exit from the mound in favor of reliever Carlos Felix.  Bernal then greeted Felix with a double, moved to third on a Geiger fielding error of a Brandon Macia grounder, then came in to put Leon ahead, 4-3, on Israel Nunez' infield single.

Leon manager Luis Rivera sent former Oaxaca All-Star Alejandro Soto to the mound for the top of the seventh, a move that immediately backfired when Soto served up a leadoff homer to Julian Ornelas that knotted the game back up.  The score stood at 4-4 until the top of the ninth, when the Guerreros put three runs on the scoreboard off Bravos closer Joe Colon.  Yordanys Linares put Oaxaca ahead for good by whacking a two-run double off Colon with two out and then plated the Guerreros' final run on an Austin single.

The Bravos battled gamely in the bottom of the ninth.  Jaime singled in Antonio Ruiz after Ruiz had been waved to second on a balk called against Oaxaca pitcher Scott Shuman, a call that brought Shuman down from the mound and Guerreros manager Sergio Gastelum out of the dugout for a calm discussion with the umpires that led to Shuman and Gastelum both being elected (Jaime's single came off Ozzie Mendez).  Eduardo Arredondo then hit a fielder's choice grounder to first that got Jaime called out at second for the first out of the inning.  Arredondo was replaced by pinch-runner Luis Medina, who advanced to third on a Quincy Latimore single and scored on a Cedric Hunter sacrifice fly to center to bring Leon to within a run, but the game (and season) ended when Erick Casillas was brought in from the bullpen to replace Mendez and struck out Niko Vasquez swinging to send the Bravos and 3,489 in the stands at Parque Domingo Santana home wondering what might have been.

The wild finish climaxed a fall schedule in which the placement of teams in the LMB South remained in doubt until the final days.  Defending champion Yucatan (32-24) slipped into first place on the final day of the regular season Thursday when the Leones took a 7-4 win at Quintana Roo while Leon outlasted Mexico City (31-24) by a 9-8 count on Latimore's RBI single in the bottom of the tenth.  Puebla slipped down the stretch by dropping all three games of a series at Oaxaca to come in third at 29-27, two games ahead of Leon and three up on Oaxaca.

The LMB North playoff field had already been determined heading into last week's final series, but three more games were required for seeding purposes.  While Monclova (42-14) easily won the division, Tijuana (35-21) had to win seven of their last ten games to come in second by a game-and-a-half over Monterrey (34-23) while Dos Laredos (33-24) ended up in fourth after losing 10-5 in Monclova Thursday while the Sultanes prevailed in a 10-9 slugfest that took 12 innings to complete in Tijuana to break a deadlock with the Tecos for third.  Unlike Oaxaca in the South, fifth-place Aguascalientes (25-30) was too far behind Dos Laredos to force a wild-card game.

With the regular season in the taillights, the playoffs will open with four games Monday night.  Puebla will be at Mexico City for one LMB South semifinal while Oaxaca visits Yucatan to open the other.  Monterrey hosts Tijuana in a North semi series and Monclova will open at home against Dos Laredos.  All playoff series will be best-of-7 affairs throughout the postseason.


CAMPECHE'S ROSARIO OVERTAKES BETANCOURT FOR BAT CROWN

Fall bat champion Olmo Rosario of Campeche

It's been a tough couple years for Campeche Piratas outfielder Olmo Rosario.  The 38-year-old Dominican received a 50-game suspension prior to the 2017 season after testing for amphetamines during the previous year, leading to his release from the Tijuana Toros.  Rosario eventually signed with Leon in late May 2017 but was released by the Bravos three weeks later after batting just .174 over 13 games.  He was picked up by Campeche almost another three weeks and went on to hit .378 with five homers in 30 games, good enough to be brought back for another year in the Walled City.

Rosario turned in a good Spring season for the Piratas, hitting .319 with nine homers in 56 games, but he really stepped things up in the Fall campaign to win the Mexican League batting championship with a .408 average.  Rosario finished the season with a 14-game hitting streak (including a .600 average over his final ten games) to bring his season average up 48 points from .360 on August 19 to sneak past Oaxaca's Yuniesky Betancourt's .406.  Betancourt was hitting .417 on September 1 but collected just six hits over his final five games to drop into second in the batting race.  Yelson Asencio of Mexico City came in a distant third at .386.

Felix Perez of Monclova belted two homers last Thursday in the Acereros' final game against Tijuana to finish with 19 longballs over 55 games to win his second consecutive home run title after sending 15 balls to the street in Spring to lead the LMB.  Perez finished ahead of Oaxaca's Dustin Geiger (15) and Leandro Castro of Saltillo (14).  Both Perez and Geiger were traded in the Fall midseason while Castro was signed by the Saraperos as a free agent in May a month after being released by Dos Laredos.  Perez tied with teammate Francisco Peguero for the Liga RBI title with 60 apiece (Puebla's Delmon Young was third with 56 ribbies) while Dos Laredos' Johnny Davis stole 28 bases in 34 attempts to beat out Monclova's Cade Gotta (25) and Tony Campana (24) of Aguascalientes in that category.

Brazilian Andre Rienzo pitched one scoreless inning in relief for Monclova last Tuesday against Dos Laredos to finish the season with a 0.76 ERA, easily the lowest among qualifiers in the loop.  Acereros manager Pedro Mere only brought Rienzo out of the bullpen twice since his last start on August 26 against Aguascalientes to rest the 30-year-old righty for the playoffs.  Terance Marin of Dos Laredos finished second to Rienzo with a 2.12 ERA while Aguascalientes' Francisco Del Rosario was third at 2.24.

Marin returned to organized baseball after pitching in Taiwan in 2017 and finished the LMB's Fall season on a high note by winning five of his last six starts to tie with Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez and Patrick Johnson for most wins with seven each.  Gonzalez will be well-rested for the playoffs after not having pitched since a September 4 victory at Durango while Johnson has been held out since a September 2 loss at Puebla.  Seven more pitchers finished with six wins.

