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10/30/2006 Archived Entry: "VIVA BEISBOL: Hermosillo sweeps twinbill in Mazatlan"
Ex-closer Soria wins second start; Reyes canned in Guasave
by Bruce Baskin
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MAZATLAN – Just when the Mazatlan Venados were looking like they might start running away with the first half title in the Mexican Pacific League, the Hermosillo Naranjeros came into the LMP’s southernmost city and swept a doubleheader to bring the Venados a little closer to the pack. After rain caused the postponement of six MexPac games last week (including all four contests scheduled for Tuesday, October 24), the Naranjeros snuck away with a pair of one-run wins at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal last Thursday.
Starter Salvador Arellano was the main man in the 1-0 opener win for the Orangemen as Arellano went five innings and shut out the Deer on four hits to hand a scoreless tie to his bullpen, outdueling the Venados’ Pablo Ortega. In the nightcap, the Naranjeros came back for a 5-4 win as Hermosillo survived a fifth-inning grand slam by Mazatlan’s Roberto Saucedo off reliever Jermaine Van Buren (who came in for starter Alonso Beltran, who hurt his leg) that broke a scoreless tie. Lee Gardner came in to retire the Venados unscathed in the bottom of the seventh to record his second save of the day.
Meanwhile, in Obregon, Joakim Soria continued his conversion from relief pitcher to starter Wednesday night to led the Yaquis to a 3-1 win over archrival Navojoa. Soria, who has been one of the top relief pitchers in Mexico the past two years in both the MexPac and Mexican League, tossed six innings against the Mayos in his second LMP start and turned in a two-hit, one-run outing to extend his record in the young season to 2-0 for manager Homar Rojas’ Yaquis. Soria posted 10 saves and a 1.45 ERA last winter for Obregon prior to embarking on a summer season in which he turned in 15 Liga saves and a 3.89 ERA for Mexico City after putting in seven relief appearances for Fort Wayne in the Class A Midwest League, going 1-0 with a 2.39 ERA.
Speaking of Homar Rojas, the Obregon skipper was named Manager of the Year by the Mexican League for leading Oaxaca to a 62-44 record and a berth in the LMB South finals against eventual Liga champ Yucatan. The Rojas magic has carried over to the MexPac season, as the Yaquis have reeled off four straight wins to help close the gap between the rest of the LMP and Mazatlan. The Venados ended the week with a 1-4 record and now find themselves in a first-half dogfight for the lead.
It’s safe to say Rojas had a better week than Enrique “Che” Reyes, who was fired Sunday as manager of the Guasave Algodoneros after the team started off 4-11 and was mired in last place. Reyes, who led Guasave to the LMP finals last January, was replaced by first base coach Gerardo Sanchez on an interim basis. In another move Sunday, outfielder Jayson Bass was let go by the Algodoneros and replaced on the roster by ex-Giants outfielder Armando Rios. In six big league seasons, the 35-year-old Rios hit .269 with 36 homers in 1,021 at bats. He hit a homer Sunday night in his first game for Guasave and Sanchez in their 6-5 win over Mazatlan.
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE STANDINGS
GP W L PCT. GB AS OF OCT. 30, 2006
16 11 5 .688 0.0 Mazatlan Venados
16 10 6 .625 1.0 Hermosillo Naranjeros
17 10 7 .588 1.5 Obregon Yaquis
16 9 7 .563 1.0 Navojoa Mayos
16 8 8 .500 3.0 Los Mochis Caneros
16 6 10 .375 5.0 Mexicali Aguilas
15 5 10 .333 5.5 Culiacan Tomateros
16 5 11 .313 6.0 Guasave Algodoneros
RESULTS OF GAMES FROM OCTOBER 24-29
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24
Postponed: Mexicali at Culiacan (rain), Hermosillo at Mazatlan (rain), Guasave at Los Mochis (rain), Navojoa at Obregon (rain)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25
Postponed: Mexicali at Culiacan (rain), Hermosillo at Mazatlan (rain)
