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| Let the Cebration Begin in Mexicali |
The Aguilas had tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the 6th inning when Retherford was hit by a pitch with 2 outs and scored in front of a home run to center by Luis Juarez. Those would be the last runs scored by either team for the next 10 innings.
19 pitchers were used in the game, 9 by the Mayos and 10 by the Aguilas. Yair Lozoya pitched the final 2 innings for Mexicali to pick up the win while Tomas Solis was charged with the run in the 16th and took the loss for Navojoa.
The teams combined to use 28 position players, 15 by the Aguilas and 13 by the Mayos. The Mexicali substitutes went 3 for 7 while the Mayos pinch hitters were 0-5. Navojoa was 1 for 9 and Mexicali 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Another sellout crowd of 17,000 in Mexicali sat through a game that lasted 6 hours and 2 minutes. There is no mention of how many fans were around at the end of the game that started at 8PM (local time) on the 18th of January and finished at 2:02 AM (local time) on the 19th of January.
Both teams scored in the 1st inning. Carlos Moncrief led off the top of the 1st for Navojoa by drawing a walk. 2 batters later, Jesus Castillo waited out a walk to put runners on first and second. A double by Jose Amador scored Moncrief for the early 1-0 lead.
Mexicali answered in their half of the inning when Chris Roberson singled with 2 outs, stole second and scored on a single to left by Yuniesky Betancourt to tie the game at 1.
Navojoa added a run in the 3rd inning on a lead off single by Moncrief, a double by Nate Tenbrink and a sac fly to right by Quincy Latimore. The Mayos had a 2-1 lead after 3 innings.
In the top of the 5th inning, Tenbrink reached on a 1 out single, Latimore's single to center moved him to third and Castillo hit a sac fly to left that scored Tenbrink for a 3-1 Navojoa lead.
Luis Juarez' home run in the bottom of the 6the inning, with Retherford aboard, tied the game at 3 all. There would be no more scoring for 10 innings.
There are several choices for Most Valuable Player (MVP) in this series. Luis Juarez won game 1 for the Aguilas with a 2 out single in the bottom of the 9th and his home run in this game tied the score. CJ Retherford's ability to lay down the squeeze after 6 hours of play in this game, his .318 batting average for the playoffs and his consistent play at first base is certainly worthy of consideration. Although he didn't make the splashy plays as did Juarez and Retherford, Xorge Carrillo hit .382 and was solid behind the plate for Mexicali.
The LMP Championship Series has the Aguilas facing the Venados de Mazatlán with the series set to begin on Wednesday the 20th of January.
