Baseball Mexico

Five players collected two hits apiece while Mexico City starter Roberto Ramirez was chased after less than two innings as the Quintana Roo Tigres walloped the Diablos Rojos, 8-2, Sunday in the opening game of the Mexican League championship series in Cancun.

Iker Franco singled and homered while Willie Romero and Doug Clark both singled and doubled as the Tigres scored five runs in the first inning and another two in the second to take a 7-1 lead they never came close to relinquishing. Ramirez was manhandled for all seven runs on eight hits and a walk in 1.1 innings, although to be fair, only two of those runs were earned. Nerio Rodriguez, normally a starter since signing with Mexico City last month, came on in relief of Ramirez and let in no runs through the fifth, but the damage was already done. Francisco Cordoba earned the win for Quintana Roo.

The scheduled title set opener was washed out Sunday. The two teams will meet again tonight in Cancun as Marco Quevedo starts for Mexico City against Pablo Ortega of the Tigres.

OLD RIVALS TIGRES, DIABLOS TO MEET IN LIGA TITLE SERIES

In what must be a dream matchup among longtime Mexican baseball fans, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos will face the Quintana Roo Tigres in the Mexican League championship series. The two teams shared ballparks in the nation's capital for over four decades, and have remained fierce rivals even after the Tigres left Mexico City in 1995.

Monterrey forced Mexico City into a seventh game in their LMB North final series before the Diablos prevailed, 4-1, on Wednesday. Miguel Duarte and Jean Machi combined to scatter seven Sultanes hits with 12 strikeouts while Luis Alfonso Cruz went 4-for-4 with a run and RBI and Carlos Valencia socked a solo homer. Monterrey overcame a 3 to 1 series deficit by winning 10-4 last Sunday as Edgar Quintero doubled, singled twice and drove in three runs, then drubbed the DIablos, 17-6, Tuesday night with Chris Roberson going 4-for-5 with a triple, homer and three ribbies.

The Tigres punched their ticket to the LMB finals by eliminating Veracruz, 4-2, in Game 6 Wednesday in Cancun. 5'7" pitcher Jose Ramirez combined with two relievers to limit the Aguilas to seven hits for his third postseason win while Albino Contreras was one single shy of hitting for the cycle, scoring twice and whacking a two-run homer. Quintana Roo was trailing 2 games to 1 before reeling off wins on three consecutive nights: a 3-1 triumph Monday behind Enrique Lechuga's six innings of six-hit ball followed by a 4-3 thriller in 11 innings Tuesday when Doug Clark scored from second on a Jaime Trejo single and a throwing error by Aguilas left fielder Jose Orozco and Sandy Nin pitched three perfect innings in relief for the win.

The title series opens Saturday in Cancun. The Tigres have home field advantage because the Southern Zone won the All-Star Game at Saltillo in May.

ALL-TIME GREAT 3B RODRIGUEZ DIES AT AGE 82

A man considered by many to be the greatest third baseman in the history of the Mexican League has passed away. Leo Rodriguez, who was voted into the Salon de la Fama in 1980, died Tuesday morning at the age of 82.

Rodriguez broke into the LMB with Union Laguna as a 19-year-old in 1949, batting .300 in 86 games. He went on to spend five years in Torreon, batting .280 or better four times and topping the .300 mark twice. Rodriguez then spent 1954 with Cananea of the Arizona-Texas League, where he hit an amazing .430 with 259 hits in 141 games and after hitting .385 and .349 the next two seasons for the Mexico City Tigres, went on to play four years with Hollywood and Columbus in the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league system between 1957 and 1960 (batting between .268 and .292.

Rodriguez returned to the Mexican League for good in 1961 and played five years with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, batting .301 or better every year while never striking out more than 33 times a season. Not a power hitter, Rodriguez only hit 82 homers in his career, but he was a .315 career hitter in 13 LMB seasons and was a superb fielder. He played for three Liga pennant winners (Laguna in 1950, Tigres in 1955 and Diablos in 1964) and was player-manager for Hermosillo's Mexican League champs in 1963-64. After retiring as a player, Rodriguez spent years coaching with the Monterrey Sultanes.

A moment of silence was held in honor of Rodriguez before Tuesday night's Sultanes-Diablos game at Foro Sol.

MEXICNA LEAGUE FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF RESULTS

NORTHERN ZONE SEMIFINALS: Mexico City def. Puebla, 4 games to 2

JUL 30: Puebla 16, Mexico City 9 (Luis Suarez had 4 hits as Puebla rocked Roberto Ramirez for 9 runs in 2.2 IP)

JUL 31: Mexico City 9, Puebla 2 (Luis Terrero's 2-run homer keyed Mexico City's four-run second inning)

AUG 2: Mexico City 4, Puebla 1 (Luis Alfonso Cruz homered and Nerio Rodriguez pitched 7 strong innings for Diablos)

AUG 3: Puebla 7, Mexico City 5 (Pericos scored 4 sixth-inning runs as Serafin Rodriguez sliced 2-run single)

AUG 4: Mexico City 8, Puebla 5 (Diablos' Cruz crashed 3-run homer off Andres Meza for his 3rd playoff longball)

AUG 6: Mexico City 7, Puebla 5 (Mario Valdez' 2-run walkoff homer gave Mexico City series win in six games)

