Saturday, November 22, 2014

NFL Picks for This Week

After going 6-7 last week this is my bounce back week. One of these weeks I'll get around to forecasting the Thursday game although I never would have picked the Raiders to beat the Chiefs this week.

Cleveland @ Atlanta     Browns 24-21     Upset in the making
Tennessee @ Philadelphia     Eagles 27-17     Sanchez makes bid for Pro Bowl
Detroit @ New England     Patriots 30-21     Brady or Stafford in New England
Green Bay @ Minnesota     Packers 35-17     Aaron...should we relax yet?
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis     Colts 28-10     Colts "D" too good for Jags
Cincinnati @ Houston     Texans 21-17     JJ scores on a punt return
Tampa Bay @ Chicago     Bears 23-17     Cutler gets no credit for the win
Arizona @ Seattle     Seahawks 24-17     Inexperience at QB shows against good defense
St. Louis @ San Diego     Chargers 30-20     Rivers make me look like a genius
Miami @ Denver     Broncos 31-21     KC loss Broncos win...breathing room
Washington @ San Francisco     49ers 35-13     Woe to the Redskins
Dallas @ NY Giants     Cowboys 27-17     Giants are woefully bad
NY Jets Vs Buffalo @ Detroit     Jets 20-13     Jets kick their way to a win
Baltimore @ New Orleans     Ravens 28-13     Saints still can't figure this game out

Charros Drop Game 1 In Mexicali 6-2

Jalisco dropped the opening game of a three game set in Mexicali on Friday night by a 6-2 score. The turning point in the game happened in the 3rd inning when the Charros' relievers gave up 4 runs after getting the first two outs.

Mexicali started off the scoring in the bottom of the 1st. With two outs, Charros starter, Juan Delgadillo, issued a walk to Dave Sappelt who scored on a triple by Luis Juarez. The Aguilas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead.

Jalisco tied the game at 1all in the top of the 2nd on a solo home run by Jose Felix, his first of the year.

In the bottom of the third, Juan Delgadillo got the first two batters to fly out to center. At this point, Juan Navarrete brought in Charros reliever Ken Sigman to replace Delgadillo. Sigman immediately gave up a double to Josh Whitesell and a single to Humberto Cota that scored Whitesell. Sigman threw a wild pitch to move up the runner and then walked Ricardo Serrano. Chris Roberson followed the walk with a single to right that scored Cota. Manuel Flores was called on to relieve Sigman. Gil Velazquez doubled off Flores to drive in Serrano and Roberson. Justin Greene grounded out to third to end the inning but the damage was done. The Aguilas had a 5-1 lead after 3 innings.

The Aguilas scored again in the bottom of the 6th. With one out, Gil Velazquez singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Greene. Walter Ibarra singled to plate Velazquez and Mexicali led 6-1.

Brendan Harris singled to lead off the 9th for Jalisco. Ivan Araujo entered the game as a pinch runner for Harris. Japhet Amador grounded out to first base moving Araujo to second. A wild pitch got Araujo to third and he came home on a single by Jose Felix. The Aguilas lead had been cut to 6-2 but the Charros would not score again and Mexicali had won the game.

Ken Sigman took the loss for Jalisco. Coming on in relief of starter Juan Delgadillo in the 3rd, Sigman gave up 4 runs on three hits and a walk without recording an out. In this game, manager Juan Navarrete deserves a loss too as he replaced Delgadillo too early. Navarrete has had the quick hook all year. Javier Solano got the win for Mexicali, his 5th of the year, throwing a 4 hitter through 7 innings of work.

Jose Felix had 2 RBIs and a run scored, including a home run while going 2 for 4. Edson Garcia was 1 for 3 and Brendan Harris went 2 for 2 with 2 walks. 

Friday, November 21, 2014

Winless Oakland Raiders Top KC Chiefs 24-20

The Kansas City Chiefs did what no other NFL team has done since November 17th, 2013...They lost to the Oakland Raiders 24-20 on Thursday night. The Chiefs had been tied for first place in the AFC West but will have to wait until the 30th of November, when they face the Broncos, for their shot to take sole possession of first again.

Oakland took a 17-10 lead into the 4th quarter and used a 17 play 80 yard drive to score on a 9 yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to James Jones with 1:42 left on the clock to seal the win.

Latavius Murry, Raiders running back, rushed for 112 yards on just 4 carries with 2 touchdowns including a 90 yard run that put the Raiders up 14-0 early in the second quarter. The Raiders rushed for 179 yards while the Chiefs were held to 96 yards on the ground on 24 carries. Jamaal Charles, who had 159 yards and 2 TDs against Seattle in the Chiefs 24-20 win, was held to just 80 yards on 19 carries with no touchdowns.

James Jones had a touchdown reception from Derek Carr. Jamaal Charles and Anthony Fasano, had touchdown catches from the Chief's Alex Smith.

Kansas City will have 10 days off before facing the Broncos on the 30th of November.

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.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Jalisco Tops The Mayos de Navojoa 6-3

The Charros de Jalisco reached the midway point of their 68 game schedule with a 6-3 victory over the Mayos de Navojoa on Wednesday night. The Charros are 20-14 on the season.

Orlando Lara picked up the win for Jalisco to improve to 3-1 on the year and Brian Broderick notched his 12th save of the campaign. Hector Velazquez was saddled with the loss for Navojoa his first loss of the year against no wins.

Jose Chavez led off the game with a double for the Mayos and scored on a triple by Tim Federowicz for the early 1-0 lead.
 
Jalisco responded with a 2 spot in the 2nd. Brendan Harris walked to lead off. Gabriel Gutierrez waited out a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ivan Araujo. Jesus Lopez hit a sac fly to center to score Harris. Hector Velazquez then launched a wild pitch to score Gutierrez and the Charros were ahead 2-1.

Jesus Lopez tripled to lead off the 5th inning for the Charros. Eduardo Arredondo hit a sac fly to left that brought home Lopez and Manny Rodriguez followed with a single. Ruddy Acosta replaced Velazquez on the mound for the Mayos and walked Leo Heras. Japhet Amador doubled to left to score Rodriguez and Marquez Smith doubled to score Heras and Amador. Jalisco had scored their 6 runs for the night.

In the top of the 6th, Tim Federowicz hit a solo home run to narrow the Charros lead to 6-2.

With David Kopp pitching for the Charros in the top of the 9th, Diego Madero hit his first home run of the year for Navojoa. The score was 6-3 Jalisco. After recording an out and walking Alan Sanchez, Kopp was replaced by Brian Broderick who got the final two outs and preserved the victory for Lara.

The Charros scored their 6 runs on just 6 hits, 3 of which went for extra bases. Marquez Smith was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Japhet Amador went 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Jesus Lopez had a triple in his two official at bats.

Orlando Lara pitched a good game, going 6 innings, giving up just 2 runs on 7 hits. Adrian Ramirez was credited with a hold. Brian Broderick lowered his ERA to 0.53 with a scoreless 2/3 on an inning.

The Charros have won two games in a row and their record stands at 20-14, a full game behind the Yaquis de Obregon, for 2nd place in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico and a game in front of the Aguilas de Mexicali.


Running Back Ben Tate Claimed Off Waivers by Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings claimed former Cleveland Browns running back, Ben Tate, off the waiver wire on Wednesday.

Tate will be paid $353,000 as the Vikings part of his salary for 2014 and $46,900 for each game he remains on the Vikings 46 man roster.

Adrian Peterson, unless he wins an appeal, has been suspended for the remainder of the season by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. While waiting on word of his suspension, the Vikings have been using rookie Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata to fill in for Peterson. McKinnon is averaging 4.9 yards a carry while Asiata has 6 rushing TDs and 1 receiving touchdown.

