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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
January 11, 2021
ALL
LMP QFS DECIDED IN SIX GAMES, SEMIS OPEN TUESDAY
The opening round of the Mexican
Pacific League playoffs is in the history books, with all four
quarterfinal
series being decided in their respective Game Sixes last Saturday. The
winners
all move on to the semifinals, which open Tuesday night.
Ryan Verdugo pitched seven shutout
innings and allowed just three hits to pace top seed Hermosillo to a
1-0 home
whitewashing of Mazatlan Saturday to punch the Naranjeros' ticket to
the LMP
Final Four. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the second
when Luis
Alfonso Cruz and Jose Cardona both singled and advanced one base on
Alex
Flores' sacrifice fly before Julian Leon's slow roller to first allowed
Cruz to
come in from third for the tally. The Venados had the bases full with
two out
in the top of the eighth, but reliever Robinson Leyer (who pitched six
games
for Boston last summer) struck out Anthony Giansanti to end the last
threat
Mazatlan would pose, then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save
of the
series.
Second seed Obregon send Jalisco
packing Saturday with a convincing 8-1 win. The Yaquis took a 2-0 lead
in the
second and gradually built a 6-0 advantage before the Charros scored
their only
run of the night in the seventh when Dariel Alvarez came in from third
on a
passed ball by Sebastian Valle. Jonathan Aranda belted a two-run homer
in the
bottom of the seventh for insurance runs as Obregon pitchers combined
to
silence to potent Jalisco attack. Yaquis starter Dallas Martinez tossed
4.2
shutout innings while allowing one hit as the Obregon mound staff
combined to
hold the visitors from Guadalajara to three hits in the tilt.
Number four seed Monterrey closed
out their set with Mexicali by topping the Aguilas, 7-2, at home
Saturday. The
Sultanes took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Brazilian
Paulo
Orlando pounded a two-run homer to right. Luis Juarez' RBI single in
the fifth
brought Mexicali to within a run before a four-run Monterrey explosion
in the
sixth essentially put the game in their hip pockets as Roberto
Valenzuela
slashed a two-run single while Antonio Lamas and Gilberto Galaviz added
run-scoring singles. Sultanes starter Luis Gamez had a nice outing,
going 4.1
innings and allowing one run on four hits while six relievers held the
Aguilas
to one more run (on another Juarez single) the rest of the way.
Culiacan was the only lower seed to
get past the first round as the sixth-ranked Tomateros showed why
they're the
defending champion by eliminating third seed Guasave, 4-3, on the road
at
Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Tomateros were trailing, 1-0,
before
posting a three-run fifth inning keyed by Yoelkis Guibert's two-run
single to
go up by two runs. Alejandro Ortiz tied the game up for the Algodoneros
with a
two-run double to right in the bottom of the seventh, but the visitors
regained
the lead for good in the top of the eighth. Ramiro Pena singled, moved
to third
on another safety by Sebastian Elizalde and then came in on an infield
single
by Michael Wing. Culiacan reliever Sasagi Sanchez got one out in the
bottom of
the eighth before closer Alberto Baldonado came in and retired the
final five
Cottoneer batters (two on strikeouts) for the save. Tomateros starter
Manny Barreda
gave up one run on one hit over six innings for the winners.
Mexicali shortstop Daniel Castro's
.500 average (11-of-22) led all Mex Pac batsmen in the opening round.
Monterrey's Paulino Orlando, Joey Meneses of Culiacan and Obregon's
Alonzo
Harris each had two homers in the quarterfinals while Luis Juarez
easily led in
RBIs with nine. Harris and Mazatlan's Jorge Flores each stole four
bases.
Flores' performance was somewhat remarkable in that he only had one hit
and
drew four walks during the Venados' entire series with Hermosillo.
Surprisingly, neither Castro nor Juarez were picked in Sunday's
reinforcement
draft.
Among pitchers, two starters
(Jalisco's Orlando Lara and Ryan Verdugo of Hermosillo) and two
relievers
(Monterrey's Francisco Moreno and Obregon's Miguel Aguilar) each had
two wins,
with Lara earning both Charros' quarterfinal triumphs. Among eleven
hurlers
with ten innings pitched or more, Verdugo's was the lowest at 0.64. Two
Culiacan starters, Manny Barreda and J.C. Ramirez, each had 12
strikeouts.
Monterrey's Jeff Johnson led all closers with three saves.
Sunday's reinforcement draft was
held among the four survivors had each team picking one player from the
rosters
of eliminated squads. After a draw, Monterrey got the first choice and
added
Mazatlan first baseman Carlos Munoz. With the second pick, Hermosillo
added LMP
batting champion Isaac Paredes, also from the Venados. Obregon selected
Jalisco
outfielder Dariel Alvarez with the third pick while Culiacan closed out
the
draft by taking Guasave's veteran third baseman Jesse Castillo.
The selection of Munoz with the top
pick by Monterrey was somewhat surprising. While the 26-year-old former
Pirates
farmhand has become a fixture in the Venados lineup over seven winters,
he's
not generally regarded as one the Mex Pac's top players and lacks the
kind of
power usually associated with first basemen. On the other hand, Munoz
(who hit
.286 in Mazatlan's loss to Hermosillo) drew ten walks in six games for
a
standout on-base percentage and figures to replace struggling DH Jose
Amador
(.154) or RF Courtney Hawkins (.143) in the Sultanes batting order.
The semifinals open with a pair of
games on Tuesday night. Culiacan will visit Obregon for Game One at
6:00PM
while Hermosillo hosts Monterrey at 7:00PM. All LMP playoff series use
a
best-of-7 format.
