Jalisco Falls To The Venados 5-4

TITO POLO'S WALK OFF SINGLE WINS IT

Japhet Amador Returns to the Lineup

The Venados de Mazatlán topped the Charros last night on a 2 out single by Tito Polo that drove in Roberto Valenzuela with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning for the 5-4 win.

Benino Pruenda (1-1) got the win in relief and Edwin Salas (1-1) took the loss.

Mazatlán scored in the 1st inning when the Charros starter, Manuel Flores, threw a wild pitch that scored Brian Hernandez to give the Venados a 1-0 lead.

Jalisco tied the game in the top of the 2nd. Japhet Amador singled to lead off the inning. Agustin Murillo and Michael Choice walked to load the bases and Cacao Valdez singled to score Amador with the tying run.

Cacao Singles to Drive in a Run 

Five singles in the bottom of the 3rd inning led to 3 runs for the Venados and a 4-1 lead.

Japhet Amador drove in 2 runs with a single in the top of the 5th. The Charros scored 3 runs in the inning to tie the game at 4 all.

The game remained scoreless until Polo's single in the bottom of the 9th won the game for Mazatlán

Amador was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored in his return to the Charros while Amadeo Zazueta was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Polo was 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored and Cyle Hankerd 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored for the Venados.

Figueroa Steals 2nd

Two more contests in Mazatlán before the Charros return home to face the Naranjeros de Hermosillo beginning on the 1st of November.

IN OTHER LMP ACTION

Hermosillo 9, Los Mochis 4

The Naranjeros scored 4 runs in the 1st and 5 more runs in the 6th inning to beat the Caneros 9-4.  Roberto Ramos hit a grand slam and drove in 6 for Hermosillo to lead the way. Jose Amador was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs for the Naranjeros. Yadir Drake homered for the Caneros. Marco Rivas (2-0) picked up the win and Manny Barreda (1-2) took the loss.

Culiacan 8, Navojoa 4

The Tomateros scored 5 times in the 3rd inning and coasted to an 8-4 win over the Mayos. Joey Meneses hit a 3 run home run in the inning to lead the charge. The bottom of the Mayos lineup, Victor Mendoza, Diego Madero and Alejandro Gonzalez were a combined 6 for 12 with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored for Navojoa. Salvador Valdez (2-1) was the winning pitcher and Salvador Robles (0-2) took the loss.

Mexicali 10, Obregon 8

 The Aguilas got home runs from Ramon Rios and JC Linares to out slug the Yaquis 10-8. Justin Greene, Leo Heras and Nelson Perez homered for Obregon. Francisco Rodriguez (2-0) picked up the win and Jake Sanchez earned his 4th save. Matias Carrillo (0-1) was charged with a blown save and the loss.

Mexicali Wins Convincingly in Game 1 of the LMP Championship

SWAMP VENADOS 8-1 ON 14 HITS

Ricky Alavez and Luis Juarez homered, and CJ Retherford was 2 for 5 with an RBI. Newcomer Alex Liddi went 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored and Walter Ibarra, hitting 9th in the lineup, was 2 for 3 with an RBI as the Aguilas de Mexicali routed the Venados de Mazatlán 8-1 to win game 1 of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Championship round.

After giving up a run to Mazatlán in the 1st inning, Mexicali starter Javier Solano, who picked up the win, scattered 4 hits and struck out 7 in 5 1/3 innings on the mound. After Solano threw his 96th pitch of the game, the Aguilas manager called in reliever Manuel Chavez to finish the 6th inning. 4 Mexicali relievers held the Venados to 2 hits and no runs while striking out 3 over the final 3 2/3 innings. Amilcar Gaxiola worked 5 innings for the Venados allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in taking the loss.

Mazatlán scored their only run in the 1st inning. Justin Greene singled to center and scored on a double to left center by Esteban Quiroz that put the Venados up 1-0. Mazatlán would only get a runner in scoring position once more.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Yuniesky Betancourt singled and went to second as Alex Liddi reached safely on a fielding error by the Venados shortstop. Ricky Alarez followed with a long home run to left that scored Betancourt and Liddi as Mexicali took a 3-1 lead.

Alvarez' 3 Run Home Run

Mexicali scored a run in the bottom of the 4th on a solo home run to left by Luis Juarez and a 4-1 Aguilas lead.

