Charros First Round Series With Venados Continues

CHARROS TAKE GAME 2, 2-0

The second game of the series between the Charros de Jalisco and the Venados de Mazatlan went to the Charros, 2-0, behind the pitching of starter Ben Koslowski, who pitched seven strong innings, and 3 relievers who held the Venaods scoreless. Mario Mendoza picked up his second save in as many days in the series. The series moves to Mazatlan for the next three games and would return to Guadalajara on Thursday the 8th if necessary.    

Ben Kozlowski courtesy Charros Jalisco

The Charros opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd. As in game 1, Marquez Smith led off the inning by drawing a base on balls. Gabriel Gutierrez singled to center with Smith stopping at second. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch by the Venados starter, Anthony Vasquez. Eduardo Arredondo hit a sac fly to right that scored Smith and Jalisco broke on top 1-0 after three innings.

With two outs in the bottom of the 7th, Jon Weber doubled and came in to score on a double by Marquez Smith. The Charros had their second run and the final score of 2-0.

Eduardo Arredondo was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Jon Weber went 1 for 3 with a run scored and Marquez Smith, hitting .600 for the series, was 2 for 2 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Gabriel Gutierrez, batting .800 for the series, was 1 for 2 with a walk.

Charros win 7th in a Row - Top Caneros 6-4

It took 10 innings but the Charros topped the Caneros de los Mochis 6-4 to win their 7th game in a row and catch Mexicali for the 2nd half lead in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico.

Jesus Lopez started things off for the Charros in the top of the 3rd by hitting a solo home run to left to lead off and give Jalisco a 1-0 lead.         

Leo Heras' Home Run courtesy of Charros Jalisco Beisbol

The Caneros scored in the bottom of the 3rd on two errors by the Charros and a sacrifice bunt by Greg Golson that scored Yancarlo Angulo and the game was tied at 1.

Leo Heras singled to lead off the 6th and Japhet Amador followed with a base on balls. After Marquez Smith's ground out moved the runners up, CJ Retherford cleared the bases with his 5th home run of the season and a 4-1 Charros lead.

los Mochis had two outs and a man on second in the bottom of the 7th when Yancarlo Angulo was hit by a pitch by Charros starter, Ben Kozlowski. Juan Gamboa singled to right to score Saul Soto to cut the lead to 4-2. Adrian Gonzalez entered the game in relief and gave up a single to Greg Golson that scored Angulo. Antonio Lamas singled to right to score Gamboa and the Caneros had tied the game at 4-4.

The score remained tied through regulation. CJ Retherford walked to lead off the Charros half of the 10th inning. Gabriel Gutierrez sacrificed Retherford to second and after Jesus Lopez flied out to center for the second out, Edson Garcia singled to score Retherford. Garcia, who had taken second on the throw to the plate, moved to third on a wild pitch. Eduardo Arredondo singled to score Garcia and when Mario Mendoza pitched a perfect bottom of the 10th, the Charros had the 6-4 victory.

Mendoza picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-1 on the year while lowering his ERA to 2.66. Charros starter, Ben Kozlowski, went 6 2/3 innings, charged with 4 runs on just 4 hits with a walk and 3 strikeouts. Santiago Gutierrez took the loss for los Mochis to drop to 2-5 on the season.

CJ Retherford was 2 for 4 on the night with a 3 run home run and 2 runs scored. Manny Rodriguez, Leo Heras, Jesus Lopez and Edson Garcia were all 2 for 5.

The Charros are now 37-23 overall in the league, 2 games ahead of the Aguilas de Mexicali and 16-9 in the second half, tied with the Aguilas.

Charros Best Mayos 5-1

After falling behind 1-0 in the 1st, the Charros erupted for 5 runs in the 3rd to defeat the Mayos de Navojoa in the second game of a three game set in Navojoa.

Jose Chavez singled to start the bottom of the 1st for the Mayos. Carlos Orrantia singled to center to put runners on the corners with no outs. Jon Weber singled to score Chavez and give Navojoa a one run lead at 1-0.

The Charros bats remained quiet until the top of the 3rd when Gabriel Gutierrez singled to right to lead off the inning and went to third on a single by Ivan Araujo. Jesus Lopez singled to score Gutierrez with Araujo stopping at second. Eduardo Arredondo reached safely on a sacrifice bunt that the Mayo's first baseman misplayed to load the bases for the Charros. Manny Rodriguez hit into a double play that scored Araujo and got Lopez to third. Leo Heras drew a base on balls. Japhet Amador singled to score Lopez and move Heras to second. Heras stole third in front of a Marquez Smith walk that loaded the bases again for Jalisco. CJ Retherford singled to left to score Heras and Amador and the Charros were on top 5-1.

