Charros Fall To Tomateros 11-8

CULIACAN TAKES SERIES OPENER TO GO UP 1 GAME TO NONE

The Tomateros de Culiacan got the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Championship Series off to a wild start with an exciting 11-8 victory over the Charros de Jalisco.  

Charros Starter Marco Tovar / Bonnie Garrison Photo

Ali Solis got things going for the Tomateros in the 3rd with a one out base on balls. Solis went to second on a single to center by Rico Noel. Solis moved to third on a ground out and following a walk to Eric Farris that loaded the bases, Joey Meneses singled to score Solis and Maxwell Leon for the 2-0 Culiacan lead.  

The Charros got those runs back in their half of the 3rd on a singles by Marquez Smith and Sebastian Valle. With one out, Eduardo Arredondo singled to right to score Smith and get Valle to third. Manny Rodriguez hit a sac fly to left to drive in Valle and the score was tied at 2 each.

Dave Sappelt led off the Tomateros' 4th with a single and went to second on a single by Sergio Gastelum. Ramiro Pena singled to left and when the Charros left fielder, Jon Weber, overran the ball, Sappelt and Gastelum scored. Pena wound up on third and scored on a sac fly to left by Ali Solis as Culiacan retook the lead 5-2.  

Jalisco used three pitchers in the 5th as the Tomateros exploded for 6 runs in the inning. Joey Meneses drove in a run, Dave Sappelt belted a two run home run to right, Ramiro Pena hit a sac fly for a run and Rico Noel tripled to drive in two for the 11-2 Culiacan lead.  

In the 6th for the Charros, Leo Heras singled and CJ Retherford waited out a walk. Both runners scored on a three run home run by Japhet Amador, a long home run to left that narrowed the lead to 11-5 Culiacan.

Jalisco chipped away at the lead in the 7th. Jesus Lopez doubled to begin the inning and went to third on a fly ball to right by Eduardo Arredondo. Manny Rodriguez doubled to center to score Lopez. The lead was 11-6 Culiacan.     

With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Eduardo Arredondo singled to deep short and scored in front of a home run to left by Manny Rodriguez to bring the Charros to within three runs at 11-8. The next batter, Leo Heras, struck out to end this very exciting game.  

Manny Rodrigues Home Run / Straffon Images

The series continues today, Thursday, in Guadalajara with a travel day on Friday and games 3, 4, and 5 in Culiacan beginning on Saturday the 24th of January.

Charros Into Finals With 5-3 Win Over Obregon

TAKE SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

12,347 Attended The 6th Game / Bonnie Garrison Photo

The Yaquis de Obregon got to the Charros starter, Ben Koslowski in the top of the 2nd. With one out, Sergio Contreras was hit by a pitch and Said Gutierrez hit a ball deep up the middle that the Charros shortstop threw away and the Yaquis had runners on second and third. Contreras scored on a sac fly to center by Esteban Quiroz and Gutierrez scored on a single by Daniel Castro to give Obregon the early 2-0 lead.

Israel Nunez led off the 3rd for Jalisco with a double and went to third on a single by Eduardo Arredondo. Manny Rodriguez then hit a ground rule double to center that scored Nunez with Arredondo forced to stop at third. CJ Retherford hit into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Arredondo and the game was tied at 2.    

Manny Rodriguz Double In The 3rd / Bonnie Garrison Photo

Jalisco added a run in the 4th on a double by Jon Weber, a single by Marquez Smith and a sac fly to left by Jesus Lopez. The Charros had the 3-2 lead.

Manny Rodriguez led off the 5th with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Leo Heras. Rodriguez scored on a sac fly to right by CJ Retherford for the insurance run and a 4-2 lead.

CJ Retherford Drives In The 4th Run / Bonnie Garrison Photo

With one out in the Charros 8th, Jon Weber tripled to deep right center and scored on a sac fly to right by Marquez Smith for a 5-2 Charros lead.

Obregon got a run back in the top of the 9th when Corey Wimberly singled, stole second and scored on a single to center by JC Linares but it wasn't enough as Charros closer, Manny Acosta, got the final two outs for the save and the Charros were into the finals against either the Tomateros de Culiacan or the Aguilas de Mexicali that begins on Wednesday night.

