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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
September 5, 2022
August 29, 2022
August 22, 2022
TIJUANA,
SULTANES ADVANCE TO LMB
NORTH FINALS
It took them six
games to do it, but the Tijuana Toros took
one step closer to repeating as Mexican League pennant-winners by
defeating
2020 champion Monclova in their Northern Division semifinal series.
Tijuana
clinched their 6-games-to-2 set victory last Friday with a 12-5
pounding of the
Acereros at home before 17,193 fans in a jampacked Estadio Nacional.
The Toros led
5-0 after two innings after Leandro Castro’s
two-run homer capped a three-run first against Monclova starter Eduardo
Vera.
Castro then rapped a bases-clearing double off Wilmer Rios, who came on
in
relief, in the second. Efren Navarro’s three-run roundtripper in the
fourth off
Ernesto Zaragosa, who took over for Rios, made it an 8-0 contest and
TJ’s win
was all but assured.
The Acereros did
score three runs in the sixth as 13-year LMB
veteran Chris Roberson contributed an RBI single while former Cubs
All-Star
Addison Russell’s two-out homer in the eighth off Tijuana reliever Sam
Dyson
accounted for Monclova’s final two runs. Humberto Mejia got the win by
pitching
five innings of three-run ball while the loss went to Vera.
The Acereros had
actually taken a 2-games-to-1 lead last
Monday with an 11-7 win thanks to a six-run seventh featuring homers by
Chris
Carter and Keon Broxton after trailing 5-0 earlier in the tilt. Tijuana
then
won the next three games, starting with Tuesday’s 15-2 drubbing in
Monclova as
Junior Lake, Felix Perez and Castro each had three hits and three RBIs.
Perez
then clubbed two more homers one night later, driving in four runs in a
9-2
Toros win as a third straight sellout crowd of 8,500 looked on at
Estadio
Monclova, setting up Friday’s series-closing game in TJ.
Monterrey won
the first two games of their LMB North semi set
with Dos Laredos before dropping a 4-2 contest last Monday as Balbino
Fuenmayor’s two run homer in the top of the 13th off Sultanes reliever
Miguel
Aguilar held up to give the Tecolotes their lone win before 15,062
onlookers at
Estadio Monterrey. Tuesday’s starter Cristian Castillo gave Monterrey
skipper
Roberto Kelly five innings of one-run pitching while Orlando Calixte
singled,
doubled and scored twice in a 5-1 Sultanes win with 15,395 in the
stands at
home and Monterrey ended the division semi set on Wednesday with a
solid 7-2
triumph with Zoilo Almonte’s RBI double in the second giving the
Sultanes a 2-1
lead that they would never relinquish. The midweek date and a rain
delay
dropped attendance to 12,160 but co-owner Jose “Pepe” Maiz had to be
happy with
the three-game turnout exceeding 42,000 in Mexico’s largest ballpark.
The Sultanes and
Toros were scheduled to open the LMB North
championship series Monday night at Tijuana in what has become perhaps
the most
bitter rivalry in the Mexican League over the past few years. Monterrey
owner
Maiz (a firm believer in relying on homegrown talent) has taken deep
exception
to Toros owner Alberto Uribe and family paying large amounts of money
to import
foreign players to the border city, a sentiment the 1957 Little League
World
Series champion likely harbors towards Monclova’s similarly
free-spending owner
Gerardo Benavides.
Whatever the
front office methodology, Tijuana and Monterrey
finished 1-2 in the LMB attendance derby this year and it would
surprise nobody
if more than 50,000 fans attend the first four games of this series,
which
marks the sixth time in the Toros’ nine years of existence that they
have met
the Gray Ghosts in the postseason. Monterrey holds a 3-2 lead in that
context
but Tijuana’s LMB North title wins in 2016 and 2017 were what touched
off the
rivalry that transcends the playing field.
DIABLOS BASH
PUEBLA, FACE YUCATAN FOR
SOUTH TITLE
The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won
the Mexican League South Division regular season title in no small part
to an
offense that produced 7.3 runs per game (highest in the LMB) with a
.320 team
batting average, which ranked fourth in the circuit as the Red Devils
were the
only LMB South club among seven who topped the .300 mark. That the
capital city
congregation’s playoff hopes would sink or swim on the strength of
their bats
was a foregone conclusion, but Mexico City has put on a postseason
fireworks
that has been nothing short of awesome.
In sweeping both
their first round and division semifinal
series, the Diablos outscored Veracruz and Puebla by an aggregate 94-45
score,
an average of 11.75 per game. The Aguilas were able to hold Mexico City
to 8
and 4 runs over the final two games of their opening round set, but the
Pericos
allowed 57 runs (14.25 per game) during the Diablos’ broom job in their
series.
To their credit, Puebla averaged 7.5 runs in their division semi but
when your
pitchers allow 63 hits (including 13 homers) over four games, you’re
not likely
going to win many games.
The Diablos
closed out their dominant series win last
Wednesday by throttling the Pericos, 15-5, in Puebla. After a scoreless
first
inning, Mexico City torched Pericos starter Kurt Heyer and reliever
Braulio
Torres-Perez for nine runs on nine hits, including Julian Leon’s fourth
homer
of the series (a two-run bomb off Heyer) and a three-run shot by Juan
Carlos
Gamboa off Torres-Perez in the fourth. Danny Ortiz, who has hit 94
longballs in
265 games over three seasons in Puebla, captured the spirit of the
thing with
solo homers off starter William Cuevas in the fourth and reliever Edgar
Torres
in the sixth but the visitors were up 12-1 when the latter shot came
and the
outcome of both game and series were no longer in doubt.
After going
1-for-8 over the first two games against the
Pericos, veteran slugger Japhet Amador went 7-for-9 (including a homer
and a
double) with five runs and five RBIs to finish the semis with a .477
average.