Orlando Lara of Campeche (who himself hasn't pitched since September 1) took his first strikeout title with 64 in 61.1 innings to record the most ponchadas among Liga hurlers, with Monterrey's Jose De Paula (61) finishing second while Leon's Guillermo Moscoso and Enrique Oquendo (58) tied for third.  Wirfin Obispo on Monterrey only pitched once in relief last week and even though he didn't record a save, the Sultanes closer ended the calendar with 14, enough to lead the LMB.  Joe Colon (Leon), Chad Gausin (Yucatan) and Josh Lueke (Monclova) each had eleven saves to tie for second.

The Tijuana Toros led the Mexican League attendance with 252,668 fans attending 27 home games for an average of 9,358, which was higher than any full-season Class AAA team north of the border (Charlotte of the International League was next at 8,980).  Monterrey was second in the LMB with an average of 7,616 while Yucatan came in third at 6,985 but the Fall schedule was not kind to most Liga teams at the turnstiles.  Seven of the LMB's 16 teams drew fewer than 3,000 people per opening, with Campeche's 855 average bringing up the rear and Tabasco not a lot better at 1,151 per night.


LMB TO DROP TWO-SEASON FORMAT, TUESDAY GAMES IN 2019

Although a press release from the Mexican League last week has termed their two-seasons-in-one-year experiment a "success," apparently it wasn't successful enough as a format to keep around for a second year.  The LMB announced it will abandon this year's approach of two separate 57-game regular seasons with full playoffs starting in late March and finishing in October to return to a single-season format.  However, as often seems the case with the Liga, it won't come without complications.

On the surface, the move seems a wise one.  The LMB will play two halves for a total of 120 games per team for the regular season.  Similar to other leagues in Mexico, teams will be awarded points on the basis of where they finish in the standings each half, with the accrued totals determining playoff seeding. The number of games will be most since the Mexican League played a 120-game schedule in 2001 but since Minor League Baseball's two other Class AAA leagues had 140-game schedules this year, the six-game increase is not a big deal (especially with a month's worth of playoff games being eliminated).  However, the LMB Assembly of Presidents' decision to drop Tuesday as a game day south of the border is going to have far-reaching consequences.

Mondays have been travel days for years in Mexican baseball and that will not change.  However, the Liga has decided to create a second consecutive off-day each week before teams play between Wednesdays and Sundays, starting with a two-game series and concluding with a three-game set.  The result will be tighter travel schedules, more days during the season when ballparks are closed and a schedule stretching from March into November, which is when the playoffs will conclude.  Even the playoff format will be expanded from the current eight teams to twelve participants, with the top two finishers in each division getting a first-round bye while the next four teams battle it out to advance to the division semifinals (effectively adding another layer to the playoff format to make it a four-tiered process to win a pennant).

The moves appear to be a shot across the bow of the winter Mexican Pacific League, whose season traditionally begins in mid-October.  The LMP has already had to scramble for players to begin their upcoming 2018-19 season because the current Mexican League playoff system stretches into October, with the MexPac increasing the number of foreign players allowed per team from six to 12 this winter.  Next year's Mexican League playoff format would stretch about a full month into the LMP's season, severely curtailing the availability of domestic talent for the winter circuit.  Some observers believe the extended Mexican League season in 2019 is in response to the MexPac seeking to expand into current LMB markets, such as Monterrey and Tijuana.  The latter has had winterball teams in the past, but none were long-lasting.  In fact, the former Tijuana Potros hold a rather unenviable distinction of twice winning pennants (1987-88 and 1990-91) but not being allowed to compete the following winter due to what was termed "unfair competitive practices."  Following their second DQ, Tijuana joined the financially-troubled Guaymas Ostioneros and left the MexPac, leaving the league with an eight-team lineup ever since.

As always, the most affected people with the Liga's reformatting may be the players, who have never unionized and enjoy few rights in Mexican baseball.  In a country where the per capita income is generally between US$10,000-14,000 per year (depending on your source), many players perform year round because jobs that can bring in US$3,000-5,000 per month are very far and few between.  The new LBM format could seriously curtail a player's availability to continue earning money between November and February, especially if Liga teams (who own a player's rights in Mexico) decide to make a player unavailable for winterball because of "exhaustion," something often used by Major League Baseball organizations for their minor league players.

No official response has come out of the Mexican Pacific League's new offices in Guadalajara but it's hard to imagine LMP president Omar Canizales doing nothing.  We shall see.

MONCLOVA CLINCHES LMB NORTH, SOUTH A TOSS-UP

Monclova Acereros P Jason Gurka

To the surprise of nobody, the Monclova Acereros have clinched first place in the Mexican League North Division and will sail into the Fall season playoffs with the best record in the circuit.  The Steelers have led the LMB North practically since the second season opened in July and even the surprising midseason replacement of first-year manager Carlos Garcia with ex-Tijuana skipper Pedro Mere did nothing to halt the team's bid to become Monclova's first Liga pennant winners.  The Acereros will have home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

The Acereros ran their season record to 41-12 Sunday by clobbering Dos Laredos, 16-2, in front of 5,058 fans at Estadio Monclova as starter Jason Gurka (a former Rockies and Angels pitcher) tossed five innings of one-run ball to extend his ledger to 6-0 on the campaign.  Gurka had a 1-2 record with a 3.18 ERA in relief appearances for the Orioles' AAA Norfolk affiliate this year before coming to Monclova just as the Fall schedule opened.  After only one start since 2014, the 30-year-old lefty from Texas was inserted into Monclova's rotation August 3 and has won five times in six starts.  Gurka was given a lead Sunday when Cade Gotta smacked a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning off Tecolotes starter Alex Sanabia to launch a five-run opening entrada.  Reigning MVP Jesse Castillo went 4-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and another two driven in while Erick Aybar and former Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa each had three hits.  Espinosa, who had four RBIs, is with his fifth organization in 2018 after suiting up for Yankees, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Phillies teams since spring training.  He arrived in Monclova in mid-August after being released from the Phils' AAA Lehigh Valley affiliate.

With Sunday's blowout, the Acereros have won seven of their past ten game and enter their final three-game series of the regular season at home against Dos Laredos with a seven-game lead over Tijuana (34-19), who has won nine of their last ten contest to go two-and-a-half games ahead of third-place Monterrey (32-22).  The Toros need to win just once in their final home set with the Sultanes at Estadio Gasmart to clinch homefield advantage in the first playoff round against either Monterrey or Dos Laredos, who enters the week with a 31-23 mark.  Fifth-place Aguascalientes (24-29) was knocked out of mathematical contention Sunday by losing 8-7 to Saltillo when the Saraperos' Christian Zazueta scored the tiebreaking run on an Anthony Carter wild pitch in the top of the ninth.  Both teams, along with Durango and Union Laguna, will be done playing after Thursday night's season-ending games.

