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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
September 26, 2022
LEONES TOP SULTANES, 6-1, IN GAME 7
TO WIN LMB CROWN
The Yucatan Lions were crowned Mexican League champions for
the fifth time in their history last Monday, thanks to pitcher Henderson
Alvarez and outfielder Jose “Cafecito” Martinez. The Merida squad joins their
predecessors from 1957, 1984, 2006 and Spring 2018 as pennant-winners, leaving
behind two consecutive defeats in the Serie del Rey after skipper Roberto
Vizcarra and his players defeated the Monterrey Sultanes, 6-1, in the seventh
and deciding game as a sellout crowd of
21,909 at Estadio Monterrey looked on.
Nicknamed “Chapo,” the 55-year-old Vizcarra managed Yucatan’s
Spring 2018 champions before parting ways with Leones owners Juan Jose and
Erick Arellano after a first-round playoff exit in the second abbreviated Fall
2018 season. Vizcarra was brought back to manage Yucatan on May 30 when Luis
Matos was relieved of his duties after piloting the Merida club to a 14-19
record, marking the third mid-year change at the helm in as many seasons for
the Leones and sixth such move since 2013. Yucatan went 32-24 the rest of the
way under Vizcarra to finish fourth in the LMB South during the regular season
before defeating Puebla, Quintana Roo and Mexico City in the playoffs to reach
the title series against manager Roberto Kelly’s Sultanes. He managed Jalisco
to a Mexican Pacific League pennant last winter.
The Leones were paced in Game Seven by the mound work of
Alvarez, a former big league starter in Toronto and Miami who was selected to
the 2014 All-Star Game as the Marlins representative but did not appear. The
31-year-old Venezuelan tossed eight-plus innings of one-run ball and scattered
seven hits to earn the win on the heels of 7.2 shutout innings in a Game Three
triumph, and was named the Serie del Rey Most Valuable Player for 2022 by media
members.
After driving in just one run over
the first six games of the finals, Martinez picked the right time to wake his
bat up for the winners, doubling in Norberto Obeso in the top of the first to
put the visitors on the scoreboard, scoring Obeso on a single in the fifth and
then crashing a three-run homer off Wander Suero in the seventh to bring in
Obeso and Art Charles before crossing the plate himself. Walter Ibarra stroked
a solo homer off Monterrey closer Neftali Feliz in the top of the ninth to give
Yucatan a 6-0 lead.
Alvarez came out in the bottom of the frame to complete his
complete game shutout bid but after Sultanes leadoff batter Zoilo Almonte
deposited a 1-1 pitch (Alvarez’ 102nd of the game) over the left field wall,
Vizcarra brought Jorge Rondon from the bullpen to complete the inning and
season by holding Monterrey scoreless the rest of the way.
Martinez, who grew up 125 miles from
Alvarez in Venezuela, finished the night 4-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs
for Yucatan while Orlando Calixte had three singles and Almonte homered and
singled for the Sultanes. Yoanner Mendez had a decent start for Monterrey,
allowing two runs on five hits over 4.2 innings, but was no match for Alvarez
and took the loss.
With this title, the Leones win their fifth flag to equal the
Dos Laredos Tecolotes as for fifth among LMB teams with the most pennants
(Mexico City has 16, the Quintana Roo Tigres have 12 and Monterrey has won 10).
Vizcarra climbs in the record books to third place among managers with the most
titles in the LMB, reaching four (2013 and 2015 with the Tigres, Spring 2018
and 2022 with Yucatan) to trail only Lazaro Salazar (7) and Benjamin “Cananea”
Reyes (6).
TIJUANA,
MEXICALI SPLIT CLASICOCON CAUSA SERIES
While the Mexican League was
wrapping up its 2022 season in Monterrey, the Mexican Pacific League’s ten
teams were already in full training camp mode. Although their season had
officially ended with their elimination by Monterrey in the LMB North Division
championship series, the Tijuana Toros were able to assemble a squad to play a
two-game “Clasico con Causa” (“Classic with a Cause”) series against the LMP
Mexicali Aguilas as a fundraiser for two cancer-fighting organizations, the
Fundacion Mujeres Que Viven of Mexicali and Fundacion Castro Limon of Tijuana.
The short set opened Friday night in
Mexicali at a sold out El Nido ballpark with a resounding 9-1 win before 13,000
fanaticos for the host Aguilas, who broke the game open early with an 8-run
third inning, aided by a pair of costly Toros errors. Tijuana had taken a 1-0
lead in the top of the first when Junior Lake scored from third on a Zach
Kirtley single up the middle off Eagles starter Eduardo Vera. The lone run held
until the fateful third, which was keyed by Kevin Zamudio’s two-run double and
an RBI single by venerable Aguilas outfielder Chris Roberson.
