Venados Tie Series at 3 With 6-3 Win In Obregon

YAQUIS 0 FOR 7 WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION

Andres Meza gave up 3 Yaquis runs on 6 hits to get the win for the Venados on Sunday as Mazatlán battled back to tie the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico semifinal playoff round at 3 games apiece. Sergio Valenzuela pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up the save. Rolando Valdez went 4 1/3 innings allowing 5 runs on 8 hits to take the loss for the Yaquis.

Agustin Murillo singled to lead off the 4th inning for Mazatlán, stole second an scored on a single by Cyle Hankerd for a 1-0 Venados lead. Carlos Munoz singled to left to put runners on first and second. Olmo Rosario singled to score Hankerd and a 2-0 Mazatlán lead.

Paul Leon began the 5th inning for Mazatlán with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jeremias Pineda. Murillo followed with a single to deep short. Leon and Murillo both scored on a double to left center by Esteban Quiroz. With 2 outs, Carlos Munoz drew a walk. Ball 4 was a wild pitch that got Quiroz to third. Rosario singled to score Quiroz and the Venados led 5-0.

Carlos Valencia Home Run

The Yaquis closed the gap to 5-1 on a solo home run to left by Carlos Valencia in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Justin Greene singled to lead off Yaquis half of the 6th inning and scored on a triple by Leo Heras. Alex Liddi followed with an RBI ground out to second that scored Heras and the Yaquis were down 2 at 5-3.

With 1 out in the top of the 7th inning, Cyle Hankerd doubled to left center and scored when the next batter, Munoz, singled to center for the final run of the game and the 6-3 win for Mazatlán.

Game 7 will be played on Monday with the winner advancing to the Championship round of the LMP Playoffs to face either the Mayos de Navojoa or the Agulas de Mexicali. That series is set to begin on Wednesday the 20th of January.

Rosario was 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs, Munoz 2 for 4 with an RBI, Quiroz 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored and Cyle Hankerd 2 for 5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored for the Venados.

Valencia went 1 for 3 with the home run, Heras 1 for 4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored and Greene 2 for 4 for the Yaquis.

Leo Heras Triple

Venados Force Game 6 With 3-2 Win In LMP Semifinals

YAQUIS DROP GAME IN 13th INNING ON WILD PITCH

The Venados de Mazatlán scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Yaquis reliever Marco Carrillo in the bottom of the 13th inning to top Obregon 3-2 and force a game 6 in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico semifinal playoff round. The Venados had entered the home stand against the Yaquis tied 1 game to 1 but lost two out of three games in Mazatlán. Game 6 will be played in Obregon on Sunday the 17th of January with a game 7, if necessary, on Monday.

Justin Greene led off the game for Obregon with a single to center and went to third as Leo Heras reached base safely on a fielding error by the Venados second baseman. Greene then scored on a sac fly to right by Max Ramirez for the 1-0 Yaquis lead after the top of the 1st inning.

Mazatlán trailed by that score until the bottom of the 6th inning. Jeremiaz Pineda singled but was picked off first for the 1st out of the inning. Esteban Quiroz was hit by a pitch and moved to second one out later on a single to center by Cyle Hankerd. After a pitching change, Olmo Rosario waited out a walk to load the bases. When the Venados sent pinch hitter Carlos Munoz to the plate, Obregon countered by bringing in reliever Adrian Ramirez. The Venados won the strategy moves as Munoz singled to score Quiroz and Hankerd for a 2-1 lead.

With 2 outs in the top of the 7th inning, Alfredo Amezaga singled to right for the Yaquis and scored on a double by Daniel Castro to tie the game 2-2.

Olmo Rosario led off the bottom of he 13th for Mazatlán with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Munoz. Paul Leon was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play scenario. Jose Felix followed with a single to left. The third base coach, in my opinion, made the bad decision to send Rosario home. Rosario was thrown out at the plate but Leon was able to advance to third on the play. With 2 outs, Carrillo threw a 2-2 fastball in the dirt that got by the Yaquis catcher for the wild pitch that scored Leon with the winning run.

Pinch hitter Carlos Munoz was 1 for 2 with the 2 run RBI single for Mazatlán as Cyle Hankerd and Olmo Rosario both went 2 for 5 on the night.

Justin Greene was 2 for 5 with a run scored for the Yaquis with Alfredo Amezaga going 2 for 4 at the plate with a run scored.

The teams combined to use 17 pitchers in the game with the Yaquis using 10 and the Venados 7. Marco Carrillo took the loss while Roberto Espinosa benefited from Carrillo's wild pitch to pick up the win.

Charros Drop Game 3 To Aguilas 9-7

LEO HERAS HOMERS IN LOSS

On a night when neither team pitched very well, the Aguilas de Mexicali scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning and held off the Charros 9-7 in front of 13,783 hometown fans.  The Charros had 10 hits including 3 doubles, a triple and the home run by Heras but could not overcome the Mexicali 4th.

The Charros are now 8-6 following a 6-1 start to the year while the Aguilas improved to 11-3.