While the LMB North playoff participants (if not the seedings) have been determined, things are much hazier in the South.  Yucatan's 4-2 home win over Tabasco vaulted the defending champion Leones (30-23) past Mexico City (29-23) into first place by a half-game.  The Lions got a good start from Jose Samayoa (6 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 5 SO) while sending Olmecas opener Thomas Melgarejo to the showers with a three-run fifth inning.  Mexico City dropped out of first after the Diablos Rojos dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker at Puebla Sunday as the Pericos' Sergio Perez singled off Patrick Johnson to bring in Daniel Sanchez from third with the game's only run in the bottom of the third.  Puebla stater Josh Outman blanked the Diablos on two hits over seven innings for the win as the Parrots raised their record to 29-24, one game out of first.

Below the leaders, fourth-place Leon has faded over the past few weeks and the Bravos are now 25-26 after holding off Oaxaca, 8-7, Sunday.  Leon took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth before Dustin Geiger socked a leadoff homer off Bravos closer Joe Colon and Jaime Brena and Samar Leyva stroked run-scoring singles before Colon struck out Yuniesky Betancourt with the bases loaded to end the contest.   Leon is three games ahead of Oaxaca and Quintana Roo and while neither the Guerreros nor Tigres are likely to catch up the Bravos with only three games left, one of them might force a single play-in game with the Guanajuato club (who would serve as host).  Both Campeche and Tabasco are out of the running.

Needless to say, there are a few important midweek series starting Tuesday on the docket.  In the LMB North, Monterrey visits Tijuana to determine the second playoff seed in that division in a matchup of likely first-round opponents.  In the South, Yucatan will make the short hop from Merida to Cancun for three games with the Tigres, who have played well of late but are only 9-18 at home for the Fall season.  Mexico City visits Leon for three games and Oaxaca welcomes Puebla.  If a play-in game is required, it'll take place next Saturday with first round series set to begin Tuesday, September 10.


BETANCOURT HITTING .406, TAKES BAT RACE LEAD

Oaxaca Guerreros IF Yuniesky Betancourt

Former MLB shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt has taken advantage of a late performance dip by Yucatan centerfielder Leo Heras to gain the lead in the Mexican League batting derby.  Betancourt, who hit .367 with 11 homers in 56 games for Oaxaca during the Spring season, went 3-for-3 against Leon Friday to raise his current average to .417, was 1-for-8 the rest of the weekend to drop to .406, still good enough to lead the LMB by five points over Mexico City outfielder Yeison Asencio, a three-time postseason All-Star while playing in the Padres minor league system.  Heras has gone 7-for-35 over his last ten games to see his average plummet from .449 to .385 and now ranks fifth in the Liga, with Yucatan teammate Everth Cabrera just ahead in fourth at .386.

Monterrey first baseman Felix Perez homered against Tijuana last Tuesday and went deep Sunday in Durango to bring his season total to 16, two longballs ahead of Saltillo's Leandro Castro and Dustin Geiger of Oaxaca.  A native of Cuba, like the aforementioned Betancourt, the 33-year-old Perez spent five seasons in the Red Sox system (and was a 2014 International League midseason All-Star for Louisville) before coming to Monterrey one year later.  After only playing 28 games for the Sultanes in 2017, Perez was let go and signed by Aguascalientes in the offseason and immediately rewarded the Rieleros by leading the LMB with 15 homers in the Spring season.  After knocking out another 10 roundtrippers in 28 games for Aguascalientes this Fall, he was dealt back to Monterrey early last month in a five-player deal that send first baseman Ricky Alvarez and pitcher Nestor Molina to the Railroaders.

Perez' 52 RBIs rank third in the LMB behind Monclova's Francisco Peguero's 57 and the 54 of Puebla outfielder Delmon Young, who led in ribbies most of the season but drove in just one run over the Pericos' three-game weekend series at Mexico City.  After it looked like Aguascalientes outfielder Tony Campana might have an easy run to the stolen bases title much of the season, the former Cub has been surpassed by both Johnny Davis of Dos Laredos and Monclova outfielder Cade Gotta.  A Southern League postseason All-Star last year while in the Brewers organization, the 28-year-old Davis (who stole 52 bases for Biloxi in 2017) swiped four bases against Monclova last weekend, including three steals in Saturday's game, to lift his season total to 26 in 31 attempts.  Gotta, who won a Southern League Player of the Week award earlier this year with the Marlins' AA Jacksonville affiliate, stole six bases against the Tecos in the same series and now has 24 for the Fall.  Campana pilfered two bases against Saltillo over the weekend but now stands third behind Davis and Gotta in steals with 23.

Monterrey Sultanes P Edgar Gonzalez

One-time Diamondbacks starter Edgar Gonzalez gave up two runs in 5.1 innings to earn the win for is hometown Monterrey Sultanes in Sunday's 11-4 triumph in Durango to bring his season record to 7-2.  The 35-year-old Gonzalez is now tied with Mexico City's Patrick Johnson for the Liga lead in pitching wins.  Since picking up the W against Puebla on August 16, Johnson has lost two of his last three starts, including a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Pericos on Sunday in which he allowed the game's only run and scattered six hits while striking out seven over six innings.  Six pitchers are tied for third with six wins apiece.

Monclova's Andre Rienzo pitched a scoreless inning in relief against Dos Laredos Sunday after tossing six shutout innings in his last start on August 26 against Aguascalientes to bring his league-leading ERA down further to 0.78, nearly a full run per nine innings fewer than teammate Wilmer Rios, who is second in the LMB at 1.76.  While he's been obscured on his own pitching staff by Rienzo and Josh Lowey, the 24-year-old Rios (son of Salon de la Fama member Jesus "Chito" Rios, who won 21 games for the Tigres in 1989) has cobbled together a breakout campaign with the Acereros by going 6-0 and leading the Liga with an 0.87 WHIP.  Rios has allowed just six walks in 56.1 innings pitched.

