5 LMB Players Suspended For Parts Of The 2017 Season

2 MORE TO HAVE MEDICAL REVIEWS

The Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB) has released the names of 5 players who tested positive. following the 2016 season, for banned substances and will be suspended for parts of the 2017 season. Additionally, for these players, they will not be allowed to participate in the postseason should their team reach the playoffs.

Carlos Valencia, Olmo Rosario and Miguel (Michael) Angel Gonzalez of the Toros de Tijuana had amphetamines discovered in their drug tests.

The Toros manager, Pedro Mere, has been quoted as saying that he stands by his players “...giving full support in their ‘supposed doping’’ While not agreeing with the results he says he “looks forward to the results of test “B”.

Each of the Toros players were suspended for 50 games.

Olmo Rosario, who hit .313 with 6 HRs and 73 RBIs for the Toros in 2016, has signed to play in the Atlantic League for the Somerset Patriots in 2017.

Carlos Valencia hit .244 with 7 HRs and 46 RBIs while right handed pitcher Miguel Gonzalez had a 5.89 ERA in 18 ⅓ innings, giving up 28 hits, striking out 15 and walking 10.

Hassan Pena, discovered with marijuana in his test was suspended for 50 games. He played for the Sultanes de Monterrey in 2016. Primarily a reliever, Pena had a 5-1 record with 5 saves. He pitched 30 ⅔ innings, striking out 22 and walking just 2.

Albino Contreras of the Leones de Yucatan has been suspended for 100 games for testing positive for amphetamines. This was Contreras’ second positive test. In 2016, Contresas hit .208 with no home runs and 8 RBIs in limited playing time for the Leones.

In addition to these 5 players, Cyle Hankerd and Travis Blackley will have their positive results, for an unspecified product, reviewed by a commission based on a requested medicinal exemption. The commission has the power to allow the results or reject the medicinal request and suspend the players.

The drug testing firm used by the LMB previously, CONADE, no longer performs drug testing for the league and thus the league is forced to find an alternate testing facility. In order to maintain a working agreement with Major League, which gives the LMB a Triple A League rating, a suitable testing source must be found by the beginning of the season.

Currently the league is exploring options such as the University of California and laboratories in both Cuba and Mexico.

Yucatan Shuts Out Puebla 9-0

3 PITCHERS HOLD PERICOS TO 3 HITS IN SHUTOUT

Jonathan Castellanos/Leones Facebook

Jonathan Castellanos (7-6) held he Pericos to 1 hit, walked one and struckout 5 in 7 strong innings for the Leones. Eder Llamas and Manuel Rodriguez finished out the shut out as the Leones powered their way to a 9-0 victory.

Corey Wimberly led off the game with a single and scored two outs later on a home run to left by Hector Gimenez that put the Leones up 2-0. That would prove to be enough for Castellanos but Yucatan would not stop there.

Corey Wimberly singles

Ricardo Serrano and Kevin Flores opened the Leones half of the 4th inning with singles. Serrano would score when Kristian Delgado reached safely as the Pericos shortstop misplayed his ground ball. Corey Wimberly then drew a base on balls to load the bases. Albino Contreras came through with a 2 out single to right that scored Flores and Delgado. Hector Gimenez drove home Wimberly with a single to center and the Leones had a comfortable 6-0 lead. Luis Garcia walked to load the bases. Ricardo Serrano walked to drive in Contreras and Kevin Flores waited out the third consecutive walk to force in Gimenez and the lead was 8-0 after four innings.

Edson Garcia hit a 2 out double to center in the 5th inning and scored the final run of the game for Yucatan when the Pericos shortstop botched a ground ball hit by Albino Contreras.

Andres Meza (6-5) lasted just 2/3 of an inning, giving up the home run. The Pericos committed 4 errors in the game and walked 5, not a formula for success in any league.



Hector Gimenez at the plate

The Leones were powered by Hector Gimenez who went 2 for 5 on the night with a home run, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored while teammate Albino Contreras was 1 for 5 with 2 RBIs and Ricardo Serrano went 3 for 4 with an RBI.






IN OTHER LMB ACTION

Quintana Roo 13, Oaxaca 3
The Tigres kept pace with the Leones in the race for the Division lead in Zona Sur with a 13-3 win over the Guerreros. Francisco Peguero was 5 for 6 with 2 home runs, 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored in the win. Jorge Cantu added 2 home runs of his own on a 4 for 4 night at the plate for the Tigres.

Monterrey 15, Mexico 6
The two teams combined for 30 hits and 21 runs in a contest that was certainly not a pitchers duel by any stretch of the imagination. Marcos Rivera (3-3) picked up the win and Arturo Lopez (8-3) took the loss. Asael Sanchez hit a home run, drove in 3 and scored 2 for the Sultanes and Heber Gomez went 3 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBIs in the win.

