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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
August 15, 2022
TJ SWEEPS
RIELEROS IN LMB NORTH FIRST
ROUND
It took them a second day to do it,
but the defending Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros completed an
11-1 win
in Aguascalientes Sunday to complete a four-game sweep over the
Rieleros in
their first round playoff series, punching a ticket to the LMB North
semifinals
in the process.
The game was somewhat closer than
the final score indicates as Tijuana took a 4-1 lead into the top of
the
eighth, where they put two more runs on the scoreboard on Leandro
Castro’s
homer and then put the contest away with five counters in the ninth as
Nick
Williams and Felix Perez added two-run roundtrippers of their own off
Ags
closer Ryan Kussmaul. Toros starter Arturo Reyes combined with five
relievers
on a four-hitter as Carlos Rivero’s solo homer to left off Reyes in the
second
gave the Railroaders their lone run.
Elsewhere in the
LMB North, Dos Laredos defeated Union Laguna
in five games while Monterrey did likewise with Monclova. The Tecolotes
advanced to the LMB semis with an emphatic 15-2 road win Sunday at
venerable
Estadio de Revolucion. The Algodoneros actually led 2-1 after five
entradas
before the visitors posted 14 runs over the next three frames,
including a
9-run eighth. Kennys Vargas went 4-for-6 for the borderites, scoring
once and
driving in four teammates as the Tecos’ 16-hit attack included no
extra-base
hits. Surprise starter Brandon Brennan, a reliever since 2016, got the
win
after scattering two runs on nine hits over five innings. Algodoneros
reliever
Josh Lueke had a nightmarish outing, allowing six runs on three hits
and three
walks in one-third of the eighth inning.
While Dos Laredos was pummeling
Union Laguna, Monterrey needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to top
Monclova, 6-5, clinching their 4-1 series win. Keon Broxton homered
twice for
the Acereros, including a two-run blast in the top of the ninth that
pulled the
visitors into a 5-5 tie, while longtime Sultanes star Chris Roberson
(now
playing right and batting eighth for Monclova) socked a solo shot in
the fifth.
However, the game was won in the bottom of the ninth when speedy
Sultanes
center fielder Jose Cardona manufactured the winning run the
old-fashioned way.
Cardona singled
on a bang-bang play via a grounder to
Acereros shortstop Addison Russell, stole second, advanced to third on
Sebastian
Elizalde’s groundout and motored in on a Wirfin Obispo wild pitch to
Zoilo
Almonte to end the contest. Despite allowing Broxton’s game-tying
homer,
reliever Neftali Feliz was awarded the win. Although they lost the
series,
Monclova will stay alive by virtue of the “lucky loser” system, in
which the
team with the best showing in a first-round losing cause advances to
the next
round. The Acereros will take on Tijuana in the LMB North semis while
the
Sultanes face Dos Laredos.
DIABLOS OUST
AGUILAS 4-0, REACH LMB
SOUTH SEMIS
After finishing with an LMB
South-best 58-34 record, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos carried their
regular
season success into the playoffs by bouncing the Veracruz Aguilas out
of the
postseason in four straight first round games and advancing to the
division
semifinals.
Mexico City delivered the coup de
grace over their ancient rivals, 4-2, Sunday night in front of 6,500
fans in
Veracruz. The win was fairly methodical for the Red Devils, who scored
single
runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings and got a solid
performance
from reliever Francisco Haro, who tossed four innings and allowed one
run on
four hits to earn the win.
The Diablos
benefitted from a pair of solo homers off the bat
of former Rockies farmhand Roberto Ramos, who swatted 38 homers for
Korea’s LG
Twins in 2020 but was released the following season when he struggled
at the
plate. Ramos struggled for the Red Sox’ AAA Worcester affiliate this
year (a
.158 average with 5 homers and 16 RBI in 39 games) but warmed up with
Mexico
City by batting .272 with 10 homers and 28 ribbies over 26 contests.
