Cleveland Sports Forum

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MEXICO
Playoffs starting Sunday

December 30, 2011

Concluded the regular season role 2011-2012 Mexican Pacific League, defined the six teams that totaled the highest number of points and thus always are excited to be in the playoffs which will be starting on Sunday January 1, 2012.
-Obregon tiebreaker exceeds Guasave for best won-lost PCT.

In the case of three-way tie between Navojoa, Mochis and Mazatlan:
a.Mayos and deer outnumber Cañeros and eliminate them;
a.By having the same won-lost record, Mayos quality with 7-2 record head to head competition

Playoff series would start:

Navojoa (6) in Culiacán (1)

Hermosillo (5) in Mexicali (2)

Guasave (3) in Oregon (4)

PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE

SUNDAY JANUARY 1

Navojoa in Culiacan (if necessary)

Hermosillo, Mexicali (if necessary)

Guasave in Oregon (if necessary)

MONDAY, JANUARY 2

Navojoa in Culiacan

Hermosillo in Mexicali

Guasave in Oregon

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3 REST

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4

Navojoa Culiacan

Mexicali, Hermosillo

Obregon Guasave

Thursday, January 5

Navojoa Culiacan (if necessary)

Mexicali, Hermosillo (if necessary)

Obregon Guasave (if necessary)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6

Navojoa Culiacan (if necessary)

Mexicali, Hermosillo (if necessary)

Obregon Guasave (if necessary)

SATURDAY JANUARY 7 REST

Sunday, January 8

Navojoa in Culiacan (if necessary)

Hermosillo, Mexicali (if necessary)

Guasave in Oregon (if necessary)

MONDAY, JANUARY 9

Navojoa in Culiacan (if necessary)

Hermosillo, Mexicali (if necessary)

Guasave in Oregon (if necessary)

Integration

Wilson Betemit will debut today at the Quisqueya Stadium

The manager of the Gigantes del Cibao, Pablo Peguero, confirmed that Wilson Betemit will debut today in the round robin tournament. Peguero said that tonight is the anticipated debut of Betemit, who has been training for a month in Santo Domingo. "Betemit was scheduled to debut last week but had to suspend his debut because of the unexpected death of a family member to a car accident, "said Peguero which means that the debut of Betemit will give greater strength to the lineup. "Wilson is a very experienced player and knows by heart our league. We are confident that things will improve with his debut, "he said. Last year Betemit hit for a batting .290 in 26 games .

Los Tigres del Licey hire Dayan Viciedo

The Cuban outfielder Dayan Viciedo, one of the top prospects of the Chicago White Sox, will join the Licey Tigers this week. Fernando Ravelo, manager and vice president of baseball operations for Licey, said that Viciedo will travel to Miami and then to the Dominican Republic today and tomorrow and will make his debut in a couple of days. "Viciedo is to play the outfield and is very likely to be in the lineup at any time from Tuesday onwards," Ravelo said. Viciedo, 22 , batted .255 with one homer and six RBIs in 102 turns with the White Sox in 2011. The native of Villa Clara hit .296 with 20 homers and 78 RBIs in 119 games in Triple A in his third season in the pros. "He's an extraordinary hitter," said Ravelo of Viciedo

In trouble!

Record: 1 win and 3 losses

To win a ball game now is a must. Suspect pitching and a porous defense was a problem. Sounds incredible! It's the reason why they have record of 1-3 in the first four games which is all the fans care about. The lack of defense is on the field. The starting pitching and relief is not reliable. Ubaldo Jimenez has the flu and there are no plans when he will pitch next. But where the problem is bigger is in the batting, which is zero. The batting averages are not good as in the case of Jolbert Cabrera .100 and Anderson .250, Josel Guzman Hernádnez .188, among others. Unfortunately the main player Juan Francisco is hurt and can not play until Thursday, maybe. Management has not been able to get another hitter who can revive the club. Recently hired Dayon Viciedo. Given this scenario, the criticism is raining down on the leader Rafael Landestoy, when in reality, he is not to blame. No manager wins with a team that does not hit, pitch or field.