On the face of the pickup, it appears to be a bad decision by the Vikings front office as Tate's performance for the Browns, where he was used primarily as a third down back, has not been as productive nor produced the results the Vikings have had with their current backs.

CFP Rankings Have Alabama #1

The CFP ranking is out for the week of November 18th and Alabama, by virtue of their win over previously #1 Mississippi State, vaulted from #5 last week to the top spot this week, leapfrogging idle Oregon and an FSU team that had to stage a second half comeback again over an unranked opponent.

Mississippi State dropped three spots to #4 while last week's #4, TCU, fell one spot to #5 with a narrow victory over unranked Kansas. Ohio State jumped over idle Baylor to claim the 6th spot. The Big 12, doesn't have a conference championship game. The CFP Commission is tasked with using conference championship winners as tie breakers in the final rankings. TCU and Baylor are both expected to finish 11-1 on the year and be named Co-Champions of the Big 12.

Oregon and FSU should win their respective championships and should Mississippi State lose in the SEC Championship game, Ohio State could be the fourth place team in the final rankings. Of course, Ohio State must win the Big 10 Championship game or TCU/Baylor would be the favorite to finish fourth in the final CFP rankings to be issued on December 7th.

Selection Committee chairman Jeff Long said "the differences between teams four through seven are narrow, very narrow."

Lakers Top Atlanta Hawks With 114-109 Win

The LA Lakers won their second game in 11 tries behind Kobe Bryant's 28 points on Tuesday night in Atlanta. Admittedly they only beat the 5-5 Hawks but they handed the Hawks their first loss at home. The Lakers need every confidence boost they can get.

Carlos Boozer had 20 points for the Lakers and Nick Young, playing in his first game of the year following a thumb injury, added 17 in the win.

Paul Millsap had 29 points for the Hawks while Jeff Teague chipped in 23.

The Lakers out rebounded Atlanta 44-38 with Boozer and Jordan Hill each grabbing 10 while Al Horford and Pero Antic had 8 boards apiece for the Hawks.

Royals' Butler Signs With Oakland Athletics

Billy Butler, a free agent from the World Series Kansas City Royals , has agreed to a 3 year 30 million dollar contract offer from the Oakland Athletics. Butler hit .271 with 9 home runs and 66 RBIs for the Royals in 2014. He is a career .295 hitter, an All Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2012.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Charros Defeat Navojoa 8-6

Marco Tovar started for the Charros against the Mayos de Navojoa and went 5 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. David Kopp picked up the win as the pitcher of record when Jalisco took the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Kopp pitched 2/3 of an inning. Brian Broderick got his 11th save of the year, pitching a perfect 9th inning. Linder Castro took the loss for the Mayos to fall to 0-2 on the season. Castro gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in the 8th, including a home run to Gabriel Gutierrez.

Navojoa scored a run in the top of the 4th on a solo home run by John Lindsey, his first of the year.

With two outs in the 5th, Jose Chavez singled to center for the Mayos and went to second on a single by Rolando Acosta. Tim Federowicz singled to score Chavez and John Lindsey singled to drive in Acosta for the 3-0 Navojoa lead.

The Charros answered in their half of the 5th. Ivan Araujo singled and went to second on a single to center by Jesus Lopez. Eduardo Arredondo hit into a fielder's choice that scored Araujo and Jalisco was on the board. Manny Rodriguez hit a ground rule double and Leo Heras walked to load the bases. Japhet Amador then cleared the bases on a double to deep left. The Charros had taken a 4-3 lead.

The Mayos wouldn't quit and they retook the lead 5-4 in the top of the 6th. Fernando Flores singled to left. Diego Madero also singled to left. Alejandro Gonzalez singled to score Flores and Rolando Acosta singled to center to plate Madero for the two run inning.

Carlos Orrantia doubled with two outs in the Mayo's half of the 7th. Fernando Flores reached on an infield single to third that advanced Orrantia. Charros reliever, Ivan Salas, uncorked a wild pitch to score Orrantia from third and gave Navojoa a 6-4 lead.

Jalisco put the game away in the bottom of the 8th. With one out, Marquez Smith doubled and scored on a Brendan Harris double to center. Gabriel Gutierrez followed with a 2 run home run to left, his second of the year. Ivan Araujo singled, stole second and came home on a single by Eduardo Arredondo. The Charros had the final margin of victory, 8-6.

Ivan Araujo was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Eduardo Arredondo went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored raising his batting average to .234. Manny Rodriguez got back on track going 2 for 5 with his 13th double of the year and a rub scored. Japhet Amador had a double in 3 at bats with 3 RBIs and a run scored. Gabriel Gutierrez was 1 for 4 with the 2 run home run.

Jalisco is now 19-14 on the year while Navojoa falls to 11-22. The Charros are a full game behind the Yaquis de Obregon for the overall league lead.


Steelers Top Titans 27-24 on MNF

The Pittsburgh Steelers, down 24-13 starting the 4th quarter, fought back to defeat the Tennessee Titans 27-24 behind Le'Veon Bell's 204 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Bell's rushing total was the highest singe game effort this season.

Ben Roethlisberger was 21 of 32 passing for 207 yards and a TD with 1 INT.  Antonio Brown caught Big Ben's touchdown toss with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter to seal the win for the Steelers. Brown had 91 yards receiving on 9 catches for the night.

William Gay, of the Steelers, picked off a pass from Zach Mettenberger and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown in the 1st quarter.

Mettenberger completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns with the 1 interception. Bishop Sankey was the leading ground gainer for the Titans with 38 yards on 11 carries.

Nate Washington caught one pass all game for the Titans, good for 80 yards and a touchdown for the Titans.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Culiacan Tops Charros 6-3 to Take Series

Culican took the rubber match of the three game series with the Charros, 6-3, behind starter Hector Rodriguez and five relievers who held Jalisco to three runs on just seven hits.

Jalisco scored in the bottom of the 3rd. Jesus Lopez singled to lead off. Eduardo Arredondo hit a ground ball single to first that scored Lopez on a throwing error by the Tomateros first baseman. The Charros had a short lived lead 1-0.

The Tomateros scored two in the top of the 4th on a solo home run by Garrett Weber, a single by Issmael Salas, a walk to Ramiro Pena and a run scoring single by Ali Solis that scored Salas. Culiacan had retaken the lead 2-1.

The Charros came right back in the home half of the 4th to retake the lead 3-2. Gabriel Gutierrez singled with one out. Amadeo Zazueta reached safely on a throwing error by the third baseman and the runners wound up on 2nd and 3rd. Jesus Lopez hit a sac fly to right to score Gutierrez with Zazueta moving to third. Eduardo Arredondo singled to score Zazueta for the Jalisco lead.

Maxwell Leon led off the 5th for the Tomateros by drawing a walk. Jorge Vazquez singled. Garrett Weber was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Issmael Salas walked to force in Leon and Ramiro Pena singled to score Vazquez. Culiacan had regained the lead 4-3.

Culican would score twice in the top of the 6th on a single by Rico Noel and a 2 run home run by Maxwell Leon to ice the Tomateros victory 6-3.

Alfredo Aceves picked up the win for Culiacan to improve to 2-3 on the year while Graham Godfrey took the loss for the Charros, his first of the year against four wins, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits with 4 walks in his five innings pitched.

With the series loss to Culiacan, the Charros record stands at 18-14. After the day off on Monday, the Charros travel to Navojoa for three games against the Mayos beginning on Tuesday the 18th of November.

NFL Picks This Week

UPDATE:  6-7 this week...16-9 for the last 2 weeks!

After going 10-2 last week I thought I would try my luck again this week. The teams playing are a little more evenly matched so the picks are much harder...my caveat if the picks go poorly!