Guasave 6, Los Mochis 2 (GUA-Spike Lundberg pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs in win)
Los Mochis 8, Guasave 4 (MOC-Matias Carillo belted a three-run home run)
Obregon 3, Navojoa 1 (OBR- Joakim Soria allowed 2 hits and 1 run for second victory)
Navojoa 5, Obregon 2 (NAV-Tom Shearn tossed 5 innings and let in just 1 run)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26
Mexicali 3, Culiacan 2 (MXI-Enrique Quintanilla pitched 5 innings of shutout ball)
Culiacan 6, Mexicali 1 (CUL-Hector Paez and Jorge Vazquez both socked homers)
Hermosillo 1, Mazatlan 0 (HMO-Salvador Arellano allowed 4 hits in 5 innings pitched)
Hermosillo 5, Mazatlan 4 (HMO-Lee Gardner earned second save of doubleheader)
Los Mochis 3, Guasave 2 (MOC-Victor Bojorquez’ 7th inning homer broke a 2-2 tie)
Obregon 6, Navojoa 1 (OBR-Bucky Jacobsen and Carlos Valencia both stroked homers)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27
Obregon 5, Los Mochis 4 (OBR-Kit Pellow was hit by a pitch with bases loaded in 10th inning)
Guasave 5, Mazatlan 4 (GUA-Efren Espinoza drew a bases-full walk in the bottom of the 11th)
Hermosillo 4, Culiacan 1 (HMO-Les Walrond 7IP/0R/2H/7K, record now 3-0 with 2.45 ERA)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28
Obregon 8, Los Mochis 3 (OBR-Bucky Jacobsen cracked 2 homers)
Mazatlan 3, Guasave 0 (MAZ-Walter Silva allowed 1 hit over 7 frames)
Culiacan 5, Hermosillo 4 (CUL-Victor Alvarez pitched 7 shutout innings for win)
Navojoa 7, Mexicali 4 (NAV-Matt Kata hit 2 homers and RBI single in 11th inning)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29
Obregon 6, Los Mochis 0 (OBR-Luis Alonso Mendoza hurled 7 scoreless frames for win)
Guasave 6, Mazatlan 5 (GUA-Armando Rios homered in first game for Algodoneros)
Hermosillo 5, Culiacan 4 (HMO-Brian Barden’s 7th inning roundtripper was game-winning hit)
Navojoa 5, Mexicali 4 (MXI-Fernando Valenzuela pitched 4.1 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits)
Navojoa 8, Mexicali 1 (NAV-Abel Martinez hit a 2-run homer in 5-run Mayos first inning)
UPCOMING SERIES FOR OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 2
Los Mochis at Culiacan, Mexicali at Mazatlan, Guasave at Navojoa, Hermosillo at Obregon
UPCOMING SERIES FOR NOVEMBER 3-5
Obregon at Culiacan, Mexicali at Guasave, Los Mochis at Hermosillo, Mazatlan at Navojoa
SIXTY NOMINATED FOR SALON DE LA FAMA 2007 ELECTIONS
MONTERREY- The Salon de la Fama has released the names of sixty former players who have been nominated for induction to the Salon next year. Those players will be joined by six previous nominees who failed to receive enough votes to join the Salon this year along with inductees Ray Torres, Chibalo Jimenez, Jaime Orozco, Sergio Robles and Jorge de la Serna. Selections will be announced next year.
Here is a list of all nominees:
BATTERS: Rubén Ávila, Rafael Batista, José Juan Bellazetín, Antonio Briones, Derek Bryant, Nick Castañeda, Eddie Castro, Domingo Cruz, Guadalupe Chavez, David Domínguez, Francisco García, Jesús González, Marco Antonio Guzmán, Ramón Hernández, Rodolfo Hernández, Roberto Herrera, Alfonso Jiménez, Carlos López, Lorenzo López, Rigoberto Mena, José Luis Pérez, Manuel Ponce, Manuel Ramírez, Juan Reyes, Roberto Rodríguez, Guillermo Rodríguez, Juan Francisco Rodríguez, Clemente Rosas, Armando Sánchez, Alex Treviño, Eladio Urías, Baltazar Valdez, Leonardo Valenzuela, Nicolás Vázquez, Abelardo Vega, Gonzalo Villalobos and Héctor Zamudio.
PITCHERS: Eduardo Acosta, Miguel Alicea, Tomás Armas, Eleazar Beltrán, René Chavez, Víctor García, Ramón Guzmán, Héctor Heredia, Germán Jiménez, Ernesto Carlos Kuk Lee, Manuel Lugo, Luis Fernando Méndez, Luis Meré, Francisco Montaño, Alfonso Pulido, Antonio Pulido, Julio Purata, Martín Raygoza, Guadalupe Salinas, Porfirio Salomón, Ricardo Solís and Alvaro Soto.
RENOMINATED: Carlos Soto, Ricardo Sandate, Jesús “Chuy” Moreno, Enrique Castillo, Fernanado Villaescusa and Luis Alfonso “Cochito” Cruz.