The Mayos only threat after the first came in the bottom of the 8th. With the benefit of 2 walks, Navojoa chased the Charros starter, Ben Kozlowski. Adrian Ramirez, on in relief, got Jose Chavez to pop out to second and Carlos Orrantia to pop out to first. Ivan Salas relieved Ramirez and got Jon Weber to fly out to left to end the threat.

Ben Koslowski went 7 innings giving up just 3 hits and 1 run, all in the 1st inning, t improve to 3-2 on the year. Kozlowski struck out 4 but also walked 4. The Mayos did not get a hit after the 1st inning.

Salvador Robles took the loss for the Mayos to fall to 1-7 on the season.

The Charros are now 32-23 overall and 11-9 in the second half of the season.

Charros Out Pitch Aguilas 3-2 to Take Game Three of the Series

The Charros salvaged one win of the three game series with the Aguilas de Mexicali on a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon. It was a pitchers duel on both sides as the Charros scored all of their runs in the bottom of the 5th and the Aguilas scored their runs in the top of the 6th.

CJ Retherford led off the bottom of the 5th for the Charros with a single to left. With one out, Mexicali starter, Marco Quevedo threw a wild pitch to move Retherford to second. Gabriel Gutierrez reached safely on an error by the Aguilas second baseman. Retherford and Gutierrez scored ahead of a 3 run home run by Amadeo Zazueta that put Jalisco up 3-0.

Mexicali came right back in the top of the 6th. Lead off batter Misael German struck out but reached first on a passed ball by the Charros catcher. Gil Velazaquez singled and German scored on a single by Dave Sappelt. Walter Ibarra followed with a single to load the bases. Adrian Ramirez relieved Charros starter Ben Kozlowski and got Luis Juarez to ground into a 5-2 fielder's choice that cut down Velazaquez at the plate. Carlos Vazquez replaced Ramirez on the mound for Jalisco and Josh Whitesell greeted him with a sac fly to center that scored Sappelt with the second and last run for the Aguilas.

Ben Kozlowski pitched 5 innings of 4 hit ball giving up the 2 runs while striking out 3. Adrian Ramirez, Carlos Vazquez, Mario Mendoza and Ivan Salas recorded holds and Brian Broderick pitched a perfect 9th to get his 14th save of the year.

The Charros improve to 29-21 overall and 8-7 in the second half standings. Mexicali is 28-22, one game behind the Charros overall, and 9-6 in the second half.

Charros Sweep Navojoa With 9-2 Win

Ben Kozlowski pitched 6 2/3 innings of 4 hit ball on the way to a 9-2 Charros victory over the Mayos de Navojoa. Jalisco swept the series to end the first half of the season at 21-14.

Kozlowski was followed by Antonio Garzon and Hugo Castellanos who preserved the win by holding the Mayos hitless over the final 2 1/3 innings.

Fernando Valenzuela led off the bottom of the 3rd for the Charros with a solo home run, his first of the year. Jesus Lopez then singled and took second on a wild pitch by the Navojoa starter, Irving Jimenez. Manny Rodriguez doubled to left to score Lopez for the 2-0 Jalisco lead.

Eduardo Arredondo drew a walk to lead off the 5th for the Charros and came around to score on Manny Rodriguez' fourth home run of the year, a two run shot to left. Leo Heras followed the home run with a double and scored on Japhet Amador's 2 run home run, his 10th of the year.

Navojoa, behind 6-0 entering the top of the 7th, loaded the bases on three straight singles. Carlos Bustamante grounded into a double play that scored John Lindsey with the first Mayo run. Alejandro Gonzalez singled to drive in Luis Fonseca with the second run of the inning to make the score 6-2 Charros.

Jalisco scored three times in the bottom of the 8th. Fernando Valenzuela singled to lead off. The Mayos went to reliever Gene Escat who threw a wild pitch that moved Valenzuela to second. Edson Garcia walked and Eduardo Arredondo singled to load the bases. Amadeo Zazueta grounded into a 4-2 fielder's choice that cut down Valenzuela at the plate. Leo Heras was safe on a throwing error by the Mayos third baseman that scored Arredono. Japhet Amador was intentionally walked and Marquez Smith hit a sac fly to center that scored Zazueta with the third run and the final 9-2 score.