During the year, the Charros were 4-5 against the Tomateros and 6-5 against the Aguilas.

Terence Marin picked up the win in relief of starter Ben Koslowski and Manny Acosta got the save. Arturo Lopez was saddled with the loss for the Yaquis. 

Starter Ben Koslowski / Bonnie Garrison Photo

Manny Acosta Picks Up The Save / Bonnie Garrison Photo

     

Good Pitching Gives Charros The Victory Over Obregon

FINAL SCORE CHARROS 4, YAQUIS 2

Juan Delgadillo got the win for the Charros on Wednesday, going 5 2/3 innings, giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4. Manny Acosta picked up his 2nd save of this postseason for Jalisco. Irwin Delgado took the loss for the Yaquis.

The Charros jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first on CJ Retherford's solo home run to left off of Yaquis starter Irwin Delgado.

In the 2nd, Jon Weber hit a one out single to right and went to third on a double by Jesus Lopez. Weber scored on a sac fly to left by Ivan Araujo to make the score 2-0 Charros.

Jon Weber drew a two out base on balls in the 4th and went to second on a single to deep short by Jesus Lopez. Weber scored on a single by Ivan Araujo to give the Charros a 3-0 lead after four innings.

The Yaquis fought back in their half of the 6th inning to cut the lead to 3-2. Carlos Valencia singled with two outs and scored in front of a home run by JC Linares.

Jalisco added an insurance run in the top of the 9th on a walk to Israel Nunez, a double by Leo Heras and a sac fly to left by Manny Rodriguez that plated Nunez and gave the Charros the final margin of victory at 4-2.

Charros Score 5 Runs in 7th, Top Obregon 6-1

JALISCO TAKES 1 GAME TO NONE LEAD IN SEMIFINALS    

Marco Tovar

Marco Tovar pitched an outstanding game going 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one unearned run, scattering 7 hits but left with the score tied 1-1. Mario Mendoza got the win in relief of Tovar with the help of a 5 run Charros 7th. Manny Acosta worked the 9th for the Charros. Jose Pina took the loss for the Yaquis de Obregon.

There was playoff electricity in the air from the 12,005 people in attendence at the stadium as Marco Tovar set the Yaquis down in order and the Charros came to bat. The Charros would score in the bottom of the 1st. Manny Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Leo Heras and Japhet Amador drew walks and Jon Weber singled to right to score Rodriguez for the early 1-0 Charros lead.                                                               

Manny Rodriguez Hit by Pitch

One of the strangest plays of the year happened in the bottom of the second. Gabriel Gutierrez was hit by a pitch with one out. Jesus Lopez singled with Gutierrez stopping at second. Eduardo Arredondo then hit a ball that he thought went off his foot that would have been a foul ball. No foul call was made by the home plate ump and the ball went to the pitcher who threw to the shortstop covering second to force out Lopez. The relay to first went wild but because Arredondo was hobbling at home and didn't run, the Yaquis retrieved the errant throw and got Arredondo at first to end the inning.

JC Linares drew a base on balls to lead off the 5th for Obregon. Two outs and a sacrifice bunt later,  Said Gutierrez reached safely on an error by the Charros CJ Retherford that scored Linares with the tying run. Corey Wimberly then doubled down the line in left. A fan in the seats along the wall grabbed the ball for a fan interference ground rule double. Tovar then got Jose Chaves to ground out to second to end the inning, but the score was tied at 1.

The Yaquis threatened in the 7th when Corey Wimberly and Jose Chaves singled with two outs. Mario Mendoza came on in relief of Tovar and struck out Yunesky Sanchez to end the inning.

Jesus Lopez reached for the Charros in the bottom of the 7th when the Yaquis left fielder dropped Lopez' fly ball. Lopez was not running on the fly ball and only reached first when he should easily have been on second. Eduardo Arredondo then hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice that cut down Lopez at second. Manny Rodriguez singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Japhet Amador singled to score Arredondo and Jon Weber followed with a single to right that scored Rodriguez and Heras. CJ Retherford waited out a walk to load the bases again for Jalisco and Marquez Smith came through with a two run single that plated Amador and Weber. The Charros had scored 5 runs and had a 6-1 lead. Mario Mendoza and Manny Acosta did the rest.    