Minnesota @ Chicago     Bears 24-17     Cutler admits he's bad...will bounce back
Houston @ Cleveland     Texans 28-10     Defense wins this one. Maybe 2 Def TDs
Seattle @ Kansas City     Seahawks 24-13     Toss up in KC but Wilson comes through
Atlanta @ Carolina     Falcons 17-14     Newton hurt? Falcons D just good enough
Cincinnati @ New Orleans     Saints 30-21     Saints start their charge today
Tampa Bay @ Washington     Redskins 21-13     Battle of not good teams
Denver @ St. Louis     Broncos 35-10     Offense + Defense win for the Broncos
San Francisco @ NY Giants     49ers 28-24     SF needs to stay ahead of Seahawks
Oakland @ San Diego     Chargers 21-17    Oakland 0-10 looking for QB in 2015 draft
Philadelphia @ Green Bay     Eagles 24-21     Why? I'm not sure. Gut feeling.
Detroit @ Arizona     Lions 28-14     No QB for Cardinals. Stafford and Robotron
New England @ Colts     Patriots 27-17     Brady teaches Luck a lesson in legacy
Pittsburgh @ Tennessee     Steelers 31-21     Roethlisberger recovers and so does D

Tomateros Destroy Charros Pitching With 16-5 Win

The Tomateros de Culiacan left no doubt as to their offensive abilities with 4 home runs and 16 runs scored against 4 Jalisco pitchers in just six innings on Saturday afternoon. Nick Buss, of Culiacan, was 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Culican had 16 hits and drew four walks in the game.

The Charros collected 11 hits but could only manage 5 runs against four Culiacan pitchers. Jalisco left 12 men on base to show that their hitting, though plentiful, was not timely. Marquez Smith went 2 for 5 with his 8th home run of the year.

Robert Coello picked up the win for Culiacan and is now 2-0 on the year. Juan Delgadillo started for the Charros and took the loss, his 5th of the season. Delgadillo gave up 5 runs on 6 hits in just 1 2/3 innings of work. Manuel Flores gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning and Ken Sigman gave up 5 runs in his 2 1/3 innings on the mound. Carlos Vazquez was the most effective pitcher for the Charros, holding the Tomateros scoreless over the 8th and 9th innings.

Culican led 11-0 as the Charros came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd. Israel Nunez walked to lead off the inning. Eduardo Arredondo singled and Manny Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Leo Heras grounded into a 3-6 fielder's choice that scored Nunez. Marquez Smith then beat out a ground ball to deep short for an infield single to drive in Arredondo as the Charros narrowed the lead to 11-2.

The score would be 16-2 Culiacan, as the Charros came to bat in the bottom of the 6th. Marquez Smith doubled and Jalisco then loaded the bases on walks to Jesus Cota and Jesus Lopez. Fernando Valenzuela hit a sac fly to center to score Smith and the Charros were behind 16-3.

In the bottom of the 7th with the score still 16-3, Leo Heras singled and came around to score on Marquez Smith's 2 run home run to right. Jalisco had climbed back but it wouldn't be enough on this night as the Charros fell by the final score of 16-5.

Jalisco's record is now 18-13, in a 2nd place tie with Mexicali and just 1/2 game behind Obregon in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico standings.

Sunday's game with Culiacan completes the three game series. The Charros are off on Monday before traveling to Navojoa to take on the last place Mayos for three games beginning on Tuesday the 18th of November.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

#5 Alabama Outlasts #1 Mississippi State 25-20

Alabama beat Mississippi State on Saturday 25-20 to make a strong statement to the CFP Committee for a berth in the top 4 finalists in this years 4 team playoff for the National Championship.

Dak Prescott, quarterback of Mississippi State was 27 of 48 passing for 290 yards and 2 TDs but threw 3 interceptions. Mississippi State also suffered a safety during the game.

Nick Perry, Landon Collins and Cyrus Jones all intercepted the potential Heisman Trophy finalist Prescott.

With this win and TCU's close win over unranked Kansas, the Crimson Tide should be in the top four of the CFP rankings on Tuesday. If FSU beats Miami tonight they should jump ahead of idle #2 Oregon with Alabama #3 and Mississippi State #4.

Read the box score and ESPN recap here

Wisconsin Badgers Crush Nebraska 59-17

The #20 Wisconsin Badgers ran roughshod over the #16 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, 59-17. Forget any passing stats for this game. Wisconsin had 581 yards on the ground on 53 carries for an 11.0 average per running play. Melvin Gordon carried the ball 25 times for 408 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Read the account of the other plays in the ESPN article here.

TCU Wins Itself Out of Contention For a CFP Playoff Spot

TCU beat the unranked University of Kansas Jayhawks 34-30 on Saturday. The Horned Frogs did not look like the #4 team in the country as they had to come from behind from a 13-10 deficit at halftime to narrowly beat the 3-7 Jayhawks.

Trevone Boykin was 26 for 36 passing for 330 yards and a TD with 1 INT. Michael Cummings threw 19 completions in 37 attempts for 332 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT for Kansas.

Aaron Green carried the ball 19 times for TCU with 2 touchdowns and Cameron Echols-Luper returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown and the difference in this game.

Corey Avery had a rushing touchdown for the 3-7 Jayhawks.

Read the ESPN box score and recap here.


Friday, November 14, 2014

Jalisco Bests Culiacan 4-3 In Front Of Fernando Valenzuela

The Charros de Jalisco, with "El Toro" in attendance beat the Tomateros de Culiacan 4-3 in the first game of a three game series on Friday night.

Fernando Valenzuela, LA Dodger great, threw out the first pitch and looked as if he could have taken the mound for Jalisco. "El Toro" pitched for Jalisco in 1992 and 1994 before financial difficulties forced the Jalisco team to disband.

Ben Kozlowski started for the Charros and went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 3 strike outs with a home run. Adrian Ramirez got the win in relief of Kozlowski and Brian Broderick got his league leading 10th save of the season.

Culiacan scored a run in the top of the 4th on a solo home run by Nick Buss.

Jalisco tied the game at 1 all in the bottom of the 5th on Marquez Smith's 7th home run of the year, a solo shot to left field.

The Tomateros got a run back in the top of the 6th. Jorge Vazquez singled and went to second on a single by Nick Buss. The Tomateros loaded the bases when Ben Kozlowski mishandled a sacrifice bunt by Issmael Salas to load the bases. Adrian Ramirez replace Kozlowski. Garrett Weber, of Culiacan, hit a sac fly to center to score Vazquez and the Tomateros had retaken the lead 2-1.

Jesus Lopez led of the 6th for the Charros by drawing s walk. Eduardo Arredondo laid down a sacrifice bunt that the Culiacan pitcher mishandled and the Charros had runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. Manny Rodriguez sacrificed the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Leo Heras was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico home run and RBI leader to the plate. "EL Gigante", Japhet Amador, then hit a bases clearing double to give the Charros a 4-2 lead.

Culiacan scored a run in the top of the 7th. Oscar Robles walked to lead off the inning. Rico Noel hit into a 5-4 fielder's choice. Maxwell Leon sacrificed Noel to second. Noel scored on a throwing error by the Charros' shortstop to make the game 4-3.

Jalisco reliever, David Koop allowed 1 hit but no runs in the 8th and Brian Broderick set down the 4 batters he faced with no hits and 2 strike outs in his 1 1/3 innings on the mound to preserve the win and pick up the save.

Jalisco improves to 18-12 on the year with a 10-4 record at home and an 8-8 record on the road.

There are 2 games left in this series with games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.   

Dolphins Best Bills 22-9

Ryan Tannehill threw for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Miami Dolphins overcame 5 sacks and 2 lost fumbles to beat the Buffalo Bills 22-9 on Thursday night.