Ben Kozlowski got the win to move to 1-2 on the year while Irving Jimenez took the loss to fall to 1-4 on the season.

Fernando Valenzuela was 3 for 3 on the night with a home run. Manny Rodriguez went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and 3 RBIs. Japhet Amador had a home run and 2 RBIs in his four at bats. Brendan Harris was 2 for 4 and Leo Heras went 1 for 5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Rodriguez leads the league in doubles with 14. Amador is tied for the lead in home runs with 10 and leads the league in RBIs with 32.

The Charros end the first half of the season at 21-14. The Yaquis de Obregon team is the !st Half Champion with a 21-13  record, a half game ahead of the Charros.

Mexicali Overpowers Charros 8-1 to Take Series 3 Games to 2

The Aguilas de Mexicali overpowered the Charros 8-1 in the third game of the three game series behind the strong pitching of Javier Solano and four relievers. Solano gave up just 1 hit in six innings with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Reliever Adrian Garza gave up the only Charros run in the top of the 9th. Ben Koslowski took the loss for Jalisco, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits in five innings.

The Aguilas scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd on a lead off double by Gil Velazquez and a single by Chris Roberson for the 1-0 Mexicali lead.

The Aguilas would score two more in the bottom of the 5th. Walter Ibarra singled and went to second on a walk to Dave Sappelt. Mike Jacobs singled to score Ibarra and Sappelt scored on a ground out to short by Luis Juarez. The Aguilas had a 3-0 lead.

Gil Velazquez led off the 6th for Mexicali by drawing a walk. Chris Roberson also waited out a walk and Mexicali had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Ken Sigman replaced Kozlowski on the mound for Jalisco and walked Walter Ibarra to load the bases. Dave Sappelt singled to score Valezquez and Roberson. After Carlos Vazquez replaced Sigman, Luis Juarez hit a ground ball to third  that scored Ibarra. Xorge Carrillo doubled to score Juarez and the Aguilas led 7-0.

Mexicali scored again in the bottom of the 7th when Gil Velazquez doubled and scored on a ground out to second by Walter Ibarra for the 8th run in the game for Mexicali.

The Charros threatened in the top of the 9th. Leo Heras walked and after Japhet Amador popped up to the catcher, Cory Vaughn walked. Marquez Smith singled to load the bases with one out. Jose Felix singled to score Heras but Jesus Lopez struck out and Amadeo Zazueta grounded out to the pitcher to end the game

Charros Drop Series To Navojoa

The Charros dropped the third game of the 3 game series with the Mayos de Navojoa 5-4 on Thursday night to drop to 6-5 on the year. Jalisco lost the series 2 games to 1.

Jalisco scored in the top of the 1st on a double by Manny Rodriguez and a single by Leo Heras to take the early 1-0 lead.

Navojoa came back in their half of the inning to score three times. Jose Chavez led off with a single against Charros starter Ben Kozlowski. Jon Weber doubled with Chavez stopping at third. Luis Fonseca doubled to score Chavez and Weber. Chris Marrero walked and a wild pitch by Kozlowski on the walk put runners on the corners with no outs. Rolando Acosta grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that scored Fonseca and the Mayos took the lead 3-1.

Cory Vaughn led off the Charros 2nd with a single but Ivan Araujo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to erase Vaughn. Jose Felix walked and Jesus Lopez singled as Felix moved to third on a throwing error by the Mayos' shortstop. Eduardo Arredondo doubled to score Felix and Lopez and the score was tied at 3.

Navojoa retook the lead in the bottom of the 3rd on a single by Jose Chavez, a ground out by Jon Weber that moved Chavez to second and a single by Luis Fonseca that scored Chavez. Navojoa led 4-3.

In the top of the 6th, Cory Vaughn walked with one out but got picked off first. Ivan Araujo singled and went to second on a single by Jose Felix. Jesus Lopez followed with a single as Araujo scored and the Charros had tied the game again at 4 apiece.

Hugo Castellanos was pitching for the Charros to start the bottom of the 8th. He struck out Reggie Ambercrombie for the first out but gave up back-to-back singles to Eliseo Aldazaba and Diego Madero. Murphy Smith relieved Castellanos and gave up a single to pinch hitter Fernando Flores that scored Aldazaba with what would prove to be the winning run.