NORTHERN ZONE SEMIFINALS: Monterrey def. Reynosa, 4 games to 2

JUL 30: Monterrey 6, Reynosa 2 (Sandy Madera swatted 3-run 7th inning homer for Sultanes)

JUL 31: Monterrey 9, Reynosa 2 (Monterrey's Chris Roberson and Sergio Perez each had 4 hits)

AUG 2: Reynosa 10, Monterrey 8 (Jesse Gutierrez blasted a 3-run homer to lead Reynosa triumph)

AUG 3: Monterrey 7, Reynosa 2 (Madera singled, doubled and homered in Sultanes' third win)

AUG 4: Reynosa 14, Monterrey 9 (Marshall McDougall homered twice as Reynosa scored 5 in the 9th)

AUG 6: Monterrey 8, Reynosa 4 (Roberson slashed a 2-run single in 4-run 9th for Monterrey)

SOUTHERN ZONE SEMIFINALS: Quintana Roo def. Oaxaca, 4 games to 2

JUL 30: Quintana Roo 8, Oaxaca 3 (Tigres' Doug Clark hit a 3-run homer and Sergio Gastelum added 1-run shot)

JUL 31: Quintana Roo 4, Oaxaca 2 (Clark homered again while Albino Contreras went deep for Quintana Roo)

AUG 3: Oaxaca 6, Quintana Roo 3 (Kevin Barker went 2-for-4 with homer and 3 RBIs in Guerreros' comeback win)

AUG 4: Quintana Roo 5, Oaxaca 3 (Willie Romero homered and Enrique Legucha gave up 1 run in 6 IP for Tigres)

AUG 5: Oaxaca 2, Quintana Roo 1 (Sergio Gastelum homered and Sergio Valenzuela tossed 5 IPs for Guerreros)

AUG 7: Quintana Roo 9, Oaxaca 1 (Clark hit 3-run homer as Juan Ramirez won second game of series for Q-Roo)

SOUTHERN ZONE SEMIFINALS: Veracruz def. Campeche, 4 games to 3

AUG 1: Veracruz 10, Campeche 4 (Jorge Guzman and Victor Diaz homered in support of Aguilas P Joel Vargas)

AUG 2: Veracruz 4, Campeche 2 (Enrique Quintanilla pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief for Veracruz)

AUG 4: Campeche 7, Veracruz 5 (Piratas scored 4 runs in 9th for win despite being outhit by 16-9 margin)

AUG 5: Veracruz 3, Campeche 2 (Hector Hernandez sliced a game-winning single in the bottom of 9th for Aguilas)

AUG 6: Campeche 9, Veracruz 5 (Ruben Rivera socked a grand slam to help keep Piratas from elimination)

AUG 8: Campeche 6, Veracruz 2 (Campeche won as Alejandro Armenta pitched 7 innings of 2-run ball)

AUG 9: Veracruz 6, Campeche 3 (Diaz and Cesar Suarez homered for second night in a row in Aguilas clincher)

MEXICAN LEAGUE SECOND ROUND PLAYOFF RESULTS

NORTHERN ZONE FINALS: Mexico City def. Monterrey, 4 games to 3

AUG 9: Mexico City 6, Monterrey 5 (11) (Diablos' Geronimo Gil hit a walkoff bases-loaded single in bottom of 11th)

AUG 10: Mexico City 10, Monterrey 3 (Luis Alfonso Cruz hit 3-run homer for Mexico City, his 4th of the postseason)

AUG 12: Monterrey 7, Mexico City 4 (Edgar Quintero was 3-for-4 with HR and 3 RBIs for Sultanes in front of 23,537 fans)

AUG 13: Mexico City 5, Monterrey 4 (Starter Marco Quevedo allowed 1 hit and 0 runs in 5.2 IP for Diablos)

AUG 14: Monterrey 10, Mexico City 4 (Edgar Quintero doubled, singled twice and drove in 3 runs for Monterrey)

AUG 16: Monterrey 17, Mexico City 6 (Sultanes OF Chris Roberson batted 4-for-5 with homer, triple and 3 RBIs)

AUG 17: Mexico City 4, Monterrey 1 (Miguel Duarte combined to scatter 7 hits with 12 strikeouts for Diablos)

SOUTHERN ZONE FINALS: Quintana Roo def. Veracruz, 4 games to 2

AUG 11: Quintana Roo 10, Veracruz 0 (Pablo Ortega tossed 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball for Tigres)

AUG 12: Veracruz 7, Quintana Roo 6 (Hector Paez hit 2-out pinch double to score Victor Diaz in top of 9th for Aguilas)

AUG 14: Veracruz 4, Quintana Roo 3 (Jorge Guzman singled and homered as four Aguilas belted solo bombs in game)

AUG 15: Quintana Roo 3, Veracruz 1 (Starting pitcher Enrique Lechuga allowed 6 hits in 6 innings for Tigres)

AUG 16: Quintana Roo 4, Veracruz 3 (11) (Doug Clark scored from second on Jaime Trejo single and an Aguilas error)

AUG 17: Quintana Roo 4, Veracruz 2 (Jose Ramirez won his 3rd playoff game as Albino Contreras hit 2B, 3B and HR)

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Mexican League Stories from August 22, 2011

• Baseball Mexico - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin

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