The Dolphins defense held Kyle Orton to 193 yards through the air with no TDs. They also held the Bills to just 54 yards on the ground. Anthony Dixon had 35 of those yards on 10 carries to lead the Bills ground game.

Jarvis Landry and Brandon Gibson had the receiving touchdowns for the Dolphins.

The lone bright spot for the Bills was the play of Mario Williams who had 3 1/2 sacks in the game.

Read the ESPN recap here.

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.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Charros Take Game 2 From Hermosillo 8-5

The Charros de Jalisco put themselves in an early 5-1 hole but clawed their way back to defeat the Naranjeros de Hermosillo 8-5 behind the excellent relief pitching of Carlos Vazquez, Mario Mendoza, Ivan Salas and closer Brian Broderick.

Marco Tovar picked up the win to go 4-0 on the year but a shakey 1st inning has forced his ERA up to 1.91 on the year. Vazquez, Mendoza and Salas were credited with holds and Broderick picked up his 9th save of the year.

The Charros scored a run in the top of the 1st on a single by Eduardo Arredondo, a walk to Manny Rodriguez, a single by Leo Heras to  load the bases and a double play ground ball by Japhet Amador that scored Arredondo. Jalisco had the early lead 1-0.

Hermosillo came right back in the bottom of the 1st. with 4 runs of their own. Jerry Owens led off with a double and went to third on a ground out by Carlos Gastelum. Yunesky Sanchez reached safely on an error by Japhet Amador at first. Luis Garcia singled to score Owens and Matt Padgett doubled to drive in Sanchez. Jonathan Aceves hit a sac fly to left to score Garcia and Sebastian Elizalde singled to plate Padgett for the Naranjeros 4-1 lead.

Luis Garcia hit a solo home run, his 3rd of the year, in the bottom of the 3rd to up the Naranjeros lead to 5-1.

Jalisco exploded for 5 runs in the top of the 7th. Jesus Cota led off with a walk. Gabriel Gutierrez singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Jesus Lopez walked to load the bases. Eduardo Arredondo singled to score Cota. Manny Rodriguez hit a sac fly to center to bring home Gutierrez and Leo Heras singled to plate Lopez. Japhet Amador singled to load the bases again for the Charros. Cory Vaughn was called out on strikes but Marquez Smith singled to score Arredondo and Heras and the Charros had taken the 6-5 lead.

The Charros scored the final two runs of the game in the top of the 8th. Gabriel Gutierrez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Jesus Lopez' sacrifice bunt attempt went awry when the Hermosillo pitcher, Marcos Rivas, threw to second to cut down Gutierrez. Eduardo Arredondo followed with a walk. Edson Garcia came in to pinch run for Arredondo. Manny Rodriguez singled to score Lopez. Leo Heras walked to load the bases. The Naranjeros replaced Rivas with Juan Menchaca, who threw a wild pitch that scored Garcia and the Charros had the 8-5 lead and the win.

Broderick faced four batters in the 9th to get the save and preserve the win for Tovar.

Ecuardo Arredondo was 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Leo Heras went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Marquez Smith was 1 for 5 with 2 RBIs while Manny Rodriguez was 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs.

With the win, the Charros improve to 17-11 on the year while Hermosillo falls to 11-17. The Charros are the leaders of the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico.

Jalisco has one game to play in Hermosillo before returning home to face the 14-14 Tomateros de Culican for 3 games beginning on Friday the 14th of November.

MLB's Cy Young Award Winners Announced

As if there was ever a doubt about who would win the National League Cy Young Award, let the arguments rest. Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers, is this years winner, his 3rd Cy Young Award. He had a 21-3 record with a 1.77 Era while striking out 239 batters in just 198 1/3 innings. Kershaw spent most of April on the DL. Kershaw was a unanimous choice for the Award.

The voting was quite close in the American League. Corey Kluber, of the Indians, won the award over Felix Hernandez, of the Mariners. Kluber had a very good year for the Tribe, going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA. He struck out 269 batters in 235 2/3 innings while walking just 51 for a better than 5 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Charros Overpower Hermosillo 11-2

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo hosted the Charros de Jalisco in the first game of a three game series on Tuesday night in Hermosillo, and came up on the losing end of an 11-2 ball game.

Jalisco scored first in the top of the 4th. Leo Heras hit a solo home run to give the Charros a 1-0 lead over Hermosillo. In the bottom of the 4th, with two outs, Matt Padgett singled and Yunesky Sanchez followed with a single to left. Sebastian Elisade singled to score Padgett and the score was tied at 1.

Marquez Smith hit a home run to lead off the 5th for Jalisco. With one out, Gabriel Gutierrez was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by Jesus Lopez. Eduardo Arredondo then placed a perfect squeeze bunt between the pitcher and first that scored Gutierrez. The Charros led 3-1.

In the top of the 6th, with one out, Cory Vaughn singled and Marquez Smith walked. Jesus Cota singled to score Vaughn and Gabriel Gutierrez doubled to score Smith as the Charros upped their lead to 5-1.

The Naranjeros scored a run in the bottom of the 6th on a sac fly by Yunesky Sanchez to narrow the lead to 5-2 Charros.

The Charros scored three times in the top of the 7th on singles by Eduardo Arredondo and Manny Rodriguez and Leo Heras' three run home run to give jalisco an 8-2 lead.

Leo Heras hit a solo home run in the top of the 9th, his third of the game and the 7th of the season, to give Jalisco a 9-2 lead. Japhrt Amador followed the home run with a single and Cory Vaughn doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Jesus Cota singled to score Amador and Vaughn and the Charros lead was 11-2.

Hermosillo went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and Graham Godfrey had posted his fourth win of the season for Jalisco. Roy Corcoran took the loss for the Maranjeros to fall to 2-2 on the year.

Leo Heras was 3 for 4 with 3 home runs, 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Japhet Amador, Cory Vaughn and Jesus Cota all went 2 for 5 on the night.

Graham Godfrey went 6 innings giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 his, one walk and 2 strike outs. His ERA dropped to 1.55 on the year.

Two more games with Hermosillo before the weekend matchup with the Tomateras de Culiacan in Zapopan.

Showalter and Williams Named Managers of the Year in MLB

Buck Showalter won his third Manager of the Year award for the job he did with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014. Showalter polled 25 first place ballots  from the Basaball Writers Association to beat out Mike Sciosia of the LA Angels and Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals for the award.

Matt Williams was named the National League Manager of the Yar on 18 ballots after he led the Nationals to a 96 win season in 2014. Williams, a rookie manager for the Nationals beat out Clint Hurdle of the Pirates for the Award.

Shakeup in CFP Rankings

Mississippi State held on to the #1 position in the CFP rankings for the NCAA college football playoffs this week.

Oregon jumped FSU for the second position and TCU Horned Frogged, I mean leap frogged Alabama for #4 in the rankings. I feel Mississippi State should have been punished more for scheduling UT-Martin this late in the season but facing Alabama may be their comeupance later this month. But I also feel FSU has played poorly against opponents they should have beaten handily and should not be in the top 4.

Oregon has dominated the Pac 12 this year and will face an Arizona team in the Championship game that will either solidify their position or remove them from contention. Florida State, with a close win over Notre Dame and a lackluster performance over Louisville, doesn't deserve a top four ranking but is one of two teams that remain undefeated this year. Alabama should be in the top 4 with FSU about 5 or 6.

TCU must win out to remain in the 4th spot. Alabama, with games against Auburn and Mississippi State and the SEC championship game could well be a top 4 team while Mississippi State could drop out of the top four.

Read the ESPN article here and let me know what you think.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Football Rankings Change After Saturday's Game

The football rankings have changed pretty dramatically following this week's games. Mississippi State took on UT-Martin in a gimme game and Florida State had no trouble in their game against Virginia as they beat the Cavaliers 34-20. FSU's biggest test may come against a resurgent Florida team on the 29th of Nvember.