Marquez Smith 2 Run Single

Charros Sweep Venados 4 Games to 0

JALISCO ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND OF PLAYOFFS

Jalisco is into the second round of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico playoffs with the four game sweep of the Venados de Mazatlan. Orlando Lara pitched an outstanding game, going 7 innings, scattering 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5 to earn the win. Timely hitting by the offense turned 8 hits into the 4 runs scored for the victory.

The Charros scored early, plating 2 runs in the 2nd on a single to center by Jon Weber and a home run to left by Marquez Smith. Jalisco took the lead 2-0 and coasted to the win.    

Marquez Smith Home Run/Straffonimages

Jalisco added to their lead in the top of the 5th. Gabriel Gutierrez singled with one out and moved to second when Eduardo Arredondo was safe at first on an error by the Venados third baseman, Ronnier Mustelier. Manny Rodriguez came through with a single to center that score Gutierrez for the 3-0 lead but Arredondo was thrown out at third for the final out of the inning. Arredondo was hurt on the play and left the game to be replaced by Edson Garcia. No word was given on the extent of the injury to Arredondo.

Leo Heras walked to lead off the 8th for the Charros. He moved to second on an errant pick off attempt, moved to third on a ground out by Japhet Amador and scored on a single to right  by CJ Retherford. The insurance run had the Charros up 4-0.

Arredondo Injury/Straffonimages

With one out in the Venados half of the 8th, Paul Leon singled to center. Jesus Fabela followed with a single with Leon stopping at second. Ronnier Mustelier singled to score Leon as Mazatlan cut the lead to 4-1.

The Venados threatened in the bottom of the 9th when Blake Gailen and Heber Gomez led off with back-to-back singles. Charros reliever, Manny Acosta got Erick Rodriguez to hit into a double play and Jesus Castillo to ground out to second to end the game.

This series was a team effort from the first game. The pitching was unbelievably good by all four Charros starters but Marquez Smith started the scoring in all four games, either drawing a walk and coming around to score or the home run in game 4. Marquez Smith is my choice for the Most Valuable Player in the first round series.

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.

Playoff Baseball Returns to Guadalajara

CHARROS TOP VENADOS 4-1 TO TAKE GAME 1

The 2014 Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico regular season has come to an end and the Charros de Jalisco have finished as the top seed in their first year in the league. Jalisco started off the post season with a 4-1 win over the Venados de Mazatlan to go up 1 game to none in the best of seven series.

Marquez Smith got things going for the Charros in the bottom of the 3rd by drawing a lead off walk. Gabriel Gutierrez followed with a double to move Smith to third. Jesus Lopez then hit a sac fly to center that scored Smith and moved Gutierrez to third. Gutierrez scored when the Venados third baseman threw wild to first on a ground ball off the bat of Manny Rodriguez. The Charros led 2-0 and never looked back.

The Venados got a run back in the top of the 4th on a double by Ronnier Mustelier and a single by Olmo Rosario to cut the lead to 2-1 Charros.

Jalisco scored in the bottom of the 6th on singles by Leo Heras and Japhet Amador and a single by Charros newcomer, Jon Weber, formerly of the Mayos de Navojoa, that scored Heras for the 3-1 Jalisco lead.

The Charros scored their final run on a lead off, solo home run by Marquez Smith in the bottom of the 7th for the final score of 4-1.

Starting pitcher for the Charros, Marco Tovar, picked up the win, going 6 innings while scattering 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3. Mario Mendoza notched the save by pitching a perfect 9th inning.

Gabriel Gutierrez was 3 for 3 with a double and a run scored. Marquez went 1 for 3 with the home run, an RBI and 2 runs scored while Jon Weber was 1 for 4 with an RBI

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 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.

Mayos de Navojoa Top Charros 6-1

Charros pitcher, Juan Delgadillo, had another rough outing last night dropping to 0-3 on the season with the 6-1 loss to the Mayos de Navojoa.