Monclova 7, Aguascalientes 3
Jose Oyervidez (8-5) pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win for the Acereros while Fredy Quinteros (3-4) took the loss. Olmo Rosario, 4 for 4 on the night, had a home run and 3 RBIs while Jose Ruiz and Jose Amador added home runs and 5 RBIs for Monclova. Carlos Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Rieleros.

Laguna 10, Saltillo 6
Francisco Mendez hit a grand slam home run in the 8th inning to power the Vaqueros to a 10-6 win over the Saraperos. Justin Greene went 5 for 5 with 3 RBIs in the losing effort. Ivan Zavala (6-7) picked up the win while Santiago Gutierrez (8-6) suffered the loss.

Ciudad del Carmen 2, Tabasco 1
Jose Castillo had 1 of the 2 Olmeca hits on the night, a solo home run in the 2nd inning that gave Tabasco a short lived lead. Gilberto Mejia drove in both runs for the Delfines. Oscar Rivera (5-7) got the win while Josh Lueke notched his 23rd save of the season. The Olmecas have dropped 9 consecutive games.

Campeche 4, Veracruz 2
The Piratas won their 6th consecutive game with the 4-2 win over the Aguilas Rojos. Hector Velazquez (6-4) picked up the win and Alan Garcia (0-1) suffered the loss. Alfredo Silverio went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Paul Leon added a home run for the Piratas. Jose Espinoza had a home run on a 1 for 2 night at the plate for Veracruz.

Tamaulipas 6, Tijuana 2
Frank Diaz went 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Broncos in the 6-2 win over the Toros. Nicolas Heredia (6-3) picked up the win and Luis Daniel notced his 1st save. Alejandro Martinez (4-5) took the loss/

Leones Top Pericos 9-4

MAINTAIN 1/2 GAME LEAD OVER TIGRES IN ZONA SUR

The Leones de Yucatan beat the Pericos de Puebla 9-4 on Friday night to improve to 61-44 on the year and maintain a 1/2 game lead over the Tigres de Quintana Roo. The Tigres mauled the Guerreros de Oaxaca 15-3.

Valdez Home Run

Yucatan fell behind in the 2nd inning when the Perico's Jesus Cota launched a 2 run homerun t right that scored Brent Clevlen for the early 2-0 lead.

Humberto Cota, the Leones catcher, started the Yucatan 3rd inning with a one out single and scored on a ground rule double to left by Albino Contreras. After Jaime Pedroza drew a walk to load the bases, the Pericos second baseman botched a ground ball by Jesus Valdez that cleared the bases and gave the Leones a 4-2 lead.


Valdez 3 run grounder / Leones Facebook

Puebla would score single runs in the 4th and 6th innings to tie the score at 4 all.

Corey Wimberly singled to drive in Humberto Cota in the top of the 7th for the Leones go ahead run. Wimberly then stole second and third to give him 33 steals on the year. Edson Garcia then singled to score Wimberly and Yucatan took a 6-4 lead.

Kevin Flores doubled with 2 outs in the Yucatan 8th inning and scored on a fielding error by the Pericos second baseman to put the Leones up 7-4.

Jesus Valdez and Hector Gimenez reached for Yucatan in the top of the 9th and both would score on a double by Ricardo Serrano for the final score of 9-4.

Corey Wimberly, Albino Contreras and Hector Gimenez were all 2 for 5 combining for 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored.

Jesus Cota went 1 for 3 with a homerun and 3 RBIs for Puebla.

Miguel Aguilar picked up the win for the Leones to improve to 2-0 while Carlos Teller (4-7) was saddled with the loss.

The Tigres de Quintana Roo are 60-44 having played one less game than the Leones. These two teams meet, in Merida, for the final two games of the season which could very well decide the championship of the Zona Sur in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB).

IN OTHER LMB ACTION

Tigres 15, Oaxaca 3
The Tigres pounded out 16 hits on their war to the 15-3 victory over the Guerreros. Francisco Peguero went 2 for 4 with a home run, 6 RBIs and 3 runs scored for the Tigres. Alejandro Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a home run for Oaxca. Ramon Ortiz (7-0) got the win while Octavio Acosta (1-1) lasted just 2 innings in the loss.

Mexico 10, Monterrey 4
The score was 5-3 Diablos in the 7th when Japhet Amador connected for his league leading 41st home run and his 113th and 114th RBIs as the Diablos beat the Sultanes de Monterrey 10-4 for their 70th win of the year. Mexico leads the Zona Norte by 13 1/2 games with 8 games to play. Marco Duarte (12-5) got the win and Javier Solano (6-7) took the loss.

Monclova 10, Aguascalientes 8 (10 innings)
Francisco Cordoba singled with 2 outs in the top of the 10th to score Olmo Rosario and Abraham Ramos. Marcos Zavala shut down the Rieleros in the bottom of the 10th to pick up his 1st save. The Acereros tied the game in the 9th on a sac fly by Hernando Arredondo. Matt Nevarez (2-1) got the win while Esteban Haro took the loss.