Campeche veteran Orlando Lara struck out eight Quintana Roo batters Saturday in six innings of a Piratas' 6-4 loss to the Tigres, running his season strikeout total to 64 over 61.1 frames and taking over leadership of the LMB in that category.  The 33-year-old Lara, who whiffed 12 Leon batsmen in seven innings on August 9, was one of three pitchers to overtake former strikeouts leader Enrique Oquendo of Puebla last week.  Oquendo hasn't pitched since August 26, when he struck out three Mexico City hitters in three innings to bring his season total to 57.  Jose De Paula of Monterrey (61) and Leon's Guillermo Moscoso (59) are second and third, respectively.  Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo earned a save at Durango Saturday, giving him 14 in 15 opportunities this Fall.  That's two more saves than Leon's Joe Colon and Josh Lueke of Monclova.  Three other pitchers, including 2017 Reliever of the Year Chad Gaudin (who now pitches for Yucatan after being released earlier this year by Monclova) have 11 saves each.


THREE's (MORE) COMPANY: CARIBBEAN SERIES FIELD GROWS TO 8

Serie del Caribe is scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico.  The Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, aka COPABE, made the announcement after holding their general convention last week in Miami.
Beginning in 2020, the Caribbean Series will expand from its current five-nation format to eight with the additions of Colombia, Panama and Nicaragua to the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball.  The three new entrants will join the fun when the

Panama sent teams to the original Caribbean Series for twelve years prior to its discontinuation in 1960 after Cuba dropped out following their revolution and the ascension of Fidel Castro, a former pitcher who pulled his countrymen out of all pro baseball competition after taking power.  Panama hosted the CS three times (1952, 1956 and 1960) and won the event in 1950 with American manager Way Blackburn leading the Carta Viejo Yankees to a 5-1 record in that tournament.  When the Serie del Caribe resumed play in 1970, Panama was dropped from the competition and the Mexican Pacific League champion added as a replacement.  Last year, Panama was tentatively added by COPABE to the CS as a "guest" country for the February 2019 tournament planned for Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

Nicaragua and Colombia, who have competed along with Panama and Mexico in the Latin American Series, have never played in the Caribbean Series.  Mexico sends its champion from the winter league operating in the state of Veracruz to the LAS, which was played last January in Managua, Nicaragua and won by the host Chinandega Tigres (who were managed by current Saltillo Saraperos skipper Len Picota).  The Acayucan Tobis, champions of the Veracruz State League, were second.

COPABE president Juan Francisco Puello Herrera was quoted as saying the organization will meet in September to determine how the newcomers will be integrated into the Caribbean Series.  Speculation is that the champions from the three winter leagues would play each other in a preliminary competition to determine which one would join the existing five teams at the full CS.  When Cuba returned in 2014, it was on a conditional basis and that island nation's full membership has not been granted and nor have they been added to the rotation of host sites.  The future of the Latin American Series may be cast into doubt if three of its four participating national winterball leagues move up to the Caribbean Series.

The Caribbean Series has long been a centerpiece of Latin baseball but the event has struggled both artistically and financially the past few years.  The talent level of teams has dropped exponentially with fewer prospects being sent south of the border by Major League Baseball organizations, who instead have shown a preference for the more antiseptic and controlled atmosphere of the Arizona Fall League or even the lesser-quality Australian Baseball League.  As well, the combination of power attendance and political turmoil in some countries has made the CS less viable in those locations.  Barquisimeto had to drop out from hosting the event last February, with Guadalajara stepping in to fill the void, and while there's been much brave talk about Barquisimeto's readiness to host the upcoming Serie del Caribe, Venezuela's economy has not improved and continued political unrest there have people wondering if there will be another move.  Word for months has been that Mazatlan and its refurbished Estadio Teodoro Mariscal are preparing to welcome teams and fans should plans in Venezuela fall through again.

MONCLOVA OPENS SIX-GAME LEAD IN LMB NORTH

Monclova outfielder Francisco Peguero

The surprising exit of new manager Carlos Garcia three weeks into the Mexican League's Fall 2018 season has done nothing to stem the Monclova Acereros' tide after former Tijuana skipper Pedro Mere took over the reigns of the team with the Steelers holding a 14-5 record at the time.  Since his arrival two weeks ago, Mere has piloted the Acereros to a 9-2 record (including a current five-game win streak), giving Monclova an MXL-best 23-7 overall record and a six-game lead over Tijuana and Dos Laredos in the North Division standings.

After opening a midweek series with a 4-3 loss at Monterrey last Tuesday, Monclova topped the Sultanes twice to win the set before moving to Tijuana for a weekend trio of games, sweeping Mere's former Toros squad.  The Acereros broke out out the brooms after a 7-3 win Sunday at Estadio Gasmart in a contest where the home team was leading 3-0 after Dustin Martin led off the bottom of the second inning with a homer and Xorge Carrillo doubled in Francisco Perez from third with the third run of the frame.  The TJ lead held until the Acereros began chipping away at it, starting with a Rudy Amador RBI single in the top of the fourth and Francisco Peguero's solo homer one inning later.  Back-to-back RBI singles from Cade Gotta and Erick Aybar in the top of the fifth gave Monclova a 4-3 lead.  The Acereros went up 7-3 in the top of the eighth, thanks in part to Gotta's run-scoring single, and Peguero closed the scoring for the night with his second solo bomb in the ninth off ex-Seattle Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen.  Wilmer Rios pitched five innings to earn the win for Monclova, raising his record to 2-0 in six starts although his ERA rose to 2.76 after Tijuana plated all three runs off Rios over 5.2 innings pitched.

The sweep at the hands of the Acereros was apparently enough for Toros management to fire the team's manager for the second time this season, as Lino Rivera was cut loose Monday.  Rivera was brought in between the Spring and Fall campaigns to replace Mere, who lost his job after Tijuana despite leading the Bulls to a 33-23 finish and a second-place finish before being ousted by Monterrey in the North finals.  Rivera gives way to former Padres infielder Oscar Robles, who spent a number of seasons playing for Tijuana before retiring after last season.  Robles, who has never managed before, was hired earlier this year to the top post next winter with the Obregon Yaquis.