Delgadillo lasted just 4 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits with 2 home runs while striking out just 2.

Navojoa scored 3 times in the bottom of the 3rd. With one out Jose Chavez singled and Jon Weber sent a line drive home run to right to give the Mayos a 2-0 lead. Two batters later Chris Marrero sent a ball over the fence in left center for a home run to increase the lead to 3-0.

The Charros got a run back in the top of the 5th. Cory Vaughn led off the inning with a triple. Vaughn scored on an attempted pick off by Navojoa starter, Eddie Gamboa, that sailed wide and into foul territory.The lead was narrowed to 3-1 Mayos.

Things were quiet until the bottom of the 8th inning. Charros reliever Alan Guerrero replaced Manuel Flores. With one out, Rolando Acosta singled. After Guerrero got the second out he was replaced by Murphy Smith. Eliseo Aldazaba tagged Murphy for a double with Acosta stopping at third. Fernando Flores was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Luis Borges singled to drive in Acosta and Aldazaba. Antonio Garzon replaced Murphy on the mound and Jose Chaves greeted Garzon with a double that scored Flores. Jon Weber flied out to left to end the inning but the damage was done. The Mayos would go on to win the game by this 6-1 score.

The only bright spots on the night for Jalisco were Cory Vaughn's triple and Manny Flores who worked three perfect innings in relief of Delgadillo to lower his ERA to 2.00.

The series is even at 1-1 with the rubber match to be played tonight. The Charros fell to 6-4 on the year while Navojoa climbed to 3-7.

Charros Top Navojoa 6-4

The Charros de Jalisco powered their way to a 6-4 victory last night over the Mayos de Navojoa. Orlando Lara picked up the win with the help of two home runs by Leo Hera and a home run by Marquez Smith.

Jalisco scored a run in the top of the 1st with a solo home run by Heras off of Navojoa starter, Mario Gonzalez, and the Charros led 1-0.

In the 3rd, Gabriel Gutierrez led off with a double and went to third on a single by Jesus Lopez. Lopez moved up to second on a wild pitch. Eduardo Arredondo grounded out 4-3 as Gutierrez scored and Lopez went to third. Leo Heras then,stroked a hard shot up the middle that caromed off the glove of the Mayos second baseman into left center for a double that scored Lopez. The lead was now 3-0 Charros.

Navojoa got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd. Jose Chavez doubled to lead off. Jon Weber drew a base on balls. Orlando Lara then struck out Luis Fonseca and Chris Marrero but Rolando Acosta singled to right to drive in Chavez. Acosta was thrown out at second trying to stretch his single into a double to end the inning. The Jalisco was 3-1.

Marquez Smith, of the Charros, walked to lead off the top of the 4th. Smith stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the Mayos catcher, Genaro Andrade. Smith then scored on a single by Jesus Cota to increase the Charros lead to 4-1.

Leo Heras hit his second home run of the night in the top of the 5th for a 5-1 Charros lead.

Navojoa's reliever Estaban Haro started the 6th and Marquez Smith greeted Haro with a solo home run, Smith's third of the year, as Jalisco increased their lead to 6-1.

Ken Sigman had replaced Orlando Lara in the 6th. In the bottom of the 7th Sigman gave up a solo home run to Eliseo Aldazaba and the Mayo's had cut the lead to 6-2.

Adrian Rameriz, pitching for the Charros to start the bottom of the ninth, gave up a single to Rolando Acosta and a 2 run home run to Reggie Ambercrombie and the Charros lead was down to 6-4.

Brian Broderick entered the game with two outs in the ninth and got pinch hitter Fernando Flores to ground out to second to preserve the win for Lara, who is now 2-0 on the year, and pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Charros de Jalisco improve to 6-3 on the young season while the Mayos de Navojoa fall to 2-7. These two teams play again tonight in a continuation of their three game series.

Leo Heras was 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and a double, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Marquez Smith was 1 for 2 with a home run, 2 walks, an RBI and 2 runs scored. Jesus Cota went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Orlando Lara pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 1 run with 3 base on balls and 6 strikeouts. His ERA on the year is 0.84. Brian Broderick lowered his ERA to 1.69.