Thousands of articles!
B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday, February 1, 2021
CULIACAN
WINS GAME 7, COPS SECOND STRAIGHT LMP TITLE
It took them a tenth-inning win in
Game Seven to do it, but the Culiacan Tomateros were able to overcome
their
sixth-seed postseason berth to complete their second consecutive
Mexican
Pacific League championship season. Manager Benji Gil's squad was able
to
defeat Hermosillo, 7-6, on Saturday to take the series, 4 games to 3,
and seal
the pennant for the Tomateros. The team then took a charter flight from
Hermosillo
to Mazatlan after the game to represent Mexico at the Caribbean Series.
Hermosillo opened the title series
on January 22 by beating Culiacan, 2-1, at home as Ryan Verdugo allowed
just
five hits over seven scoreless innings to take the win. Yadier
Hernandez
doubled in one Naranjeros run off Tomateros starter J.C. Ramirez and
scored
their second in the bottom of the first to give Verdugo and his
relievers all
the support they'd need.
Culiacan came back one night later
for a 6-1 win as Efren Navarro, Sebastian Elizalde and Yoelkis Guibert
all
homered while Anthony Vasquez allowed the lone Orangemen run on six
hits over
six innings, striking out seven without walking a single batsman.
The series shifted to Culiacan for
the next three games, beginning last Monday with Hermosillo's 5-4
comeback win.
The Tomateros had taken a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth when
Navarro
plated Elizalde and Joey Meneses with a single and later scored on a
Guibert
safety. Julian Leon became the hero for the Naranjeros after belting a
two-run
homer off Sasagi Sanchez with Niko Vazquez on base in the top of the
eighth.
Hermosillo then brought themselves
to within one game of winning their first Mex Pac pennant since 2014
last
Tuesday with a 1-0 whitewash of the home team. This time it was Jose
Samayoa
tossing magic from the mound, mesmerising the Tomateros over seven
shutout
innings by allowing two hits, striking out six and walking none. Manny
Barreda
pitched a complete game for Culiacan, but gave up the tilt's only run
in the
seventh when Isaac Paredes doubled home Jose Cardona with what was the
eventual
game-winner as the Orangemen took a 3-games-to-1 advantage.
The Tomateros fought back Wednesday
with a 4-3 comeback victory after trailing 3-1 in the fifth inning.
Jesus
Fabela opened the bottom of the entrada with a single and later scored
on
Ramiro Pena's double to make it a one-run game. Fabela tied the game in
the
seventh by whacking a leadoff double, chasing Hermosillo starter
Verdugo, and
later coming in on a two-out Elizalde single to right off reliever
Marcelo
Martinez in a remarkable duel that lasted 15 pitches. Elizalde, the
league MVP,
stroked a one-out single off Wilmer Rios in the bottom of the ninth,
then stole
second, moved to third on a Rios wild pitch and ended the game by
scoring on
Michael Wing's walkoff single to bring Culiacan to within a game of
Hermosillo.
After Thursday's travel day, the
series resumed with Game Six at Estadio Sonora, a 6-2 Culiacan win
Friday as
Navarro went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs while Meneses
and
Jesse Castillo each had two hits and a ribbie. It was a 1-1 game until
the top
of the sixth, when the Tomateros scored four times and sent LMP Pitcher
of the
Year Juan Pablo Oramas to the showers. Vasquez turned in his second
strong
outing of the finals by going six innings and letting in one run while
scattering seven hits and striking out five as the title set went to
Saturday's
seventh and deciding game.
In Game Seven, Hermosillo took a 1-0
lead in the first inning but the Tomateros scored four times in the top
of the
second (driving out Orangemen starter Cesar Valdez), with Guibert's
two-run
single highlighting the outburst, and eventually built a 6-2 lead in
the top of
the fifth. The Naranjeros fought back with a run in the bottom of the
fifth and
then tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh when Paredes poleaxed a
three-run
homer off reliever Carlos Torres. The score held firm until the top of
the
tenth when vet slugger Jesse Castillo hit his second solo homer of the
night
(this one off LMP Reliever of the Year Fernando Salas) to give the
Tomateros a
7-6 lead, then closer Alberto Baldonado set down the Orangemen 1-2-3 in
the
bottom of the tenth to seal the win and title, Culiacan's 13th
overall and fourth under manager Gil.