Auburn dropped to 9th after their loss to Texas A&M. TCU climbed to #6 with their win over Kansas State, Arizona State moves up to 7th with their decisive victory over Notre Dame and Ohio State climbed to #8 with a convincing win over Michigan State.

Read the AP article here.

Packers Manhandle Bears 55-14

In seven years as the Green Bay Packers starter, Aaron Rogers has faced the Chicago Bears 13 times. The University of California, Berkely star with a Wonderlic score of 35 has owned the Bears. Rogers, drafted 24th behind #1 pick Alex Smith, has dominated the NFC North. On Sunday night the 2010 Super Bowl MVP had little trouble with the Bears.

The Chicago Bears should be familiar with the Packers schemes and the Packers players. Even the coach of the Packers, Mike McCarthy, has been there the entire 7 years. On Sunday night the Bears lost to the Packers 55-14. The Bears looked as if each formation they saw was from another team, in a different year. Aaron Rogers, the quarterback they have faced for 7 1/2 years, threw for 315 yards and 6 touchdowns - in the 1st half.

The Packers rushed for 132 yards on 32 carries against a team that prides itself on defense. Jordy Nelson caught 6 balls for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. Randell Cobb, Eddie Lacy, Andrew Quarless and Brandon Bostick each caught a touchdown pass from Rogers.

The vaunted Bears defense recorded no sacks while the Packers got to Jay Cutler 4 times, had 8 tackles for losses and 6 QB hits.

The Pack are now 6-3 and in command of the NFC North while the Bears fall to 3-6 and look forward to the 2015 draft and rebuilding for the 2015 season.

Abreu and deGrom Named Rookies of the Year in MLB

American League rookie sensation Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox, has been named, unanimously, as the American League Rookie of the Year. Abreu hit .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBIs.

Jacob deGrom, pitcher for the NY Mets, was chosen as the National League Rookie of the Year. He was 9-6 for the Mets with a 2.69 ERA and 144 strikeouts with just 44 walks on the year.

Read the Dave Schoenfield article here.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

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

Jets Upset Steelers 20-13

The upset of the early games, and probably every game this weekend was the 1-8 NY Jets, behind the arm and legs of Michael Vick, winning handily over the 6-3 Pittsburgh Steelers 20-13. The Jets jumped out to a 17-0 lead after the 1st quarter and held on to win.

Following a Nick Folk field goal early in the quarter, Michael Vick threw a 67 yard TD strike to T.J. Graham with 3:20 to go and followed that up with a 5 yard TD toss to Jace Amaro with 19 seconds to go in the quarter.

Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 12 TDs in his previous games, did not have a TD pass until he connected with Martavis Bryant on an 80 yard pass play with 1:16 to go in the game.

Roethlisberger was 30 of 43 passing for 343 yards and a touchdown but he threw 2 INTs. Michael Vick attempted only 18 passes but completed 10 of those for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions.

The Steelers ran 17 running plays but were held to just 36 yards on the ground while the Jets gained 150 yards on 30 carries.

T.J. Graham had the 1 catch for 67 yards and a touchdown fo the Jets and Jace Amaro caught 2 balls for 6 yards and a TD.

Antonio Brown fumbled the ball twice for the Steelers. The 1st Brown fumble was recovered by the Jets on the Steeler's 20 and led to the 5 yard touchdown by Vick that gave the Jets the 17-0 lead. Jaiquawn Jarrett picked off both of Roethlisberger's 2 interceptions

'Bama Tops LSU in OT 20-13

Alabama escaped "Death Valley" with a 20-13 overtime win over LSU on Saturday.

It looked like the Tigers would win the game in regulation when they recovered a fumble by Alabama's T.J. Yeldon on the Alabama 6 yard line with 1:13 on the clock. LSU should have had 4 plays to punch it in from 6 yards out but offensive guard Vadal Alexander was called for unsportsmanlike conduct that moved the ball to the 21. LSU used up only 23 seconds of time before settling for a field goal and the 13-10 lead.

The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds giving Alabama the ball on their 35 yard line with 50 seconds to play in regulation. The Tide drove 55 yards in 47 seconds where Adam Griffith nailed a 27 yard field goal to tie the game.

Alabama took the ball 1st in overtime and scored on a 6 yard pass from Blake Sims to DeAndrew White. LSU threw 4 incomplete passes with their possession and Alabama had the 20-13 victory.

LSU falls to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC West while Alabama is now 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC West.

With the Auburn loss to Texas A&M, Alabama should take the fourth spot in the CFP playoff with Oregon moving up to #3. Alabama has a game with Mississippi State coming up.

How does LSU get called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the opposing team's 6 yard line, after recovering a fumble, with 1:13 to go? How can LSU use up just 23 seconds with four plays to run? How can a Tiger defense that had held the Tide in Check all game give up 55 yards in 47 seconds? Why would LSU attempt 4 straight passes in OT when their quarterback was not having a good game? How does an LSU kickoff go out of bounds with just 50 seconds on the clock putting Alabama just 35 yards from field goal range?

These are some of the questions Les Miles will have to answer and Nick Saban should be thanking his lucky stars for.

Charros Take Game 2 From Aguilas 4-3

The Charros de Jalisco took game two of the three game series with Mexicali by a 4-3 score. Hugo Castallenos got the win to improve to 1-1 on the year. Brian Broderick pitched the final 1 ⅓ innings to pick up his 8th save of the year and lower his ERA to 0.69.


In the top of the 1st, with one out, Manny Rodriguez singled and went to second on a single by Leo Heras. After Japhet Amador popped out to first, Cory Vaughn walked to load the bases. Marquez Smith drew a 5 pitch walk to force in Rodriguez for the 1-0 Jalisco lead.


Luis Juarez doubled to lead off the bottom of the 2nd for the Aguilas. Juarez moved to third on a ground out by Xorge Carrillo. Jon Del Camp doubled to score Juarez. With Gil Velazquez up, Del Camp moved to third on a wild pitch. Velazquez then singled to plate Del Camp and Mexicali had taken the 2-1 lead.


The Aguilas would score again in the 3rd. Walter Ibarra waited out a walk. Dave Sappelt drew a four pitch walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. Mike Jacobs grounded out 1-3 to move the runners up. Luis Juarez then grounded out to third to score Ibarra for the 3-1 Aguilas lead.


Eduardo Arredondo led off the top of the 5th for the Charros with a single. With two outs, Japhet Amador doubled to drive in Arredondo. Cory Vaughn followed with a double to left that scored Amador and the game was tied at 3.


The Charros would score what would be the winning run in the top of the 7th. Manny Rodriguez singled to lead off the inning and stole second. After the Aguilas pitcher, Mario Meza, caught Leo Heras looking at strike three for out number 1 and Japhet Amador to fly out to center, Cory Vaughn hit the 8th pitch he saw from Meza for a single that scored Rodriguez with the game winning run.


Manny Rodriguez went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, raising his batting average to .371 on the year. Cory Vaughn was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Japhet Amador was 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Marquez Smith was 0 for 3 but had an RBI.


The Jalisco manager, Juan Navarrete, used 7 pitchers in the win. Murphy Smith started the game and went 3 innings, giving up all three runs on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. His ERA on the year stands at 11.25. Luis Rodriguez pitched 2 innings giving up 1 hit. Hugo Castallenos got the win with 1 inning pitched, striking out 2 of the three batters he faced and holding the Aguillas scoreless. Ivan Salas, Adrian Ramirez and Antonio Garzon were all credited with holds and Brian Broderick got the save, setting down the 4 batters he faced, striking out 2.