Surprising Dos Laredos pulled into a tie with Tijuana for second in the LMB North, with both teams showing identical 17-13 records.  The Tecolotes dropped the first two games of their weekend road series in Monterrey before posting a 4-3 win over the Sultanes Sunday.  The loss vaulted the Tecos into their tie with the Toros while bumping Monterrey into fourth at 16-14.  First-year Tecos manager Felix Fermin, who managed the Sultanes through last summer before being replaced by Roberto Kelly in the offseason, has been given much credit for Dos Laredos' ascension in the North after a number of mediocre seasons in Veracruz as members of the South Division, but veteran catcher Juan Apodaca deserves some accolades as well.  A former Red Sox and Cubs farmhand, Apodaca was a highly-regarded backstop the past three seasons in Tijuana before being dealt to the Tecos in time for the Fall campaign after fellow catcher Xorge Carrillo joined the Toros from the Mets system.  Apodaca has justified Dos Laredos' faith by hitting .337 with six homers in 23 games thus far while contributing his usual solid play behind the plate.

Meanwhile, the LMB South has been the more competitive division this fall.  The Leon Bravos top the standings with a 17-11 record, two games ahead of defending champion Yucatan (16-14) and two-and-a-half games up on Mexico City and Puebla, both of whom have 15-14 marks.  Even last-place Quintana Roo, whose 9-21 register is the MXL's worst, is only six-and-a-half games out of fourth.  The Bravos clobbered Tabasco by a 12-2 count Sunday as Marco Jaime and Cedric Hunter combined for six hits and four RBIs while Israel Nunez socked a two-run homer off Olmecas starter Thomas Malgarejo in the fourth to help Leon starter Rogelio Martinez lift his record to 3-1 with an ERA of 1.23.  Melgarejo absorbed the loss in his first start to fall to 0-1 while his own ERA ballooned to 9.00 after five appearances.

None of the pending midweek series have the look of classics, although the most interesting one has the Yucatan Leones hosting Puebla in Merida, with both squads in playoff contention but only separated by a half-game in the LMB South standings.  The pickings may be even slimmer among next weekend's three-game sets, but the most intriguing may be in Saltillo, where the Saraperos host rivals Monterrey Friday through Sunday.  Once one of the MXL's flagship teams, Saltillo has struggled on and off the field ever since the Ley family (owners of Culiacan's Mexican Pacific League franchise) sold the club in 2013 after 14 seasons, including two pennants and four division titles.  Under current owner Rene Rodriguez, the Saraperos have missed the postseason the past three seasons but manager Len Pecota has the team at 15-14, a half-game behind the fourth-place Sultanes and very much in postseason contention for September.

EX-MLBer BETANCOURT HITTING .411, THIRD IN MXL BAT RACE

Oaxaca Guerreros infielder Yuniesky Betancourt

During his 14 seasons in Major League Baseball between 2005 and 2013, Cuban expat Yuniesky Betancourt was a starting shortstop during stops in Seattle, Kansas City and Milwaukee, never an All-Star but a decent batter with occasional power (a .261 career average and 80 home runs, including three 13+ homer seasons) and a defensive player equally capable of spectacular and maddening play in the field and on the basepaths.

The 36-year-old Betancourt has had some success playing winterball with Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific League since his 2012-13 debut with the Aguilas, helping the border team to a 2016-17 MexPac pennant and winning a Caribbean Series title in 2016 as a pickup with Mazatlan as the Venados won all seven games they played.  Curiously, Betancourt was left off the all-tournament team despite batting .438 with six runs and driving in eight more.  Betancourt has since moved around the infield, playing third and first base as well as shortstop and often hitting in the neighborhood of .300.

However, it's with his current Mexican League team in Oaxaca this year that Betancourt has excelled at the plate.  After hitting .367 with 11 homers for the Guerreros in the Spring and ranking among the MXL's top ten batters in both categories, Betancourt has caught fire in the Fall and now holds third place in the Liga batting derby with a .411 average.  He's ripped pitchers for a sizzling .538 mark over his last ten games, going 21-for-39 with 13 RBIs (including a 4-for-5 night with three ribbies last Thursday at home against Quintana Roo) to pace a Guerreros batting order hitting .303 as a team, fourth in the circuit, for manager Joe Alvarez.  A fellow Cubano, Alvarez has the perpetual also-rans in fifth place in the LMB South with a 14-16 record, a game-and-a-half behind Mexico City and Puebla, who are tied for third at 15-14.

Betancourt trails only Yucatan infielder Everth Cabrera (.441) and Campeche outfielder Asael Sanchez (.438) among Liga batsmen while Quintana Roo third baseman Brian Hernandez rounding out a quartet of .400 hitters as the former Angels minor leaguer has a .402 average.  Yet another Cuban product, Aguascalientes first baseman and onetime Reds farmhand Felix Perez, leads the circuit with ten homers after knocking out five longballs in six games for the Rieleros between July 28 and August 3.  Former MLB outfielder Delmon Young knocked in six runs for Puebla during a midweek home series against Yucatan to bring his season RBI total to 38, best in the MXL, and Aguascalientes outfielder Tony Campana swiped two bases last week to help the ex-Cub maintain his Liga swipes leadership with 17 to go along with a .342 average and 25 runs in 30 contests.

Monclova pitcher Andre de Rienzo continued his strong start to the Fall season by tossing five shutout innings at Monterrey last Thursday against a good Sultanes batting order.  Although the Brazilian did not earn the win, he did lower his LMB-leading ERA to 0.32 in six starts for the Acereros.  Mexico City right-hander Patrick Johnson has won his last four starts and five of six in the Fall schedule to take the victories lead with a 5-0 record.  The former Rockies/Pirates/Marlins minor leaguer has a perfect 8-0 record in 2018 since joining the Diablos Rojos from their little sisters in Oaxaca as part of a May 4 trade.  Puebla's Enrique Oquendo has put up consistent strikeout totals over his six starts (between 6 and 8 per outing) to head the whiff list at 40 over 32.1 innings of work.  Oquendo was 2-0 in 12 appearances for the Pericos as a reliever in the Spring season before being converted into a starter by Pericos manager Lorenzo Bundy for the Fall, under whom he's gone 2-1 with a 4-18 ERA.  Three closers are tied with nine saves to top the loop: Leon's Joe Colon, Josh Lueke of Monclova and Wirfin Obispo of Monterrey.  A former Cleveland reliever, Colon has yet to allow an earned run for the Bravos in 13 outings since joining the team on July 5.  He's has been a major contributor to Leon's first-place position in the LMB South standings for manager Luis Carlos Rivera, a former Braves and Orioles pitcher who took over the team last summer and led them to a playoff berth.