MIRANDA
LMP ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, SALAS TOP RELIEVER
Guasave pitcher Luis Miranda has
been named the Mexican Pacific League's Rookie of the Year for 2020-21
after
tying Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas for the league lead with eight
wins.
Former MLB hurler Fernando Salas, now with the Naranjeros, was chosen
Reliever
of the Year as the LMP's postseason awards have begun trickling out.
The 26-year-old Miranda, an
Hermosillo native, finished the regular season with an 8-2 record over
11
starts. He fanned 36 batters and walked 21 over 49 innings of work on
the
mound. A 5'11” righty, Miranda had a decent outing in his lone
postseason start
for the Algodoneros in their six-game quarterfinal loss to Culiacan,
tossing
4.2 innings of one-run, three-hit ball and striking out eight in a 6-1
loss to
the defending champions in the series opener last Tuesday in a game
that was
tied at one run apiece when Miranda was pulled by manager Ramon Orates
in the
fifth frame.
While this was Miranda's first full
season in the Mex Pac, he is a veteran of six minor league seasons,
including
three as a reliever in the Atlanta system between 2013 and 2015. He was
7-7
with a 4.87 ERA in 22 games (17 of them starts) for Quintana Roo of the
Mexican
League in 2016 but has seen limited action since. Miranda received 58
percent
of votes by what the LMP calls a “specialized press,” far outdistancing
the
four other ROY nominees.
Salas was also a landslide winner as
Reliever of the Year after leading the Mex Pac with 17 saves in 19
opportunities and was an important part of a Hermosillo team that is
the top
seed for the postseason. He had a 2-1 record and turned in a
microscopic 0.74
ERA in 25 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 24.1 innings. Salas
pitched
in two opening round contests in the Naranjeros' six-game win over
Mazatlan,
tossing three scoreless entradas and striking out five but recording no
saves.
The 25-year-old righthander from
Huatabampo debuted with Saltillo of the Mexican League in 2005 and
spent parts
of three seasons with the Saraperos before signing with St. Louis in
2007.
Salas worked his way through the Cardinals organization before reaching
the
majors in 2010. He served as closer during the regular season for St.
Louis'
2011 world champions, saving 24 games and turning in a 2.28 ERA over 68
trips
from the bullpen before pitching in four World Series contests against
Texas.
Salas went on to pitch all or part of ten MLB seasons for four teams
between
2010 and 2019, mostly as a middleman, and had a career 25-28 record
with 30
saves and a 3.91 ERA.
Salas came away with 74 percent of
the “specialized press” vote while runner-up Jeff Ibarra of Guasave was
far
behind with 11 percent. The league had announced that fans would
determine
postseason award winners for 2020-21, but neither mentioned fans nor
defined
what a “specialized press” in either of last week's announcements.
PEREYRA: RACE WALKING, BOXING FUNDS DIVERTED TO PROBEIS
Funding has been a major concern for
the organization created to foster growth of baseball in Mexico ever
since its
foundation in 2019. According to Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra,
however,
future allocations to Probeis will come in part by being diverted from
the
country's race walking and boxing commissions. Here is a cleaned-up
Google
translation of Pereyra's report for Proceso:
MEXICO CITY - On the instructions of
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the 264 million pesos that the
Chamber
of Deputies allocated for the operation of the race walking, boxing and
baseball commissions will be used only in the Office of the Presidency
to the
Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico (Probeis).
In this way, the race walking
commission headed by Olympic medalist Bernardo Segura disappears.
Segura
resigned last October after accusing officials of the Ministry of
Public
Education (SEP) as "bureaucrats" because they did not assign a budget
to him during 2020. Segura had not finished verifying the money they
gave him
to operate in 2019.
Meanwhile, the boxing commission led
by Miguel Torruco will continue in force, but without a federal budget.
During
2019 and 2020, for this project in the Federation Expenditure Budget
(PEF), 15%
of the federal resources for the item called Physical Education of
Excellence
that operates within the SEP was allocated.
According to López Obrador's
request, the 264 million pesos from the aforementioned items will be
used to
finish building the baseball schools that are the governing axis of the
Probeis. According to the project, which has already been modified
countless
times, five schools of the so-called T1, that is, those with
dormitories, will
be located in Campeche, Texcoco, Veracruz, Hermosillo and Obregón. For
the last
two mentioned, the federal government paid more than one billion pesos
to the
government of Sonora to acquire the old stadiums, Héctor Espino and
Tomás Oroz
Gaytán, respectively. The plan indicates that these five will begin
operating
in August 2021.
Likewise, another four located in
Guanajuato, Mexicali, Lagos de Moreno and Cancun that do not have
bedrooms (known as T3) will start between
next
February and April.
Beyond the allocation of resources,
there is still no clear outline of how these schools will operate. The
federal
government has not determined who will hire and pay both the
instructors who
will teach classes at the high school and the baseball coaches. The
sports
equipment that they will use has not been acquired either.
It remains uncertain what will
happen to the 69 boxing schools (12 of which are operated by the
Ministry of
National Defense) that the commission launched during 2019 and 2020,
where more
than 2,000 children train for free with 257 receiving monthly
scholarships of
3,500 pesos. The salary earned by the trainers who in different states
of the
country serve the boxers who are part of this program come from the
money
allocated to the Physical Education of Excellence item.
In 2019 and 2020, the boxing commission received, per year, 75 million pesos, but in neither of the two fiscal years were those amounts spent. In 2020, Miguel Torruco's commission spent around 40 million pesos. So far there is no certainty of how much Probeis spent that same year, since the SEP transferred money to two states during the month of December but in both cases it was returned because there was no longer time to spend it.