The Charros improved to 15-10 on the year. The Yaquis de Obregon lost to drop to 14-10, one half game behind the league leading Charros. With the loss to Jalisco, the Aguilas record is 13-12, two full games behind Jalisco.
The team that was leading the league on Tuesday morning, the Venados de Mazatlan, have lost 6 in a row and fall to 12-12 and 5th place in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico.


Jalisco and Mexicali play the rubber match of the series on Sunday night before the Charros travel to Hermosillo for three games beginning Tuesday the 11th of November.


Saturday, November 8, 2014

#3 Auburn Loses to Texas A&M 41-38

The Auburn Tigers hurt their chances for a CFP berth when they lost to an unranked Texas A&M team on Saturday, at home, 41-38. Auburn still muast play Alabama so thier season is not nescessarily over but this loss at home is not good.

Kyle Allen, the A&M quarterback who replace Kenny Hill, threw for 277 yards and 4 touchdowns with an interception.

Nick Marshall, for Auburn, was 15 for 21, good for 219 yards and 1 touchdown.

Auburn rushed for 363 yards behind Cameron Artis-Payne's 221 yards on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns. Auburn QB Nick Marshall ran for 69 yards on 11 carries and 2 TDs.

Josh Reynolds, A&M, caught 6 passes for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. Malcome Kennedy had 118 yards receiving and a touchdown whiile Ricky Seals-Jones had a TD on 6 receptions for 46 yards.

Auburn had a Field Goal attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown early in the game and fumbled inside the Aggie 5 yard line with 2:45 to go. Texas A&M was forced to put from their 1 yard line after the Auburn fumble and the Tigers took over on the Aggie 42 yard line with just over 2 minutes to play. Auburn fumbled again and the Aggies were able to run out the clock to preserve the win.

Read the ESPN recap here.

#12 Baylor Bears Crush #15 Oklahoma 48-14

The #12 Baylor Bears, with a chance of making the CFP 4 team playoff, faced off with #15 Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday and came away with a 48-14 victory.

Behind 14-3 after the 1st quarter, the Bears came roaring back with 45 straight points to lead 48-14 with 7:37 to play in the game. The Baylor defense held the Sooners scoreless for three quarters while Baylor's quarterback, Bryce Petty was completing 32 of 42 passes for 387 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions.

Trevor Knight, pressured all day by a swarming Bears defense threw for 148 yards on 12 of 27 passing for 2 TDs and a crucial INT.

Five Baylor runners recorded 160 yards on the ground and scored 5 touchdowns. Shock Linwood ran for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns while Devin Chafin ran for 2 TDs carrying the ball 11 times for 35 yards. Corey Coleman ran for a touchdown for Baylor and caught the lone TD pass from Petty

Oklahoma got touchdown receptions from Michiah Quick and Durron Neal for the lone Sooner scores. Oklahoma rushed for 172 yards on 33 carries but failed to score on the ground.

Baylor plays unranked Oklahoma State at home and unranked Texas Tech in Lubbock to finish their season while #9 Kansas State plays #6 TCU today.

Read the ESPN recap article here.


Mexicali Tops Charros 6-5

The Charros de Jalisco traveled to Mexicali to take on the Aguilas for three games. The Charros entered the series 1/2 game behind the Yaquis de Obregon for the lead in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico. Jalisco lost to Mexicali 6-5 while Obregon was shutout by Hermosillo 3-0.

In the Charros game, Mexicali started the scoring in the 1st. Walter Ibarra led off with a triple and scored on a single by Dave Sappelt to take an early 1-0 lead.

Jalisco answered in the top of the 2nd. Japhet Amador led off the inning with his league leading 9th home run of the year to tie the score. Marquez Smith, who reached on a fielder's choice moved to second on a single by Gabriel Gutierrez. With two outs, Jose Felix walked to load the bases. Eduardo Arredondo walked to force in Smith and the Charros took the lead 2-1.

The Charros scored twice more in the 3rd on a Cory Vaughn home run that scored Leo Heras, who had led off the inning with a double, and Jalisco led 4-1.

The Aguilas struck back in the 4th. With two outs, Jon Del Campo singled to center and stole second. Ricardo Serrano doubled to score Del Campo. Ramon Urias followed with a single to score Serrano and the Mexicali team had pulled to within one at 4-3.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Aguilas lead off batter, Xorge Carrillo, doubled to left. Jon Del Campo reached on a ball hit back to the pitcher, Carlos Vazquez, who went to third in an attempt to get the lead runner but Carrillo made it back to second and the Aguilas had runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ricardo Serrano. Ken Sigman replaced Vazquez on the mound for Jalisco and got Ramon Urias to ground out to second. Jalisco manager, Juan Navarette, then brought in Antonio Garzon who gave up a 3 run home run to Chris Roberson and Mexicali had taken a 6-4 lead.

Jalisco threatened in the top of the 9th. Manny Rodriguez led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch on a walk to Leo Heras by Aguilas' reliever, Francisco Rodriguez. Japhet Amador popped out to second and Cory Vaughn struck out swinging. Leo Heras stole second. With two outs, Marquez Smith hit a ground ball to third that scored Rodriguez. Heras, with the ball on the ground in front of him, decided to try and reach third. Heras was tagged out to end the game.

Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 5 with his league leading 12th double and a run scored while raising his batting average to .370, the best in the league. Japhet Amador went 1 for 4 with a home run while Cory Vaughn hit a home run with 2 RBIs, 2 walks and a run scored on a 1 for 3 night at the plate. Jesus Lopez went 1 for 3 and quietly raised his season's batting average to .329, 5th in the league.

Orlando Lara started the game for Jalisco and went 5 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs while striking out 3. His ERA increased to 2.50 on the year. Carlos Vazquez took the loss giving up 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning in the 6th. Antonio Garzon had a blown hold in the 6th allowing a home run to Chris Roberson. Manuel Flores pitched the 7th and 8th innings givng up just 1 hit to keep the Charros in the game.

The Charros record is now 14-10. With the loss to Hermosillo, Obregon falls to 14-9, 1/2 game in front of Jalisco for the league lead. Mexicali climbs to 13-11, a full game behind Jalisco and in third place in the league. The series between Jalisco and Mexicali continues tonight and Sunday before the Charros travel to Hermosillo to take on the Naranjeros for 3 games.

Friday, November 7, 2014

NFL Picks This Week

Here are my NFL picks for this week. I did fine last week until the last three games where I totally screwed up.

Browns @ Bengals  -  Browns 24-3     Just Kidding!!
Chiefs @ Bills  -  Chiefs 27-17     Alex Smith controls the game. Bills have no RBs
Cowboys v Jaguar  -  Cowboys 35-13     A shame Londoners have to see the Jaguars
49ers @ Saints  -  Saints 28-27     Saints don't lose in the dome
Titans @ Ravens  -  Ravens 30-13     Raven's defense is too much for Titans offense
Steelers @ Jets  -  Steelers 28-6     Big Ben held to just 4 TD passes this week
Falcons @ Buccaneers  -  Falcons 24-14     Buc's say wait'll next year
Broncos @ Raiders  -  Broncos 28-10      Oakland's defense is better but Manning is Manning
Rams @ Cardinals  -  Cardinals 24-10     No trick plays here and no Ram offense
Giants @ Seahawks  -  Seahawks 27-13     After all Eli is Eli
Bears @ Packers  -  Packers 30-20     Rogers is still saying "relax"
Panthers @ Eagles  -  Eagles 17-14     Cowboys win so Eagles must, please no butt fumbles

If you don't believe me, read what Phil Sheridan and David Newton of ESPN.com have to say and see if my picks aren't better.

Silver Slugger Awards Announced

The Silver Slugger award is given annually to the best offensive player in each league. Baseball's coaches and managers determine who receives the award. Batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage are some of the categories used to determine a winner of the award.