DANIEL FERNANDEZ OUT AS CAMPECHE SKIPPER

Romulo Martinez (l) and Daniel Fernandez in Campeche

The Campeche Piratas fired manager Daniel Fernandez last Monday after the team got off to a 10-14 start to the Mexican League's Fall season, with six one-run losses among the 14 defeats.  While that was hardly the worst record in the MXL at the time (the Piratas were sixth in the LMB South), the team's board of directors were obviously galled after Campeche suffered a 23-4 loss at the hands of Puebla (completing a three-game sweep for the Pericos in the process) the day before Fernandez was given the axe.

A native of Cuidad Jose Cardel, Veracruz, the 52-year-old Fernandez is considered one of the top batters in Mexican League history.  During his LMB career, the former outfielder posted a .323 average over 26 seasons between 1983 and 2008 (all but one year spent with Mexico City) and his 2,648 total hits are tied for fifth on the all-time list with Roberto Vizcarra, a longtime infielder who later managed Quintana Roo to the 2014 MXL pennant and currently is dugout boss of the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros.

Fernandez had initial success as manager in Mexico City, leading the Diablos to a 66-39 record and the Liga pennant in 2008, his first year at the helm.  He was sacked as Red Devils skipper one year later despite taking the Diablos to an LMB-best 70-35 mark before falling to the Laguna Vaqueros in the first round of the playoffs.  He was 5-16 over a short 2010 stint in Tabasco and went 54-49 in 2011 as the Veracruz manager before taking the Rojos del Aguila to the pennant with playoff wins over Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Aguascalientes, going 12-6 over the three series.  For whatever reason, that wasn't enough to keep his job in the port city and Fernandez went on to manage partial seasons in 2013 for Yucatan and 2016 for Laguna before being hired to run the Piratas this year.  Campeche finished seventh in the LMB South during the spring with a 22-34 record.

Romulo Martinez, who had served as Fernandez' batting coach in Campeche, was named interim manager for the team.  Upon his promotion, Martinez was quoted as saying, "What ended it was the three defeats in Puebla.  It killed us emotionally, but from now on I will speak with all the players and start from scratch.  I'm confident that we'll move forward."  A 51-year-old product of La Guaira, Venezuela, Martinez had the Piratas batting .300 as a team (fourth in the MXL) prior to his ascension to the manager's post.  He's also managed in Mexican Pacific League with Los Mochis on an interim basis when Luis Sojo went to a World Cup, and has also led teams in the Italian Baseball League for ten seasons.

In Martinez' first week as Piratas skipper, Campeche lost two of three games in a midweek series at Leon before being swept in a three-game weekend set at Mexico City. A permanent manager in Campeche is expected to be announced but no timeframe has been publicly discussed.

Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta: Day Two Report

Hermosillo pitcher Cesar Vargas

Day Two of the 2017 Mexican Baseball Fiesta in Tucson’s Kino Stadium on Friday saw a reasonably close first game in which the defending Mexican Pacific League champion Mexicali Aguilas held off a Cincinnati Reds Arizona Instructional League team, 4-3, as Yuniesky Betancourt singled, doubled and drove in two runs.  The much-anticipated nightcap between Hermosillo and Obregon, two longtime LMP rivals, ended up being an 8-1 Naranjeros romp as starting pitcher Cesar Vargas tossed three innings of one-hit scoreless ball while veterans Jason Bourgeois, Carlos Gastelum and Jose Amador evenly split six hits and scored four runs between them.  Throughout the evening, however, a festive mood prevailed in the ballpark as live bands played on the concourse, mascots took parts in between-innings skits and fans from Arizona and Mexico got to enjoy an evening of baseball, Mexican-style.

In the opener, Cincinnati opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Morgan Lofstrom redirected a Javier Solano offering off and over the top of the wall in right-center for a leadoff homer.  Solano then bore down and struck out the next three Reds batters.  Mexicali came back in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs.  C.J. Retherford led off with a single and came around to score on Ricky Alvarez' double against the center field wall to tie the game.  After Josh Romanosky struck out, Ramon Rios punched a single to left to bring Alvarez in with the go-ahead run.

The defending MexPac champion Aguilas added to their advantage in the bottom of the third with two more runs.  With one out, Yordanys Linares and Walter Ibarra hit back-to-back soft singles, bringing up Yuniesky Betancourt.  After Linares and Ibarra successfully pulled off a double steal, Betancourt smoked a Luis Alecis pitch down the third-base line into left field, scoring both baserunners and bringing about Alecis' exit.  Reds reliever Tanner Rainey struck out both Retherford and Alvarez to end the inning, but Mexicali had themselves a 4-1 lead after three.

Cincinnati got two runs back in the top of the fourth, both after the first two batsmen were retired by Solano. Lofstrom rapped a single to right and then scored when Mark Kolozsvary doubled into the gap in right-center. Leandro Santana then singled up the middle to bring in Kolozsvary, but was gunned down trying to take second on Linares' throw to the plate after catcher Francisco Cordoba's subsequent throw barely beat Santana to the bag on a close call.  That ended both the inning and the night for Solano, who finished his four entradas of work after allowing three runs on four hits with six strikeouts.

From that point on, it was up to Mexicali’s bullpen to hold the Reds scoreless over the last three frames of the seven-inning contest.  After Marco Quevedo retired the side in order in the fifth, newcomer Nolan Becker, who led the independent Can-Am League with 24 saves for champion Quebec this summer, ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth by walking the first two Cincy batsmen he faced (Jeter Downs and Taylor Trammell) before getting the next two hitters out, although Montrell Marshall sacrificed both runners to third and second, respectively.  Aguilas manager Roberto Vizcarra then brought in another fresh face, Victor Capellan, to strike out Kolozsvary and end the inning.