A 43-year-old Californian who hit .317 with 10 homers and
nine steals in 78 Mexican League games between Leon and Monclova in his 22nd
summer of pro ball, Roberson is a naturalized Mexican citizen who has settled
his family in Monterrey and is arguably the most beloved American ballplayer
south of the border today. He received a warm ovation from Mexicali fans, for
whom he’d played nine winterball seasons before spending the last two Mex Pac
campaigns in Mazatlan, when he was pulled for pinch-runner Israel Camacho after
his one-bagger.
Mexicali reliever Thomas Melgarejo
was awarded the win after the left-hander had a strong outing out of the
bullpen while Daniel de la Fuente’s disastrous third inning was enough to tag
him with the loss.
The second and closing game of the
historic first series between the two neighboring border cities was held
Saturday in Tijuana as the Toros held off Mexicali, 6-4, at Estadio Nacional
with 12,974 onlookers in the stands.
Tijuana again drew first blood in
the opening inning, taking a 3-0 lead on a Jose Guadalupe Chavez single that
scored Isaac Rodriguez and a double from Agustin Murillo that plated Lake and
Felix Perez. Mexicali woke the scorekeeper in the top of the third when Yahir
Gamez socked a homer over the left field wall to close the gap to two runs, but
Perez responded with a two-run roundtripper of his own to right in the bottom
of the entrada to stretch the Bulls’ advantage to 5-1.
Not to be put away that easily, the
Aguilas made it a 5-3 game in the top of the fourth on Fernando Diaz’ two-run
single but Perez put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with a
run-scoring safety to bring the Toros’ lead to 6-3 and while Mexicali scored
one more time in the top of the ninth, the visitors ran out of outs to fall by
a pair of runs.
Perez did more than just homer and
drive in three runs for the winners. The
37-year-old Cuban expat, who’d spent five years in the Reds system before
coming to Mexico in 2015, pitched a scoreless fifth inning and was awarded the
victory. The 6’2” lefty, who hit .323
with 38 homers to tie Saltillo’s Rainel Rosario for most in the Liga this
summer, made four relief appearances for his hometown Isla de la Juventud team
in the Cuban National Series and tossed two-thirds of an inning for AAA
Louisville in 2014, allowing nine runs on six hits and five walks. Maybe he’s
been working on his slider.
MEXICO FINISHES SIXTH AT U-18
BASEBALL WORLD CUP
After a fairly promising start in
which they won three of five first round games at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World
Cup at spring training sites in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida, the Mexican
U-18 National Team lost all three of their Super Round games to finish sixth
overall in the 12-team event earlier this month under manager Enrique “Che”
Reyes.
Mexico opened Group B play on
Saturday, September 10 with a 9-5 win over Australia at Sarasota’s Ed Smith
Stadium, spring home of the Baltimore Orioles. Rosman Verdugo doubled in Carlos
Gutierrez with the first run of the game for the Mexicans in the top of the
first inning, followed by an RBI single from Yael Romero, who later scored on
an Alberto Barriga groundout. A two-run Romero double capped a four-run fourth
inning in which Mexico opened a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Romero finished
with four RBIs on the night while starter Manuel Rodriguez tossed four innings
of one-run ball to earn the win.
One day later, a three-run first for
Japan was the difference as the top-ranked team went on to top Mexico, 4-1, at
the former McKechnie Field in Bradenton, spring headquarters of the Pittsburgh
Pirates since 1969. The key hit for Japan in the first was a two-run, two-out
single to right by Kaito Ito of Mexico starter Angel Sanchez that gave the
visiting team a 3-0 lead that turned out to be insurmountable. Mexican batters
could only muster one run on four hits, including a Romero single that drove in
Verdugo in the fifth, against winner Kazuki Kozai and reliever Haruya Miyahara.
Kozai allowed one hit in four shutout innings. Sanchez took the loss for
Mexico.
Mexico bounced back on September 12
with a 12-7 triumph over Italy in Bradenton as leadoff hitter Antonis Macias
went 4-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored for the victors. Italy
held a 2-1 lead until the top of the third, when Mexico erupted for five runs
in the third. Barriga and Daniel Sierra each contributed two-run doubles while Macias’ RBI three-bagger chased Italian
starter Giacomo Taschin. Italy kept battling and were within 9-7 until Mexico
scored thrice in the top of the seventh (two on Barriga’s second double of the
afternoon) to salt the contest away. Reliever Victor Landeros took the win
while Anhuar Garcia held Italy scoreless on three hits over the final 2.2
innings to earn the save for Mexico, but it was a hitter’s day as both teams
combined for 25 safeties over seven innings.