The Charros got 12 hits on the night. Japhet Amador was 2 for 5. Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Jesus Lopez was also 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Leo Heras went 1 for 5 with an RBI and Eduardo Arredondo was 1 for 5 with a double and 2 RBIs.

Ben Kozlowski lasted 5 innings but gave up 4 earned runs on 7 hits while striking out 1 and walking 3. He saw his ERA climb to 4.02 on the year. Hugo Castellanos took the loss, his first of the year, and his ERA shot up to 12.27 for the season.

Hugo Gutierrez got the win for the Mayos and Gene Escat picked up his 2nd save of the year.

Charros Drop Opener to Tomateros de Culiacan 3-1

Ben Kozlowski started the game for the Charros last night and pitched a pretty good 5 2/3 innings. The Tomateros de Culiacan won the game 3-1 but Kozlowski did not figure in the decision. The Tomateros exhibited some good pitching of their own although their starter, Marco Camarena, also got a no decision.

The game was scoreless through 5 innings. In the top of the 6th, Leo Heras singled to lead off. Manny Rodriguez followed with an RBI double and the Charros took the early lead 1-0. The way Kozlowski was pitching that looked as if it might be enough.

The first two batters for the Tomateros in the bottom of the 6th, JC Linares and Nick Buss went down quietly. With two outs, Kozlowski tossed a mistake to Jorge Vazquez that he hit out of the park to right. The score was tied at 1. Juan Navarrete, the Charros manager, yanked Kozlowski for reliever Alan Guerrero. Guerrero gave up a single to Arturo Rodriguez and a double to Ronnier Mustelier. Sergio Gastelum then got the third consecutive hit off of Guerrero, a single that scored Rodriguez and Mustelier. That would be all the scoring in the game as Culiacan won by the final score of 3-1.

The Charros squandered opportunities in each of the last three innings. They had Gabriel Gutierrez on first in the top of the 7th. Jesus Lopez hit a grounder to second that hit Gutierrez for an out. The Charros would not score.

In the top of the 8th, Leo Heras was caught stealing second after a lead off single. Again, the Charros would not score.

After putting runners on 1st and 2nd in the top of the 9th, pinch hitter Jesus Cota hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Leo Heras went 3 for 4 on the night with a double and a run scored. Gabriel Gutierrez was 2 for 4 while Manny Rodriguez went 1 for 3 with the lone Charros RBI.

Alan Guerrero took the loss for Jalisco while reliever Manny Barreda got the win for Culiacan and Ricardo Gomez picked up his third save of the young season.

Jalisco Charros defeat Aguilas de Mexicali 4-2

The Charros de Jalisco evened their league record at 1-1 with a 4-2 victory over the Aguilars de Mexicali on Saturday night in Zapopan.

Mexicali continued their hot hitting by scoring in the bottom of the 1st when Brock Peterson hit a long home run to right off of Charros starter Ben Kozlowski. Kozlowski played for the Sugarland Skeeters of the Atlantic league in 2014 and both the Texas Rangers and Hiroshima Toyo Carp at the big league level.

The Aguilas would score another run in the 4th. Mike Jacobs singled and moved to second when Luke Montz walked. A wild pitch by Kozlowski advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Jacobs scored when Xorge Carrillo grounded to second. Kozlowski was able to get out of the jam without further damage and the Aguilas led 2-0.

Jalisco tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the sixth. Jesus Lopez singled and came around to score on Leo Heras' first home run of the season.

The Charros scored again in the 7th. Wilson Batista drew a one out walk. Gabriel Gutierrez singled and Batista stopped at second. Jesus Lopez followed with a single to center that scored Batista and gave Jalisco the 3-2 lead.

In the top of the 9th, Marquez Smith was hit by a pitch and Wilson Batista walked. After Cory Vaughn and Gabriel Gutierrez struck out, Jesus Lopez walked to load the bases. Eduardo Arrendondo singled to drive in Smith and give the Charros the final 4-2 margin of victory.

Jesus Lopez, hitting .429 for the year, was 2 for 3 on the day with an RBI and 1 run scored. Leo Heras hit his home run for his only hit in four at bats  but that was good for a run scored and 2 RBIs. Marquez Smith and Wilson Batista, hitting .333 on the young season, both scored a run in the victory.

Ben Kozlowski worked five complete innings on the hill for the Charros giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs while walking 2 and striking out 6. Alan Guerrero picked up the win in relief of Kozlowski and David Koop recorded his first save of the year.