Coaches and managers are prohibited from voting for a member of their team. The National League gives an award to the best hitting pitcher while the American League rewards the best DH in the league.

Barry Bonds has won the Silver Slugger award 12 times. Mike Piazza and Alex Rodrigues have won the award 10 times each. Rodriguez won 7 awards at SS and 3 times as a 3rd baseman. Barry Larkin won the award 9 times as a shortstop.

Here are the league award winners for 2014:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1B: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox, (.317, 36 HR, 107 RBI)
2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (.341, 7 HR, 59 RBI, 56 SB)
3B: Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers (.324, 19 HR, 77 RBI)
SS: Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox (.273, 15 HR, 74 RBI, 21 SB)
OF: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays (.286, 35 HR, 103 RBI, 104 BB)
OF: Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians (.327, 20 HR, 97 RBI, 23 SB)
OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (.287, 36 HR, 111 RBI, 83 BB)
C: Yan Gomes, Indians (.278, 21 HR, 74 RBI)
DH: Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers (.335, 32, HR, 103 RBI, 70 BB)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers (.276, 27 HR, 116 RBI)
2B: Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates (.271, 23 HR, 76 RBI)
3B: Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals (.287, 21 HR, 83 RBI)
SS: Ian Desmond, Nationals (.255, 24 HR, 91 RBI, 24 SB)
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (.314, 25 HR, 83 RBI, 84 BB)
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (.288, 37 HR, 105 RBI, 94 BB)
OF: Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves (.270, 29 HR, 102 RBI)
C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (.311, 22 HR, 89 RBI)
P: Madison Bumgarner, Giants (.258, 4 HR, 15 RBI, .286 OBP)

Browns Smother Bengals in 24-3 Win

The Cleveland Browns are tied for 1st in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both have a 6-3 record. Only the Arizona Cardinals (7-1) and the New England Patriots (7-2) have a better record than the Browns at this point in the season.

Last night in Cincinnati, the Browns used great defense and a good ground game to beat the Bengals 24-3.

The wind played havoc with both quarterbacks but Andy Dalton, when not under pressure, seemed unsure of his throws. Dalton completed just 10 of 33 pass attempts for 86 yards while throwing 3 INTs. His 33% completion rate was outdone only by his QBR of 2.0.

Brian Hoyer, facing the same gusty winds as Dalton, went 15 of 23 for 198 yards. Although he didn't have a touchdown pass, he didn't have an interception either. The Browns used the pass to set up their run game. Cleveland's three running backs ran for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns on the night. Ben Tate got the Browns on the board early in the 1st quarter with a 4 yard TD run after the Browns had intercepted Dalton and returned the ball to the Bengal's 18 yard line. Isiah Crowell scored on a 2 yard run on the Browns first possession of the 2nd half and Terrance West ran in from the one for the last touchdown with 4:46 left in the 4th quarter to seal the win for Cleveland.

The Bengals were held to 86 yards rushing on 27 carries by a defense that sacked Dalton twice and kept the Bengals off balance all night.

After rushing for 154 yards on 24 carries against the Jaguars last week, Jeremy Hill of the Bengals was held to just 55 yards on 12 carries last night.

Although his team had just been beaten 24-3 and manhandled by the Browns' defense, Hill had these comments about the Browns following the game. These quotes come courtesy of Coley Harvey at ESPN.com.

Asked whether the Browns were better than he previously thought, Hill said, "Oh no, not at all. They're probably worse than I thought, to be honest with you."

"They didn't do anything special to me," Hill continued. "I mean, respect to them, they won the game. But that's all I'll give them."

"Those guys, they're not that good," he said. "It was on us [Thursday]. We gave them the game, in my opinion. They didn't do anything special. We just gave them the game. They just sat back with coverage the whole day."

Read the ESPN article here and decide for yourself if the Browns are "good enough" to lead the AFC North,

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Charros Sweep Mazatlan with 16-0 Win

The Charros de Jalisco welcomed the Venados de Mazatlan to Zapopan on Tuesday for a three game series and "swept" them out of town on Thursday with a 16-0 victory. The shutout was the third win in a row and they held Mazatlan scoreless for 22 consecutive innings in the series.

Marco Tovar won the game for his third victory of the season. Tovar tossed 7 innings of 3 hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 3 and lowered his ERA to 1.67. Mario Mendoza  pitched a perfect 8th inning in relief and Luis Rodriguez worked the 9th, giving up a single before getting Olmo Rosario to strike out swinging to end the game. Alejandro Martinez took the loss for Mazatlan and dropped to 0-3 on the year.

The Charros scored 27 runs on 38 hits during the series. It was the second series sweep of the year for Jalisco and the 2nd time in 3 games that the Charros hit 4 home runs.

The game was a scoreless pitcher's duel until the bottom of the 3rd when Gabriel Gutierrez led off with a single. Jesus Lopez followed with a single and both runners scored on a home run by Manny Rodriguez. The next batter, Leo Heras, homered to right for the 4-0 lead and the rout was on.

Marquez Smith led off the 4th with a double and moved to third on a ground out to second by Jesus Cota. Smith would score on a Gabriel Gutierrez sac fly to increase the lead to 5-0.

Cory Vaughn reached on a fielder's choice in the 5th and scored in front of Marquez Smith's 5th home run of the year to increase the Charros lead to 7-0.

The Venados brought in Miguel Aguilar to pitch the 6th but he found the going just as rough as the first two hurlers. With one out, Jesus Lopez drew a walk and went to second on a single by Eduardo Arredondo. Manny Rodriguez singled to score Lopez. Aguilar then threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Leo Heras followed with a single to score Arredondo and Rodriguez. Japhet Amador followed with a 2 run home run to bring the lead to 12-0 Charros.

The 7th inning saw Jalisco score four more times. With two outs, Eduardo Arredondo drew a walk. Edson Garcia, pinch hitting for Manny Rodriguez, tripled to center to score Arredondo. Amadeo Zazueta, hitting for Leo Heras, walked to put runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs. Japhet Amador hit his second home run of the night, and 8th of the year, and his 3rd, 4th and 5th RBIs of the game for the 16-0 lead and the final score.

Marquez Smith was 3 for 4 with a home run, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Jesus Lopez also went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Japhet Amador was 3 for 5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Leo Heras was 2 for 4 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Manny Rodriguez, the leading hitter in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico was 2 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. His average stands at .368 on the season. Eduardo Arredondo, the lead off hitter for the Charros, went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Tonight was a special offensive show for the Charros and the series was a display of power the league has not seen from Jalisco thus far. The offense was backed up by excellent pitching for three games with the effort by Tovar tonight the best by a Jalisco starting pitcher this season.

The win moves the Charros to 14-9 on the year while the Venados de Mazatlan fell to 12-10, a full game behind the Charros.

Raul Ibanez to Manage the Rays?

The Tampa Bay Rays have 8 potential managerial candidates, so far, to take over for Joe Maddon in 2015. Raul Ibanez is one of them.

Other possible managers include Dave Martinez, Rays bench coach for the last eight years, Manny Acta, former Indians and Nationals manager, Craig Counsell, Charlie Montoyo, currently a minor league manager, Ron Wotus, former Seattle Mariner manager Don Wakamatsu and Kevin Cash.

Rays President of Baseball Operations, Matt Silverman, has said the list will grow as the process continues.

When one looks at the experience possessed by most of the candidates, it is hard to imagine Raul Ibanez being picked to lead a major league team when he has no prior managerial experience and has only been out of baseball for a little over a month.

But as the saying goes, stranger things have happened!

Alabama/LSU Preview with my Prediction

The Crimson Tide of Alabama take on the LSU Tigers this weekend in a game with playoff implications for Alabama.