Castillo, whose career was placed on
hold for over a year after the two-time Mexican League MVP suffered a
leg
injury during the 2018 Serie del Rey, was named the Finals' Most
Valuable
Player after batting 8-for-20 with two homers and four RBIs. He
finished the
LMP postseason with a .410 average with a league-leading five homers
and 15
RBIs. The MVP award could have gone to Anthony Vasquez just as easily.
The
Tomateros left-hander won both his starts, allowing two runs and
striking out
12 batters with two walks in 12 innings.
SERIE
DEL CARIBE
OPENS WITH TRIPLEHEADER IN MAZATLAN
It was out of the frying pan, into
the fire for the Culiacan Tomateros, who eschewed a long postgame
celebration
of their Mexican Pacific League pennant Saturday night to catch a late
charter
flight to Mazatlan, where they played their first Caribbean Series less
than 24
hours later in a tripleheader nightcap against the Barranquilla
Caimanes,
champions of Colombia's Professional Baseball League (LBP).
After winning the LMP title, it was
announced the Tomateros are adding no fewer than seven reinforcements
to their
active roster: Pitchers Fernando Salas (Hermosillo) and Edgar Gonzalez
(Monterrey) and catcher Julian Leon, infielders Isaac Paredes, Juan
Carlos
Gamboa and Victor Mendoza plus outfielder Jose Cardona (all from
Hermosillo).
Culiacan is also activating reliever Derrick Loop from their reserve
list.
The 2021 Serie del Caribe opened
play Sunday when the Panama Selects, a handpicked All-Star team
representing a
league that didn't bother with a regular season or playoffs this
winter,
defeated Venezuelan champions Anzoategui, 6-3. The Caribes qualified
for the CS
by posting a 24-16 record during the season, then playing another 35
games in
the playoffs, capping things off by sweeping the Lara Cardenales in
four games
for the LVBP title.
Herlis Rodriguez homered and doubled
in the loss while Danry Vasquez, Luis Sardinas and Jesus Sucre each
collected a
pair of hits for the Caribes, with Sucre swatting a solo homer. First
baseman
Balbino Fuenmayor, who spent part of his winterball season with
Mexicali, went
0-for-4. David Martinez (5 IP, 2 R) had a decent start for Anzoategui
but
Mayckol Guaipe, who pitched parts of two seasons in Seattle and was 4-5
with
five saves over two years with Durango in the Mexican League, gave up
three
runs in the sixth and was tagged with the loss.
In Sunday's second game, Dominican
title-winners Cibaenas overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three
runs in
the third inning and two more in the fourth, then cruised to a 5-1
triumph over
Puerto Rican pennant-winners Caguas. The winning Aguilas, whose 16-14
regular
season gave them a tie for first with Este and Cibao in the LiDom
before
winning two playoff series that went the full seven games, topped
Caguas behind
the bat of centerfielder Juan Lagares, who belted a three-run homer and
hit a
two-run single to account for all five Cibaenas runs. Robinson Cano
added a
pair of singles for the Aguilas and Melky Cabrera singled twice and
scored a
run. Aguilas starter Carlos Martinez got the win, pitching 5.2 innings
and
allowing one run on three hits. Luis Castillo, Wirfin Obispo and
Fernando Abad
combined to allow one hit after Martinez was pulled in the sixth.
Caguas won all four games over
Mayaguez in the Roberto Clemente League championship series to qualify
for the
Caribbean Series after going 14-4 in the four-team loop's abbreviated
regular
season. The Criollos' lone run against Cibaenas came in the top of the
the
first, when leadoff hitter Jarren Duran singled and eventually scored
on a Jose
Miranda base hit. Caguas would only pick up two more hits the rest of
the way,
a Yadier Molina double and a single from Jeremy Rivera. Starter Luis
Medina
lasted two outs into the fourth inning before being replaced by Jason
Garcia
after giving up all five Dominican runs (two unearned) on seven hits.
Garcia
combined with three other relievers to hold the Aguilas hitless the
rest of the
game, but the Puerto Rican champions' offense never woke up to close
the gap.