Two innings later the Aguilas broke the game open, scoring 4 runs on 4 hits. The Venados helped Mexicali in the inning by committing an error, throwing a wild pitch and walking 2 batters. Liddi led off the inning with a single to deep short and went to second on the throwing error. Alvarez waited out a walk. One out later Liddi scored on a ground rule double to left by Xorge Carrillo with Alvarez moving to third. With Walter Ibarra batting, the Venados pitcher uncorked a wild pitch that scored Alvarez and moved Carrillo to third. Ibarra followed with a single to score Carrillo. After a force out at second on a ground ball by Chris Roberson, Roman Urias drew the second walk of the inning. CJ Retherford singled to center to score Roberson and the Aguilas had an 8-1 lead and the win.

Game 2 of the series will be played on Thursday the 21st of January in Mexicali. Following a travel day on Friday, the series will resume in Mazatlán with game 3 on Saturday the 23rd. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, will be played on Sunday and Monday.

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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.

Yaquis Top Venados 4-1

TAKE GAME 1 OF LMP SEMIFINALS

The Yaquis de Obregon scored all of their runs in the 4th inning and the pitching staff held the Venados scoreless over the last 8 innings to take game 1 of their Liga Mexicana del Pacifico playoff series by a 4-1 score.

Arturo Lopez gave up the lone Mazatlán run in the 1st inning on a double by Jeremias Pineda, a sacrifice bunt and a ground out that gave an early 1-0 lead to the Venados.

Alejandro Soto, the Venados starting pitcher, worked 6 innings and gave up all 4 Obregon runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

Carlos Valencia's 3 Run HR

Justin Greene led off the bottom of the 4th inning for the Yaquis with a single to right and stole second. Greene moved to third as Leo Heras reached safely on a fielding error by Mazatlán. Alex Liddi, newly acquired from the Charros de Jalisco, doubled to drive in Greene. Heras was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on the play. Dustin Martin drew a 2 out walk and Carlos Valencia launched a long home run to left that scored Liddi and Martin to put the Yaquis in front 4-1.

Neither team scored again and the Yaquis won game 1.

Jeremias Pineda was 1 for 3 in the game for the Venados and Agustin Murillo, another pick up from the Charros, drove in the lone run for Mazatlán.

Justin Greene was 3 for 4 with a run scored for Obregon. Alex Liddi was 1 for 3 with an RBI and Carlos Valencia was 1 for 3 with the 3 run home run. Daniel Castro was also 1 for 3 for the Yaquis.

Game 2 of the series continues in Obregon on Monday with games 3 and 4 in Mazatlán on Wednesday and Thursday.

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Yaquis Advance in LMP Playoffs

TAKE GAME 6 OVER CANEROS 4-3

The Yaquis de Obregon scored twice in the bottom, of the 1st inning and held on to beat the Caneros de Los Mochis 4-3 and advance to the semifinal round of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico playoffs.

David Reyes started the game for Obregon and went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits over that span. The Yaquis manager pulled out all the stops, using 6 relief pitchers over the final 4 innings to preserve the win. Adrian Ramirez picked up the win in relief and Josh Judy worked a perfect 9th inning to get the save. Tomas Solis threw 5 1/3 innings for the Caneros giving up 3 runs in the loss.

Obregon's Alfredo Amezaga singled with one out in the 1st inning and went to third on a double by Leo Heras. Both runners scored on a double by Max Ramirez that put the Yaquis up early 2-0.

Los Mochis tied the game in the top of the 5th inning on a single by Rudolfo Amador, who later scored on a throwing error by the Obregon left fielder on a grounder by Yancarlo Angulo. Angulo went to third on the throw. Jesus Arredondo reached base safely on an error by the shortstop that scored Angulo for a 2-2 tie after 5 innings.

Carlos Valencia doubled to lead off the Obregon half of the 6th inning but was thrown out at third on a fielders choice ground ball by Christian Villanueva. Said Gutierrez singled and David Castro singled to left to score Villanueva. Justin Greene then hit a sac fly to right that scored Gutierrez to put the Yaquis up 4-2.

JC Linares drew a 2 out walk and went to second on a single by Emmanuel Avila in the top of the 8th inning for the Caneros. Antonio Lamas singled to left to score Linares to cut the lead to 4-3 but the scoring was complete and the Yaquis de Obregon took the series 4 games to 2 to advance in the LMP Playoffs.

