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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
October 5, 2 0 1 7
Mexican
Baseball Road Trip: Tucson, Arizona
BBM 2017 Summer Awards: Manager
of the Year / Batter
of the Year / Playoff
MVP / MVP
Changing
of the Guard: What Is Mexican Baseball's Future?
In
Radical Departure, LMB to Play 2 Seasons in 2018
The Mexican Baseball Fiesta kicked off its final weekend of
play in 2017 Thursday night with a pair of games featuring three Mexican
Pacific League teams at Tucson's Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Obregon Yaquis opened the four-day,
eight-game event with a convincing 9-1 win over Mexicali in the first contest
while a team consisting of Cincinnati Reds prospects pulled off a 5-3 comeback
win over the Hermosillo Naranjeros in the second contest.
Former Phillies outfielder Cedric Hunter lofted a solo homer
with two out in the top of the first as his Obregon Yaquis went on to pull away
from the defending MexPac champion Aguilas.
Felix Pie led off the game getting plunked by Mexicali starter Francisco
Rodriguez, but was cut down at second when Obregon centerfielder Yordanys
Linares made a diving catch of an Irving Falu Texas Leaguer and threw a strike
to second baseman Paul Leon, who calmly tagged Pie to complete the double
play. Hunter then took Rodriguez deep
into the right field bullpen.
Pie got a measure of revenge one inning later by lashing a
two-run single off Rodriguez to give the Yaquis a 3-0 advantage, to which Falu
added another run by rapping a sharp single to right that brought Armando
Araiza in from third. Mexicali scored
their lone run in the bottom of the fourth when former Yankees farmhand Josh
Romanski drilled a liner off Obregon reliever David Reyes' right leg, scoring
C.J. Retherford from third as the ball rolled into foul territory. Romanski is
a former pitcher who hit .324 for Winnipeg last summer in the independent
American Association. Reyes was taken
out of the game after that play and his status is unknown.
The Yaquis essentially put the game in their hip pockets in
the top of the sixth when Paul Leon stepped up with the sacks loaded and belted
a bases-clearing double against Mexicali reliever Edgar Gomez that rattled high
off the center field wall, bringing the Obregon lead to 7-1. The Tribe concluded the night's scoring in
the top of the seventh inning when Alex Liddi rapped a two-run double to left
that brought in subs Jonathan Aranda and Andres Martin. It was left to Edwin Fierro to hold the
Aguilas scoreless in the bottom of the frame to seal the win.
Wily veteran Pablo Ortega looked anything but 40 years old in
tossing three scoreless innings on two hits to earn the win for the
Yaquis. Rodriguez took the loss for
Mexicali after getting touched for three runs on four hits in the first two
entradas. Aguilas reliever Edgar Osuna
was razor-sharp by retiring all nine batters he faced over three innings. Osuna struggled to an 0-5 record last summer
for Yucatan in Mexican League play after being shipped to the Leones from Union
Laguna (for whom he was 5-4) as part of the Ricky Alvarez trade, so the
29-year-old lefty from Mazatlan is seeking some redemption this winter. Alvarez is a teammate of Osuna's in Obregon.
The nightcap between Hermosillo and a team of Cincinnati Reds
minor leaguers was much closer, if not quite as interesting until the end. The Reds manufactured a run in the top of the
first when Stuart Fairchild drew a walk from Naranjeros starter Hector Galvan,
stole second without a throw from catcher Alejandro Flores and then motored in
on Taylor Trammell's single. Trammell was
cut down trying to advance to second when Flores took the wide throw from the
outfield and burned another throw to Carlos Gastelum, who tagged Trammell for
the second out of the inning.
Cincinnati's 2015 first-round draft pick, Tyler Stephenson, struck out
swinging to end the threat.
Hermosillo tied the game back up in the bottom of the first
when speedy rightfielder Norberto Obeso tripled off the wall in right center
and scored on Gastelum's groundout to short to make it a 1-1 contest. The Orangemen regained the lead in the top of
the second the old-fashioned way, when 2016-17 LMP Most Valuable Player Jose
Amador blasted a Jonathon Crawford offering off the top of the 18-foot wall in
back of the Hermosillo bullpen in left.
Hermosillo went up 3-1 later in the inning when a Jorge Flores groundout
to third brought in Jose Cardona with a run.
And that's how the score remained until the top of the
seventh and final inning, when the Reds erupted for four runs on as many hits
and an error as Cincinnati batted through the order against reliever Rafael
Cordova. After Cassidy Brown led off
with a groundout to short, the Reds got three consecutive hits: A Miles Gordon single, a Joe Sansone double
and a two-run single by Carlos Rivero to tie the score at 3-all. The Naranjeros ran into more trouble when
Jorge Flores mishandled a Shed Long grounder to short to put runners on the
corners. Fairchild then singled Rivero
home to give Cincy a 4-3 lead and Long scooted in from third to make it 5-3
when Trammell's lazy fly ball to left was dropped. Cordova got the final two outs of the inning
but the Naranjeros went down in order in the bottom of the seventh with
pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez striking out swinging to end the game.
Amador finished the night 2-for-3 with his homer but no other
Naranjero batter had more than one hit.
Gordon and Rivero led the Reds with two singles apiece as the visitors
collected nine hits to Hermosillo's two.
Dauri Maureta earned the win out of the bullpen for Cincinnati with a
perfect sixth and seventh while Cordova took the loss.
Day Two of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta on Friday will feature
the Reds taking on Mexicali at 5:30PM while the nightcap has Hermosillo and
Obregon tangling in a renewal of the MexPac's version of the Yankees-Red Sox
rivalry.
2017
MEXICAN BASEBALL FIESTA in TUCSON
Thursday,
October 5 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Thirsty
Thursday: $1 domestic beer sold through Game 1
Game 1: Obregon vs.
Mexicali. Game 2: Hermosillo vs.
Cincinnati
Bands: La Picosa and
Grupo Conducta
Friday,
October 6 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Kids Night
(Free tickets for kids 6-16 at all eegee's
locations)
Game 1: Mexicali vs
Cincinnati. Game 2: Hermosillo vs.
Obregon
Bands: La
Membrillera (Magdalena) and La Banda Llegamaz de Guamuchil Sin
Saturday,
October 7 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Game 1: Mexicali vs. Los Mochis. Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Obregon
Band: Freddy Vega
Sunday,
October 8 (1st game at 3:00PM PDT)
Vantage West
Family Day ($10 family vouchers for up to 8
people at all Vantage West locations)
Game 1: Obregon vs.
Mexicali. Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Los
Mochis
Band: Le Llegadoro Banda Sinaloense
Ticket Prices: $15 box seats, $10 general admission, $6 kids 6-16, seniors 55+, military w/ID