The Mexicans could have used some of
that offensive output during their September 13 loss to defending U-18 champs
Taiwan, 4-0. Lin Shao-En pitched a complete game one-hitter for the Formosans,
needing only 85 pitches over seven innings. Manue Estrada averted the no-hit
bid with a leadoff single on an 0-2 pitch in the top of the fifth but Lin was
in control throughout., striking out eight batters and walking one. Mexico, who
entered the tournament ranked fourth in the world, did not help their own cause
by committing four errors in the field
It was back to Bradenton on
September 14, when Mexico beat Panama, 8-7, in eight innings for their last win
in Florida. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Mexico plated
five runs on just two hits in the bottom of the frame. Macias stroked a leadoff
double and scored on a Gutierrez single but the next four runs were scored
without benefit of a hit, thanks in part to two walks and two hit batsmen.
Panama fought back and tied the game with two seventh-inning runs, but with
runners placed on first and second in the bottom of the eighth via WBSC
tiebreaker rules, Macias’ single to right brought in Barriga from second for
the walk-off win. Macias had his second
straight four-hit game, scoring twice and driving in the game-winner, while
Gutierrez had three hits, one run and a ribbie. The win gave Mexico a 3-2 first
round record, edging out Panama for a Super Round berth.
After that, it was 3-and-out for
Reyes’ charges, starting with a 7-4 loss to The Netherlands on September 15 in
Bradenton. Mexico scored first in the top of the second when Barriga laid down
a bunt to the mound, allowing Estrada to score from third. The Mexicans
eventually built a 3-1 lead that disappeared in the fifth when Holland scored
three runs, two coming in after a pair of errors on back-to-back bunts by Cano
at third and Barriga at catcher,
respectively. The Netherlands pushed three more scores across in the sixth and
that was all she wrote. Romero had two of Mexico’s six hits (including a
fifth-inning double down the left field line) but while the Mexicans put
runners on base in every inning, eight were left stranded in a disappointing
loss to a Dutch team ranked eighth in the world prior to the World Cup.
Mexico played for a sixth straight
time in Bradenton on September 16, this time in a 7-5 loss to the host United
States. Mexico scored twice in the top
of the first, including a Romero RBI single to right that scored Macias from
third, and held a narrow 3-2 lead until the floodgates opened in the bottom of
the third. The Americans scored five times
n three hits, two walks and an Estrada error at second. To their credit,
Mexico came back with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to make it a
two-run game, thanks in part to an RBI single by Gutierrez, but that would be
the last time either team scored. Mexico outhit the USA, 9-4, as Gutierrez and
Cano each had two singles but five walks and three errors were hurtful, as were
nine Mexican runners left on base.
The Mexicans finally returned to
Sarasota on September 17 for their first game there since their World Cup
opener, but their tourney appearance ended with a disappointing 6-4 loss to
South Korea. Once again, Mexico had an early lead at 3-1 going into the bottom
of the third after Cano doubled in Verdugo and Romero in the top of the frame,
but the Koreans scored twice in the third to tie the game and then plated three
more runs in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead they would never relinquish. Facing
a 6-3 deficit in the top of the second, Gutierrez scored from third on a Macias
groundout to short just before Romero flew out to left to end the game. Verdugo had three of Mexico’s five hits,
including a pair of doubles, but South Korea was able to convert enough times
on eight hits of their own plus seven walks and one Mexico error to put the
game away.
Although the U-18 World Cup ended on a down note, there were bright spots in Mexico’s performance. Yael Romero was selected the All-World first baseman after hitting .476 with eight RBIs for the tournament, which was won by the USA, while Rosman Verdugo was the pick at shortstop by virtue of his .320 average with five RBIs and five runs scored over nine games. Antonis Macias (.448) and Carlos Gutierrez (.414) joined Romero in the 400 Club while combining for 25 of Mexico’s 62 hits in Florida as the team hit a collective .281. Pitching was not a strong point as the team posted a 5.28 ERA but Manuel Rodriguez did go 1-1 in two starts with seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings for a 2.52 ERA while reliever Anhuar Garcia looked good in two outings, earning a save and a team-best ERA of 1.50 over 4.2 frames.