Alabama comes into the game at 7-1, their only loss to a very good Ole Miss team, 23-17, on October 4th. Since then the Tide narrowly beat Arkansas 14-13, pummeled Texas A&M 59-0 and beat a resurgent Tennessee team 34-20.

LSU on the other hand is 7-2 with losses to #1 Mississippi State 34-29 and two weeks later to then #5 Auburn 41-7. Last week LSU beat then #3 Ole Miss 10-7 that took a goal line interception to preserve the win.

Currently, Alabama sits at #5 with LSU at #16. Alabama is just outside the CFP (College Football Poll) ranking of the top 4 teams that will compete for the National Championship in the first ever college football playoffs.

Mississippi State and FSU are the only undefeated teams in the CFP rankings and are #1 and #2 respectfully. Auburn is #3 at 7-1 and Oregon is 8-1 and #4 in the rankings.

A solid win by Alabama in this game would go far toward cracking the top four in the CFP rankings just as a loss could seriously damage Alabama from consideration. Mississippi State plays UT-Martin this week but travels to Alabama on November 15th for a crucial game. FSU plays the University of Miami this week but could face a challange on the 29th of November when they face a tough test against Florida. Oregon plays #17 Utah on Saturday but shouldn't have a tough test until playing Arizona for the Pac-12 title.

In the Alabama/LSU game, Alabama enters the contest second in the nation allowing just 14 points per game while they are 19th in scoring at 36.5 points a game. They average 219 yards rushing and 291 yards passing every game.

LSU is 4th in the land allowing just 15.9 points per game but they are 101st against the pass, giving up an average of 189 yards through the air per game. LSU does score 33 points per game. These two teams are pretty evenly matched.

An intangible for the Tigers may be "Death Valley" where, Coach Les Miles says "...team's dreams come to die".

Nick Saban wants more than anything to be a part of the 1st College Football Playoff. His defense is strong and he has a resurgent offense under Offensive Coordinator, Lane Kiffen.

Against good teams, Les Miles is 2-2. He opened the season with a 28-24 win in Wisconsin, lost to Mississippi State by 5, Lost to Auburn 41-7 and beat Ole Miss by 3, 10-7.

My prediction is this, Alabama will win the game 20-10 and with some good luck over the next three weeks the Tide will roll into the playoffs with a very good chance of winning it all.

Phillies Trying to Dump Big Salaries?

Craig Calcaterra, writing for hardballtalk.com, has posted a tweet by Howard Eskin, Sports Director for WTFX in Philadelphia, in which Eskin calls Marlon Byrd, Jonathan papalbin and Cliff Lee bad locker room guys. Eskin opines that for this reason, the Phillies want to get rid of these, and other players. Calcaterra's contention is that the Phillies are really about setting low expectations for the fans when Philly gets low return on any deals.

I agree with Craig. the Phillies are old, overpaid and under performing. Ruben Amaro Jr. has not used a forward thinking mindset when signing players to long term deals or trading for older players. The result is that Philadelphia has given up young talent for a projected short term gain that has not materialized.

Read Calcaterra's short article here.

Separation Weekend in College Football

Heather Dinich has a real good article on this week in College Football and how different outcomes in games will effect the entire playoff picture.

Read Heather's article here.

Although the games this week will go far in determining the playoff picture, the SEC appears to have a lock on at least two positions. If the SEC can avoid a 2nd and 3rd place finish, we could wind up with an SEC final.

It's hard for me to think that Oregon can hold on to the 4th spot with no big games remaining as it is unlikely that a Big 12 team could vault enough teams to reach the top 4. What might prove fatal to the SEC is if the Playoff Committee deems it unfair to put a 2 loss SEC team, albeit a good team, ahead of a 1 loss Pac 12 or Big 12 team.

Jazz Top Cavs 102-100 on Buzzerbeater by Hayward

Gordon Hayward, of the Utah Jazz, hit a game winning jump shot at the buzzer that sent the Cleveland Cavaliers to their second consecutive loss, 102-100.

LeBron James had 31 points in the losing effort as Cleveland falls to 1-3 on the year.

The Jazz out rebounded the Cavs 41-30 and had 26 assists to the Cavalier's 6.

Kyle Irving had 34 points for Cleveland but the point guard had no assists. Kevin Love added 14 for Cleveland.

Hayward and Derrick Favors each had 21 points to lead the Jazz while Favors added 10 boards.

LeBron had this to say about the Cavaliers early season troubles.

''Rome wasn't built in a day and we understand that,'' James said. ''You have to continue to work the process. You hate to lose as competitors, but we felt like tonight we improved. We improved and proved in the second half we're capable of playing some good basketball.''

Read the Yahoo Sports article by Matthew Coles of the AP here.

Cleveland travels to Denver to face the Nuggets on Friday while the Jazz will host the Dallas Mavericks on the same day.

Jerry Jones Insists Romo Must Play on Sunday

The Dallas Cowboys meet the Jacksonville Jaguars in London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday. The Cowboys are 6-3 and in the hunt for a playoff spot this year. The Jaguars are 1-8 and going nowhere this season. In the end this is a meaningless game for the Cowboys. Dallas is a 6 1/2 point favorite and should beat the Jaguars handily.

Cowboy quarterback, Tony Romo, suffered two transverse process fractures in his back during the game against the Redskins in late October. Romo left the game but returned in the 4th quarter to try and win the game. He didn't look very good and the Cowboys lost. Head coach Jason Garrett said following the game that owner Jerry Jones did not insist that Garrett put Romo back in the game. Read the rest of this article and extrapolate the data backwards to that game.

Romo made the long flight with little pain he said and he is walking, throwing passes and even participated in team walk through drills this week.

What is a transverse process fracture you ask?

A fracture of a bone is the same as a break in the bone. A fracture of a transverse process is a break of a part of one of the bones in the spine. This part extends out from the side of the main body of the bone (called the vertebral body). A transverse process is shaped like a wing. They extend from both the left and right sides of the vertebral body.

If the injury is limited to a break of a transverse process with no other bone or organ injury, hospital care may not be necessary. Medication for pain control, special back bracing, and limitations in activity are done first followed by physical therapy later.

Romo says if he keeps improving he'll have a good chance of playing. Coach Jason Garrett would not comment on whether or not Romo would play. The only person who speaks of Romo definitely starting is Cowboy owner Jerry Jones.

Remember that Romo had back surgery last off season and these fractures are to the bones on the edges of the spine. Could the consequences of sitting Romo for one more game be that dire? The Cowboys are 6-3 on the season. Yes, they have lost their last 2 games and are in a fight with the Eagles for a playoff spot but the Jaguars are 1-8, their only victory over the Cleveland Browns by a point, and going nowhere. The Cowboys should win this game.

I'm using quotes from Jerry Jones here in an ESPN.com article by Todd Archer to show just how little Jones looks at the future, a player's or the team's, in insisting Romo will play.

"I'm anticipating him playing, have no reason to think that he won't, and this will be a nice little practice session for him out there today," Jones said. "But my expectations are for him to play."

"Any time he can play, we want him to play," Jones said. "We're a better team, to be trite, with him playing. And so as far as the meaningful games, I'm talking about -- we didn't play him in the preseason obviously but felt we could have had we needed him to win the game -- but these games, we don't play many of them. You know that. And every one of them counts so much.

"Invariably any time you do lose one of these games in the regular season, our experience with us, especially these last several years, is we needed every win we could get. There's no such thing as holding him out and forgoing the potential chance that we win.

Romo may well have the best game of his career on Sunday. The Cowboys may make the playoffs by virtue of this win, but is it in the best interest of the team, Tony Romo and the Cowboys fans to take a chance with your 100 million dollar franchise quarterback?