Capellan, who went 4-4 with a 1.25 ERA for Winnipeg in the indy American Association, went on to post a 1-2-3 seventh for the save as the Aguilas mound staff combined to hold the Reds to three hits on the night.  Solano earned the win for Mexicali while Alecis took the loss for Cincinnati after giving up four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. Betancourt had two of Mexicali's seven hits with two RBIs while Linares and Rios both reached base twice.  Lofstrom singled, homered and scored two runs for the Reds.

In the second game, Hermosillo and Obregon swapped zeros through the first two innings before the Naranjeros put three runs on the board in the top of the third.  Carlos Gastelum led off with a single, then came around from first base on a Domonic Brown double. Obregon manager Miguel Ojeda took out starting pitcher Irwin Delgado and brought in Martin Sotelo to pitch to veteran slugger Luis Alfonso Garcia.  The move paid immediate dividends as Sotelo got Garcia looking for a strikeout.  Things looked even brighter after Brown was caught stealing third while Jose Amador was batting on a terrific throw by Yaquis catcher Jose Felix for the second out of the inning, and it didn't seem to matter much at the time when Amador singled.  Ojeda then brought in Adrian Ramirez to pitch to Fernando Perez, who promptly doubled and moved Amador to third.  Jose Cardona came up and rapped a single that scored both Amador and Perez to give the Naranjeros a 3-0 lead before Ramirez got Arturo Rodriguez to fly out to right to end the inning.

The Naranjeros broke the game wide open with three more runs in the top of the fourth.  After Jorge Flores popped out to the catcher to open the inning, the next five Hermosillo batters either singled or walked, with Roberto Ramos' bases-loaded walk pushing Jason Bourgeois across with one counter and a sharp Amador single bringing in both Gastelum and Brown to make it a 6-0 Hermosillo lead over their bitter rivals (a Naranjeros-Yaquis matchup is the MexPac's version of the Yankees and Red Sox in terms of intensity).

The Yaquis finally broke their scoreless spell after Hermosillo starter Cesar Vargas was taken out after three innings.  Reliever Sergio Alvarado struggled in the fourth, starting with Carlos Valencia’s leadoff double into the left field corner.  Valencia advance to third on an infield single by Paul Leon and scored on Jonathan Aranda's flyout to left, breaking up Hermosillo's shutout bid.  Jose Felix added a single to put Leon in scoring position but Felix Pie's groundout to second ended the threat.

Not that it really mattered, as Hermosillo plated two more runs in the top of the fifth when Flores singled in pinch-runner Ciro Norzagaray and Flores scored on Irving Lopez' groundout to second, bringing the rout to its final 8-1 count as neither team scored the rest of the way..

Bourgeois, Gastelum and Amador each had two singles, combined to score four runs and drive in four more for the victorious Naranjeros, who outhit Obregon, 11-6.  Nobody had more than one safety for the Yaquis, with Valencia and Irving Falu contributing doubles on a night that clearly belonged to Hermosillo.  Vargas' three innings of work earned him the win, but it almost seems unfair that the loss should be hung on Delgado, whose two-plus innings (in which he gave up one run on three hits and as many walks) was probably the Yaquis’ pitching highlight, which sort of says it all right there.

Saturday's Day Three schedule at the Mexican Baseball Fiesta will begin with a 5:30PM PDT contest between Mexicali and Los Mochis, with the Caneros making their 2017 Tucson debut by taking CIncinnati’s place in the foursome.  That game will be followed by an Hermosillo-Obregon rematch.

Tijuana, Puebla both win series; Serie del Rey rematch set

The Tijuana Toros eliminated Monterrey from further contention for the Mexican League pennant by topping the Sultanes, 4-2, Thursday night in the border city to win their North Division championship series, 4 games to 2.  Manager Pedro Mere's club will advance to the Serie del Rey for a second year in a row against defending champion Puebla after the Pericos knocked out Yucatan, 4-3, Tuesday at home in Game Five of the LMB South finals.  Skipper Tim Johnson's Parrots will seek to bring Puebla its fifth Mexican League crown while the Toros are gunning for Tijuana's first-ever flag.

Since the Toros and Pericos were able to conclude their respective divisional championship sets in less than seven games, they'll be able to rest for four days before colliding in Game One of the Serie del Rey on Tuesday night in Tijuana.  Puebla defeated Tijuana in six games last year to win the pennant.

Jorge Cantu hoists LMB North title trophy
Photo courtesy of Rich McDaniel

TIJUANA 4-7-0, Monterrey 2-10-1
W-H. Ramirez (2-0).  L-A. Castro (0-2).         SV-Urquidez (2).  A-17,987.  T-3:03.

Tijuana starter Horacio Ramirez left the game in the sixth inning with a 4-2 lead and the Toros bullpen combined to hold Monterrey scoreless the rest of the way as TJ held off the Sultanes to clinch the LMB North title for the second year in a row.  A sellout crowd of 17,987 packing Estadio Gasmart was home happy after the home side concluded the set, 4 games to 2. Attendance was strong in this series, with 110,240 fans coming to the six games in both cities for an average of 18,373 per opening.

The Toros jumped on Monterrey starter Angel Castro early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  The first three Tijuana batters reached base as singles from Jose Guadalupe Chavez and Corey Brown bracketed a walk to Roberto Lopez.  Cleanup batter Cyle Hankerd dribbled a grounder to Sultanes third baseman Agustin Murillo, who tagged the base to force Lopez out as Chavez streaked 90 feet to plate the game's first run.  After a Castro wild pitch to Jorge Cantu sent Brown and Hankerd to third and second, respectively, Cantu lofted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Brown.

Monterrey closed their deficit to 2-1 in the top of the second when Daniel Mayora lined a one-out homer over the left field wall, but the Toros responded with two more runs in the bottom of the third.  With one out, Castro plunked Hankerd, and then delivered a pitch to Cantu that the former big leaguer drilled into center field for a double.  Sultanes veteran Chris Roberson fielded the drive and sent in a throw to second sacker Ramon Rios, whose relay to the plate in an attempt to nail Hankerd at home sailed away from catcher Luis Flores' grasp to score both both Hankerd AND Cantu, who never slowed down after coming into second.  Monterrey manager Felix Fermin challenged the play but replays upheld home plate umpire Orlando Lopez' decision.  Castro was replaced on the hill later in the inning by Nick Struck, but the damage was already done and was later proved irreparable.