The hottest bat, however, belonged to Diablos catcher Julian Leon. A
28-year-old former Dodgers and Angels minor leaguer, Leon followed up a
decent
but unremarkable regular season (.301 with 8 homers in 48 games) and an
0-for-7
performance over two games against Veracruz in the first round with a
dominant
series against Puebla, batting 10-for-18 (.556) with four homers, 13
RBIs and 6
runs.
It’s unlikely
that Leon and the Diablos will match their
output against Yucatan in the LMB South divisional finals. Since
joining the
Liga in 1954, the Leones have built their reputation on pitching and
defense.
Both were on prominent display in their series-ending 6-0 Game Five win
over
Quintana Roo last Thursday in Cancun. Starter Henderson Alvarez, a 2014
All-Star with Miami who led the National League with three shutouts
that year,
tossed a complete game shutout for the Leones, scattering five singles
over
nine innings, striking out five and walking none while his defense
played
errorless ball and turned a pair of double plays as he won his second
game
against the Tigres. Thirteen-year veteran catcher Luis Juarez socked a
three-run homer in the top of the first and that was all Alvarez would
need.
Alvarez won Game
One as well, a 9-1 laugher on August 20 that
featured a three-run homer by Art Charles. Game Two on August 21 was
more of
the same, with another Charles three-run blast keying a 5-4 win. The
series
shifted to Cancun for the next three games, starting with a
homer-filled (8 HRs
between the two teams) 11-8 Yucatan win last Tuesday in which the
Leones were
their own worst enemies, with the visitors batting 5-for-19 with
runners in
scoring position and leaving 13 runners on base. The Tigres showed some
fight
with a 6-4 Game Four win last Wednesday as Ramon Bramasco lined a
dramatic
two-run walkoff homer to right center off reliever Tim Peterson on a
1-2 count
with two out for the triumph. A former
University of Washington shortstop, Bramasco hit one regular season
homer for
the Tigres after hitting no roundtrippers in three collegiate seasons.
All
three games at Cancun’s refurbished Estadio Beto Avila drew in excess
of 9,000
fans, nearing the facility’s listed 9,500-seat capacity.
Like their
counterparts to the north, the Diablos and Leones
have a long history of facing each other over the past seven decades,
albeit
without the intensity that marks the Tijuana-Monterrey rivalry. Despite
both
clubs being in the Mexican League for so long, Mexico City and Yucatan
have met
only 12 times in the playoffs. Although the Diablos have a 7-5 overall
advantage, the Leones have topped Mexico City twice (2019 and 2021) for
the LMB
South championship. This year’s South Division title set will open
Tuesday
night in Mexico City.
All division championship series
games will be available via streaming. The Tijuana-Monterrey LMB North
title
set is being carried on various ESPN and Star+ channels while the
Mexico
City-Yucatan LMB South series can be watched on Fox Sports 2, Claro
Sports,
TUDN, AYM, ViX+, Azteca Deportes, and Sipse. Both series will be
streamed live
and on-demand on Jonron.TV, as will next month’s Serie del Rey between
the two
division champions.
ROBERTO OSUNA
NOW PITCHING IN
JAPANESE LEAGUES
One pitcher who started the 2022
season strong for Mexico City but is not likely to pitch for the
Diablos Rojos
during the playoffs is former MLB All-Star closer Roberto Osuna.
A nephew of one-time reliever
Antonio Osuna, who pitched in 411 games over 11 major league seasons
between
1995 and 2005, the younger Osuna had established himself as one of the
game’s
top closers by averaging 31 saves over a five-year period, gaining an
All-Star
Game selection in 2014 with Toronto and leading the American League
with 38
saves in 2019 for Houston, although a domestic violence charge that was
settled
out of court hastened his exit from Canada.
However, the
Sinaloa native came down with an elbow injury
that erased his 2020 season after just four appearances and the Astros
placed
him on waivers following the campaign after he turned down Tommy John
surgery
in favor of a rest-and-rehab approach. After holding a showcase in the
Dominican Republic the following March but receiving no offers from an
MLB team
as a free agent, Osuna then signed with the Diablos Rojos two months
later. He
spent the rest of the abbreviated 2021 Mexican League season in Mexico
City,
going 3-0 with 12 saves in 24 appearances and turning in a 1.09 ERA
(striking
out 27 batters with just three walks in 24.2 innings).
After spending the winter pitching
for his hometown Jalisco Charros in the Mexican Pacific League (5-2/11
saves/1.26 ERA in 28 appearances) and making four scoreless outings in
the
Caribbean Series, Osuna was back in Diablos Rojos togs this season. He
got off
to a hot start for the Red Devils and was 2-0 with six saves and a 1.35
ERA
after his first 12 appearances when he got a call from Japan’s Chiba
Lotte
Mariners of NPB’s Pacific League and signed a contract with the team on
June
11. Terms were not available.
Osuna, who turned 27 in February,
has since pitched for both the Marines’ Eastern League affiliate,
giving up a
pair of runs over three innings in as many relief appearances, but has
spent
most of the past ten weeks with the big club, where’s he’s been
teammates with
Mexican National Team member Brandon Laird, former Rangers center
fielder Leonys
Martin and one-time Marlins infielder Adeiny Hechavarria.
After 20 games
out of the bullpen for the Marines (who are
fifth in the Pacific League with a 56-59 record), Osuna is 3-0 with
five saves,
nine holds and a 0.90 ERA. Continuing to exhibit the pinpoint control
he showed
in Mexico City, the righty has struck out 23 NPB batters and issued
just two
walks over 20 innings pitched. The NPB regular season lasts into the
first week
of October, meaning Osuna’s return to the Diablos Rojos for the
playoffs is
highly unlikely.