In another LMB South first round
series, Quintana Roo closed out their series against Tabasco with a
13-4 Game
Five win Monday night in Cancun. The Olmecas went up 1-0 in the top of
the
first when Herlis Rodriguez scored on Francisco Rivera’s sacrifice fly,
but the
Tigres knotted it up in the bottom of the frame when Olmo Rosario
homered to
right. Jorge Rivera lined a two-run single to left to give the Tigres a
3-1
lead in the bottom of the fourth.
From that point
both teams traded in the fifth and sixth
(when Rosario poled his second homer for Quintana Roo), with the Tigres
holding
a 6-4 head heading into the seventh, when they iced the game and series
with a
seven-run outburst highlighted by Tito Polo’s grand slam off Tabasco
reliever
Fernando Salas to end the night’s scoring. Ricky Rodriguez had four
hits,
missing the cycle by one homer, for the winners while scoring three
runs and
driving in two. Felipe Arredondo tossed 1.2 perfect innings in relief
for the
series-clinching win. Both the Tigres and Diablos Rojos are waiting for
the
third LMB South first round series to conclude so they’ll know who’s
next on
their respective postseason schedules.
Finally, Game Five of the
Puebla-Yucatan series in Merida Monday was scoreless through four
innings
before Peter O’Brien’s solo homer for the Pericos in the top of the
fifth broke
the spell and launched a see-saw battle. Art Charles belted a two-run
circuit
clout in the bottom of the sixth to put Yucatan ahead but the Pericos
regained
the lead in the seventh on Armando Aguilar’s two-run bomb. Then the
Leones took
the lead back in the bottom of the eighth, 4-3, on RBI singles by
Christhian
Adames and Yadir Drake and it was left to Jorge Rondon to hold Puebla
scoreless
in the top of the ninth for the save as Yucatan took a 3-2 series lead.
Game Six is
slated for Wednesday night in Puebla. Both teams
have qualified for the LMB South semis since both have more wins in
this series
than either Veracruz (0) or Tabasco (1) earned in their respective
sets,
meaning the “lucky loser” will emerge from this matchup.
LMP GAMES
TELEVISED TO USA BLOCKED BY
SKY SPORTS
The Mexican Pacific
League has begun a new era under the presidency of Carlos Manrique, who
has
replaced Omar Canizales after the latter had served 13 seasons at the
helm
overseeing tremendous growth in attendance and the building or
renovation of
all but one of ten LMP ballparks during his reign. By the end of
Canizales’
reign, the Mex Pac routinely drew much larger attendance per game than
any
affiliated minor league north of the border.
An industrial engineer with over
two decades
of experience working for large national and international
corporations, Manrique
had been a general director with the Voit sporting goods manufacturing
company
for five years prior to replacing Canizales in April. Some things never
change
no matter who is running the show, however, and Manrique is already
facing a
challenge involving the availability of MexPac games to TV viewers in
the USA.
Septima
Entrada writer Irving Furlong reports that while Manrique wants to take viewership of the league
to an
international level, the agreement that the league has with SKY Sports
at this
time blocks the LMP from sending its signal to the United States. One
of the first points that Manrique touched on in
a recent presentation was precisely to internationalize the circuit and
take it
to the country with perhaps the greatest presence of Mexican people
outside the
nation’s borders: the USA.
"The United States
market is very important,” said Manrique during his presentation. ”The
Hispanic
market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the United States and
quality
content is demanded to serve and reach that market. We are going to
find a way
to get there first through the media.”
However, the agreement
signed at the beginning of 2020 with the satellite television platform
blocks
the LMP from accessing the United States by having the live and
exclusive
broadcast of all their games. "We want to talk with SKY," said
Manrique. “We are going to sit down and see what options we have and
look for a
better scheme that is convenient for all parties and see how we can
reach other
markets as quickly as possible.”
For the 2022-23 season,
the Mex Pac will begin the third of its four-year contract with SKY
Sports, a
UK-based television system that at the time boasted a presence in the
Dominican
Republic and Panama (countries with long histories in baseball) but far
from
the 37 million Mexicans living in various parts of the United States,
according
to the US Census Bureau in 2017.
Under current
agreements, Manrique and the LMP office will instead continue to seek
to
position themselves in the center of Mexico, placing special emphasis
on Mexico
City.