The Aguilas jumped on top in the bottom of the 1st inning. Wellington Dotel led off the inning with a solo home run to right. Walter Ibarra and Yuniesky Betancourt followed with singles and CJ Retherford hit a sac fly to center to score Ibarra for the 2-0 Mexicali lead.

Heras Home Run at bat

Leo Heras got the Charros on the board with a one out solo home run to cut the lead to 2-1 Mexicali.

The Aguilas exploded for 6 runs in their half of the 4th. CJ Retherford was hit by a pitch to get things started. One out later, pinch hitter Ramon Ruiz doubled to center as pinch runner Ramon Urias scored from first. Pinch hitter Francisco Cordoba became the second player for the Aguilas to be hit by a pitch in the inning. Missael German doubled to score Rios and after a fly ball out, Dotel singled to score Cordoba and German. Walter Ibarra followed with a home run and the Aguilas led 8-1.

The Charros' Marquez Smith hit a one out single in the top of the 5th inning and went to second as Amadeo Zazueta reached on a fielding error by the Mexicali shortstop. Edson Garcia singled sharply to left to load the bases with 2 outs. Fernando Valenzuela Jr. waited out a walk to bring home Smith as the Charros cut the lead to 8-2.

Jesus "Cacao" Valdez hit a one out single in the 6th inning and went to third on a double by Alex Liddi. Marquez Smith then tripled to drive in Valdez and Liddi. Angel Chavarin hit a sac fly to center to score Smith and get the Charros to within 3 runs at 8-5.

The Aguilas answered with a run in their half of the 6th. Missael German singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out and scored on a single by Dotel. 9-5 Mexicali.

Edson Garcia doubled to lead of the Charros' 7th inning, went to third on a single by Valenzuela Jr. and scored on a passed ball to make the score 9-6.

Zazueta Double

Amadeo Zazueta doubled in the 9th for Jalisco, got to third on a fly ball to right by Garcia and scored on a ground ball to first for the final score of 9-7 Mexicali.

Orlando Lara (1-1) lasted 3 innings on the mound, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits to take the loss. Carlos Vazquez, who relieved Lara, threw 2/3 of an inning and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits including the 2 run home run to Ibarra.

Charros Starter Orlando Lara

Stephen Landazuri (2-1) went 5 1/3 innings for the Aguilas to get the win and Jake Sanchez picked up his 2nd save.

IN OTHER LMP ACTION:

Los Mochis 4, Ciudad de Obregon 3

The Caneros scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, 2 on a triple by D'Arby Myers, to take a 4-2 lead and held on to beat the Yaquis 4-3 for a sweep of the 3 game series. Tomas Solis (1-0) gave up all 3 Yaquis runs on 5 hits but benefited from the 3 run 4th for the win. Andres Avila pitched a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 6th save. Ramon Delgado (2-1) took the loss. Juan Carlos Gamboa hit a home run in 4 trips to the plate and Gilberto Galavis was 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Caneros. Luis Urias was 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Yaquis.

Navojoa 3, Hermosillo 2 (1st game, 8 innings)

Navojoa tied the game in regulation on a 2 run home run by Jose Chavez and got a walk off single by Carlos Rodriguez in the bottom of the 8th for the win. Carlos Bustamante (2-0) picked up the win in relief and Ronnie Shaban (0-1) suffered the loss. Chavez was 1 for 4 with the home run and Rodriguez 2 for 2 with the game winning RBI for the Mayos. Roberto Ramos was 1 for 2 with an RBI and Jose Cardona 1 for 1 with an RBI for the Naranjeros.

Navojoa 1, Hermosillo 0 (2nd game, 7 innings)

Hector Velazquez (2-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings of 3 hit shutout baseball, Oscar Felix threw 2/3 of an inning of scoreless ball and Luis De La O picked up his 1st save in the 1-0 win. The Mayos swept the double header in front of 7,312 delighted hometown fans. Alan Sanchez was 1 for 2 with a double, driving in the lone run of the game for Navojoa. Jerry Owens, Sebastian Elizalde and Jose Amador were all 1 for 3 for the Naranjeros in the loss. Marcos Rivas (0-1) took the loss for Hermosillo.

Mazatlán 6, Culiacan 3

The Venados took 2 of 3 from the Tomateros with the 6-3 win on Sunday. Mazatlán got home runs from Carlos Munoz and Esteban Quiroz as the Venados pounded out 13 hits, 6 for extra bases. Luis Heredia (1-0) picked up the win in relief and Felipe Arredondo (0-2) gave up 5 runs on 7 hits in just 3 innings on the mound to take the loss for the Tomateros. Quiroz was 2 for 5 with the home run, Munoz 2 for 3 with the home run and 2 RBIs and Erick Rodriguez 3 for 4 with an RBI for Mazatlán. Ryan Lollis and Jaime Pedroza were both 2 for 4 for the Tomateros and Jorge Cantu had the lone RBI for Culiacan. (their other 2 runs were unearned)