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Aguilas Overpower Charros 10-4

The Aguilas de Mexicali manhandled the Charros in game 2 of the scheduled 3 game set on Saturday night in Mexicali with a 10-4 victory.

Jalisco scored the first run of the game in the top of the 2nd. Marquez Smith walked with one out. CJ Retherford doubled to score Smith and the Charros were on the board with the 1-0 lead.

Mexicali answered in their half of the 2nd. Xorge Carrillo walked and moved to second on a walk to Ricardo Serrano. With two outs, Gil Velazquez singled to score Carrillo and the game was tied at one.

The Aguilas scored 3 times in the bottom of the 3rd. Walter Ibarra singled and scored in front of a Josh Whitesell home run. Xorge Carrillo doubled and went to third on an error by the Charros second baseman. Graham Godfrey then threw a wild pitch that scored Carrillo. The Aguilas had the 4-1 lead after three innings.

Mexicali added to their lead in the bottom of the 4th when Gil Velazquez singled, Justin Greene walked and Walter Ibarra singled to right to score Velazquez. Josh Whitesell singled to score Greene with the second run of the inning. Xorge Carrillo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the 4th but the Aguilas had a 6-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th with one out, Gil Velazquez singled to drive in Ricardo Serrano who lead off the inning with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. The Aguilas took a 7-1 lead into the 6th.

Walter Ibarra hit a solo home run in the Mexicali half of the 6th to increase the Aguilas lead to 8-1.

Justin Greene doubled in the bottom of the 7th for Mexicali to drive in pinch hitter Victor Mendoza and Gil Velazquez. The Aguilas had a 10-1 lead.

The Charros had runners on first and third in the top of the 9th when Marquez Smith hit his 9th home run of the year to score Araujo and pinch hitter Fernando Valenzuela to cut the lead to 10-4. But that was the end of the scoring for Jalisco as the Aguilas de Mexicali won the game by the 10-4 score.

Edgar Ozuna got the win for Mexicali to improve to 4-1 on the year with a 2.66 ERA while Graham Godfrey took the loss and dropped to 4-2 on the season. Godfrey gave up 5 runs on 6 hits in the three innings he pitched.

CJ Retherford was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI while Marquez Smith went 1 for 3 with a three run home run.

The Charros drop to 0-2 in the second half of the season after finishing 21-14 in the first half. The third game of the series will be played at 5 PM Guadalajara time on Sunday. The Charros have a day off on Monday before starting a 3 game series in Obregon against the Yaquis.

Naranjeros Shutout Charros 4-0

Juan Oramas, starting pitcher for Hermosillo, shut out the Charros on 1 hit through 6 innings last night to beat the Jalisco team 4-0. Oramas walked only 1 while striking out 7. Oramas set down the first 13 Charros he faced before giving up a single to Cory Vaughn with one out in the 5th. Leo Rosales, Heriberto Ruelas and Jesus Castillo allowed just 1 hit over the last 3 innings to seal the win for Hermosillo.

Jerry Owens led off the bottom of the 1st for Hermosillo with a double. Justin Greens singled and Adan Munos singled to drive in Owens with the first run. With one out Greene stole third and then scored on a sac fly to center by Matt Padgett and the Naranjeros led 2-0.

In the botom of the 4th, Yunesky Sanchez singled. Sebastian Elizalde laid down a bunt that the Charros infielders couldn't handle and Hermosillo had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Carlos Gastelum singled to drive in Sanchez and took second on the throw home. Jorge Flores then hit a sac fly to score Elizalde for the 4-0 lead and the eventual final score.

Orlando Lara started and took the loss for Jalisco, dropping his record to 2-1 on the year. He gave up 6 hits over 3 1/3 innings and was responsible for all 4 Hermosillo runs.

Marquez Smith, with a single in the 7th, and Cory Vaughn had the only hits for Jalisco.

The Charros fall to 17-12 on the year, 1/2 game in front of the idle Yaquis de Obregon and atop the standings of the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico. The Naranjeros, with the win, are now 12-17, five games behind Jalisco in the league standings.

The Tomateros de Culiacan bring their 2 game winning streak to Zapopan for 3 games starting tonight through Sunday.