A Zoilo Almonte solo homer off Ramirez in the fifth brought the visitors to within two runs at 4-2, but relievers Mark Serrano, Juan Sandoval and closer Jason Urquidez held the Sultanes scoreless after Serrano took over for Ramirez in the sixth.  Serrano, Sandoval and Urquidez were all unscored upon over a combined 10.1 innings in ten appearances in the series.

It's been quite a year for Sandoval, a 36-year-old Dominican who was a AA Southern League All-Star n 2013 with Montgomery who led LMB pitchers during the regular season with 62 trips from the bullpen while his 28 holds were eleven more than Monclova reliever Arturo Barradas' 18.  After being touched for two runs in the second game of the Toros first round series with Aguascalientes on August 14, Sandoval has been unscored upon in his seven subsequent playoff appearances.  He didn't even allow a hit in that span until giving up an eighth-inning single to Murillo last night that was quickly wiped out on a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Sandoval has a combined six playoff holds in eight appearances heading into the Puebla series.

Ramirez earned the win after giving up two runs on seven hits (including two homers) and two walks over 5.1 innings, striking out eight Sultanes batsmen, while Urquidez earned his second save of the series.  Castro took the loss in the wake of allowing four runs on five hits, two walks and hitting a batter while throwing 58 pitches in just 2.2 innings.  Struck's own remarkable run as a setup man for Monterrey came to an end.  The Oregonian went 3.1 scoreless innings to bring his playoff string to seven scoreless appearances over 16 innings, adding 15 strikeouts and only walking four.  All, ultimately, for naught as Struck and his Sultanes teammates will head home while Pepe Maiz' favorite team moves on.

PUEBLA 4-9-1, Yucatan 3-11-1
W-Meza (1-0).  L-J. Russell (0-1).                   SV-Heath (3).  A-10,712.  T-2:40.

This one started out as a pitchers' duel, with Puebla starter Andres Meza and Yucatan opener James Russell swapped goose eggs on the scoreboard through four innings, but it was a four-run Pericos outburst in the bottom of the fifth that erased a temporary 1-0 Leones lead and propelled the defending Liga champs to a 4-3 victory and a second consecutive LMB South title over Yucatan, 4 games to 1.  A crowd of 10,712 clicked the turnstiles at Estadio Hermanos Serdan, bringing the three-game total attendance in Puebla to 33,613 and the overall series turnout to 57,613 over five games, an average of 11,523 per contest.

While ex-Cubs hurler Russell sailed through the initial four frames for Yucatan, retiring the first nine Pericos he faced, Meza struggled a bit to hold the fort.  He survived a scare in the top of the second, when Sebastian Valle stroked a one-out double to right and went to third on Ricardo Serrano's single up the middle, putting runners on the corners with one out.  However, Meza was able to get out of that jam by inducing a 5-4-3 double play grounder to third by Jose Aguilar to end the threat.  Leones manager Chico Rodriguez appealed the out at first, but the call by umpire Alan Izaguirre was upheld after a replay review.

Yucatan woke up the scorekeeper in the top of the fifth by manufacturing a run without benefit of a hit. Leadoff hitter Ricardo Serrano reached base when second baseman Hector Garanzuay bobbled his grounder, moved to second when a Meza pitch to Aguilar got past catcher Cesar Tapia, scooted over to third on Aguilar's sacrifice bunt and came in to score on a Julio Borbon sacrifice fly to give the Leones a 1-0 advantage.

The Pericos replied by batting through the order in the bottom of the fifth and scoring four times.  Ricky Rodriguez opened with a single and moved to second when Russell walked Tapia.  Both came in to score when Garanzuay dragged a bunt single down the third base line that Serrano threw past first baseman Ricky Alvarez into right field foul territory while Garanzuay scampered to third.  After Sergio Perez singled in Garanzuay to put Puebla up 3-1 with no outs, Russell was pulled in favor of Yoanner Negrin, who'd pitched in relief for the first time in two-plus years two nights before.  After Alberto Carreon's sacrifice bunt sent Perez to second, Negrin gave up back-to-back singles to Borbon (scoring Perez to make it a 4-1 contest) and Endy Chavez.  That was enough for manager Rodriguez to bring out his hook again to bring in closer Ronald Belisario, who threw out Borbon at home on an Issmael Salas comebacker and got Jesus Arredondo to fly out to center to finally end the inning.

A former Dodgers reliever, Belisario turned in a standout performance by tossing 3.2 shutout innings the rest of the way for the Leones, allowing only a pair of seventh-inning singles.  The 34-year-old Venezuelan had a standout postseason, with a 0.68 ERA in 13.2 innings over seven appearances, picking up three saves. Interestingly, after striking out seven Leon batters over four innings in his first two times out in the Leon series, Belisario failed to whiff a batter in any of his subsequent five trips from the pen against either the Bravos or Pericos for a total of 8.2 innings.

Yuniesky Betancourt brought Yucatan to within a run by belting a two-run homer off Meza's 58th and final pitch in the top of the sixth, but the LMB South's regular season champions were unable to score the rest of the way off four Puebla relievers.  Pericos closer Deunte Heath, who gave up runs in his previous two appearances, went the final two entradas for his third save of the series, allowing no hits and striking out three.

Meza wasn't at his sharpest for the Pericos, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits over 5.2 innings, but it was good enough for the win.  Russell took the loss for Yucatan after letting in four runs (all in the fifth) on five hits and a walk after such a strong start.  Borbon finished with three hits and an RBI for Puebla while Chavez added a pair of singles.  The Leones, who outhit the host team by an 11-9 margin, got two hits apiece from Valle, Juan Francisco and Ivan Araujo.  However, Yucatan went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position while Puebla was 3-for-6 in similar situations.

Ordinarily, without a break between games, Puebla manager Johnson (who took over the team after Von Hayes' midseason firing) might go with Josh Outman as his starter in the championship series against Tijuana while Johnson's counterpart with the Toros, Pedro Mere, would give the ball to Edgar Gonzalez.  However, with four days to rest all their pitchers, either manager might reshuffle their respective rotations prior to Tuesday's Serie del Rey opener in Tijuana.  We'll all see soon enough.

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