Tijuana 4, Tamaulipas 3
The Toros 1B, Dustin Martin hit a 2 out 2 run home run in the top of the 7th inning to lead Tijuana to a 4-3 win over the Broncos. Walter Silva (5-6) got the win and Mario Mendoza picked up his 5th save. Marco Campoy (0-2) took the loss. With the loss, the Broncos de Tamaulipas were officially eliminated for the race in the Zona Norte.

Saltillo 5, Laguna 0
Michael Nix (10-4) threw 7 innings of 3 hit ball and two relievers worked the final 2 innings to give the Seraparos the 5-0 win. Salvador Valdez (5-7) suffered the loss. Refugio Cervantes, the Saltillo DH, was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs in the win.

Ciudad del Carmen 1, Tabasco 0
Adrian Guzman (3-0) and 4 relievers combined on a 4 hit shutout of the Olmecas. Josh Lueke picked up save number 22 for del Carmen. Francisco Lugo hit into a fielder's choice that scored Horacio Vasquez for the only run of the game.

Campeche 10, Veracruz 9
Fernando Flores hit a 1 out walk off sac fly to center tha scored CJ Retherford with the winning run for the Piratas in the exciting 10-9 victory over the Aguilas Rojos in Campeche. Retherford was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored for the Piratas. Eliseo Aldazaba had a 3 for 5 night with a home run and 4 RBIs for Campeche. Humberto Sosa was 2 for 4 with a home run, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored for Veracruz.

Jalisco Bests Mazatlan In Game 3 of the Series

CHARROS HANG ON TO BEAT VENADOS 3-2

Jalisco scored 3 runs in the first five innings and hung on to defeat the Venados de Mazatlan 3-2 and take a commanding 3 games to none lead in the first round best of seven series in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico playoffs.

The Charros used another lead off walk to Marquez Smith to open the scoring in the top of the 3rd. After a Gabriel Gutierrez ground out moved Smith to second, Eduardo Arredondo singled to center to drive in Smith for the 1-0 Charros lead.         

Marquez Smith Scores from Charros Facebook

  

In the 4th, Leo Heras led off with a single and Japhet Amador walked. A sacrifice bunt by Jon Weber advanced the runners and Heras scored on a CJ Retherford ground out to first for the 2-0 lead.

Gabriel Gutierrez started the 5th for Jalisco by reaching on an error by the Venados shortstop. After Jesus Lopez flied out to center, Gutierrez moved to third on a grounder to first and scored on a Manny Rodriguez single to right to put the Charros up 3-0 through five innings.

The Venados scored a run in the bottom of the 6th on a single by Jesus Fabela and consecutive walks to Oswaldo Morejon, Blake Gailen and Ronnier Mustelier that scored Fabela. Reliever Carlos Vazquez got Jesus Castillo to ground into a fielder's choice for the third out and Jalisco maintained a 3-1 lead.

Heber Gomez drew a walk to start the bottom of the 7th for the Venados and went to second on a ground out by Erick Rodriguez. After a pitching change by the Charros, Albino Contreras singled to score Gomez and the Venados had cut the lead to 3-2 Charros.

Mario Mendoza came in to pitch the 9th for the Charros and set the Venados down to preserve the win for Jalisco starter Juan Delgadillo and pick up his 3rd save of the series.

Delgadillo went 5 1/3 innings giving up 3 hits and a run while walking 2 and striking out 5. Hugo castellanos, Carlos Vazquez, Manuel Flores, Ivan salas and Adrian Rameriz were credited with holds and Mendoza picked up the save.

Eduardo Arredondo, Manny rodriguez and CJ Retherford had RBIs for the Charros.

Yaquis Walkoff Single in 9th Downs Charros 4-3

The Charros de Jalisco played the second game of a three game set on Wednesday in Obregon and lost to the Yaquis 4-3, giving up three runs in the bottom of the 9th.

Jalisco scored their three runs in the top of the second. With one out, Marguez Smith drew a walk. Jesus Cota doubled and Gabriel Gutierrez walked to load the bases. Ivan Araujo hit a sac fly to center that scored Smith and moved the runners to second and third. Jesus Lopez singled to score Cota and Gutierrez for the 3-0 Charros lead.

Obregon scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd to make it a 3-1 ballgame. The score would remain 3-1 until the bottom of the ninth.

Brian Broderick, the Charros closer, started the 9th by giving up singles to Said Gutierrez and Christian Villanueva to put runners at the corners with no outs. Carlos Figueroa hit a ground ball to third that Marquez Smith threw away past first and into right field foul territory. Armando Araiza, pinch runner for Said Gutierrez, and Villanueva scored and Figueroa wound up on third. Albino Contreras then hit a walkoff single to center for the Yaquis comeback win over the Charro.