Culiacan then wrapped up Day One by
making short work of Barranquilla, 10-2. Jesse Casillo's hot bat
carried over
from the Mex Pac championship series as the 37-year-old went 2-for-3 on
the
night, including a three-run homer off Caimanes reliever Jalen Miller
in the
top of the ninth inning. Joey Meneses singled and doubled, scoring
twice and
driving in two more runs while Jose Cadona singled twice and added two
more
RBIs. Starting pitcher Manny Barreda allowed one earned run and six
hits over
five innings, striking out five and walking one en route to the victory.
Barranquilla gathered five hits in
the game, one of them a Dilson Herrera single up the middle off Barrera
that
scored Evan Mendoza to tie the contest, 1-1, in the bottom of the
first. The
Colombian champions actually took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Herrera
scored
from third on a Carlos Martinez sacrifice fly, but the Tomateros put
the game
in their hip pocket by scoring six runs in the top of the fifth.
Meneses'
two-run double was a key hit, as was a Cardona single that brought in
two more.
Oakland prospect Jordan Diaz had two of the Caribes' seven hits.
The Caribbean Series this year will
involve a first round of tripleheaders between Sunday through Thursday,
followed by a Friday semifinal involving the top four finishers in
round-robin
play and a champioinship game on Saturday. All games are being played
at
Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, scene of the 2005 Serie del Caribe.
CUALICAN
TOMATEROS
2021
Serie
del Caribe schedule
FIRST
ROUND
SUN,
Jan. 31 Culiacan 10, Barranquilla
Caimanes (Colombia) 2
MON,
Feb. 1 vs. Cibaenas Aguilas (Dominican
Republic)
TUE,
Feb. 2 vs. Caguas Criollos (Puerto
Rico)
WED,
Feb. 3 at Panama Selects
THU,
Feb. 4 vs. Anzoategui Caribes
(Venezuela)
FRI,
Feb. 5 SEMIFINALS
SAT,
Feb. 6 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
All
Tomateros games scheduled for 9PM local time
GASTELUM
FIRED BY DIABLOS, NEVER MANAGED LMB GAME
Readers familiar with the “Mexican
Managerial Merry-Go-Round,” the never-ending coming and going of
managers in
Mexican baseball, shouldn't be surprised that another helmsman south of
the
border has been given the pink slip. However, even in an environment in
which
managers get the axe within two weeks of their first game, this firing
is
unusual.
According to columnist David
Braverman, one of the country's most respected baseball scribes, the
Mexico
City Diablos Rojos have let go skipper Sergio Gastelum before he
managed a
single game for the Red Devils after coming to the club from their de
facto
farm team in Oaxaca after the 2019 season.
A popular second baseman who spent
four seasons with the Diablos at the end of his 22-year Mexican League
playing
career before retiring at the end of the 2017 season with nearly 2,000
hits and
over 1,000 runs scored, Gastelum was named Oaxaca manager prior to the
2018
two-season schedule. During the Fall 2018 season, he led the Guerreros
to the
LMB South title and an appearance in the Serie del Rey before
losing to
Monterrey, earning Manager of the Year honors. Gastelum returned for
another
year with Oaxaca in 2019 and brought the team to an overall 68-51
record
(second-best in the LMB South) and a second straight playoff
appearance.
That was enough for the Diablos
Rojos to pluck Gastelum from their little sisters and name him as
manager in
Mexico City for 2020, replacing Victor Bojorquez (who'd brought the
Diablos to
a 67-49 ledger and a berth in the LMB South championship series).
Although
Gastelum ran the team during training camp last year, the season was
postponed
and then ultimately canceled due to the pandemic before ever managing
the Red
Devils in a game that counted in the standings. And now he's been let
go less
than four months before the LMB season is slated to open in May.
Puro Beisbol editor Fernando
Ballesteros attributes Gastelum's surprising ouster to a battle for
power
within the Diablos Rojos' front office, saying sports manager Francisco
Minjarez left the team weeks ago while a “massive dismissal of scouts”
has also
taken place. Ballesteros speculates that team president Dr. Othon Diaz
(who has
apparently won the power struggle) wants ex-MLB catcher Miguel Ojeda to
return
to the dugout, where he managed Mexico City to the 2014 pennant.
However, it
remains to be seen whether Ojeda wants to leave his current position of
Diablos' vice president.
Gastelum recently concluded his third season managing Obregon in the Mexican Pacific League, taking the Yaquis to an LMP-best 37-22 regular season record, a first-half title and a first-round playoff win over Jalisco. He was named the Mex Pac Manager of the Year for 2019-20.
