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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
September 26, 2 0 1 8
SULTANES ONE WIN AWAY FROM SERIE DEL
REY, LMB SOUTH TIED AT 1-1
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 be worth with a volatile owner
like Benavides?
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 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
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 NPB 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."