LOTTERY ADDITIONS FOR PLAYOFFS

- Coming from Venados and the Caneros

Hermosillo, Son. December 30, 2011 (LMP / Alpha Communications) -

The Mexican Pacific League lotter concluded on Friday in which six teams that qualified for the playoffs players chose two sets that were eliminated during the regular season.

The draft lottery was developed in the form of video-conferencing, linking the club general managers and managers involved with the league office located in this city.

In the first phase the order of selections were raffled in which players were chosen from teams that were eliminated and resulted in the following order:

1 Mexicali

2 Obregon

3 Hermosillo

4 Navojoa

5 Guasave

6 Culiacan

After the order of selection was determined then proceeded to the selection of players and thus, the elections were as follows:

MEXICALI: Miguel Angel Gonzalez, right-hander from Mazatlan Venados. As a second option was Saul Soto, C. Cañeros.

OBREGON: Sandy Wood, DH Cañeros of Los Mochis. As a second option to 3B Ramon Orantes of Sugarcane.

HERMOSILLO: Dan Serafini, lefty pitcher Cañeros of Los Mochis. As a second option to PZ Heriberto Ruelas.

Navojoa: Thomas Solis, lefty pitcher Cañeros of Los Mochis. As a second option to PZ Caner Alberto Castillo.

GUASAVE: right-hander Walter Silva Mazatlan Venados. As a second option to DH Pablo Ortega, Venados.

CULIACAN: Marshall McDougall, third base Mazatlan Venados. As a second option to DH Rafael Martin Venados.

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Guez, Culiacan open playoffs with a bang

Tigers prospect belts two home runs to lead rout over Navojoa

Mexican Pacific League

Culiacan 16, Navojoa 1

Tigers outfield prospect Ben Guez went 4-for-6 with a pair of solo homers and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot, and Minor League veteran Jeff Frazier had five RBIs as the Tomateros trounced the Mayos in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series. Jorge Vazquez (Yankees) and Luis Cruz (Dodgers) contributed three RBIs apiece for Culiacan, and former Tigers farmhand Maxwell Leon added three hits and scored four times. Tomateros starter Matt Buschmann (Nationals) hurled six scoreless innings, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Obregon 3, Guasave 0
Royals hurler Luis Mendoza tossed six dominant innings to lead the Yaquis to a Game 1 victory in their opening-round playoff series with the Algodoneros. The 28-year-old right-hander, who went 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in two September starts for Kansas City this season and was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year, scattered five hits and two walks while striking out eight. Mexican League veteran Carlos Valencia delivered a solo home run in the third inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth for Obregon.
Ben Guez batted .284 with seven homers between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo this season. (Jessica Kovalcin/MiLB.com)

Mexicali 4, Hermosillo 1
Mexican League veteran Jorge Campillo hurled five strong innings and four relievers held the Naranjeros hitless the rest of the way as the Aguilas took a 1-0 series lead. A's farmhand Erick Threets recorded two outs and walked two, Pat Venditte (Yankees) pitched 1 1/3 perfect frames, Mexican Leaguer Jailen Peguero retired the side in order in the eighth and former Major Leaguer Oscar Villarreal notched the save with a hitless ninth. Minor League veteran Gil Velazquez had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Mexicali.

Culiacan, Sin. January 1, 2012 (LMP.mx / Alpha Communications) -

Following the fireworks last night, Culiacan Tomateros broke open the bats to start the explosive series of the playoffs. The explosive offensive included five home runs and Matt Buschmann pitching airtight baseball served to win 16-1 over the Navojoa Mayos.

The five stars for the line-up were Jeff Frazier to go 5-2 with homer and five rbi, Jorge Vazquez and Luis Alfonso Cruz each contributed three hits, Ben Guez a pair of solo homers while Cory Aldridge and Ramiro Pena also homered.

Buschmann (1-0) contributed his heroics from the mound, outstanding work in six innings of four hits, a walk and eight strikeouts, more than enough to take the decision in his favor.

Federico Castaneda, Amauri Sanit, and Jesse Chavez completed the work.

La Guaira Tiburones look like favorites

The Sharks are shielded in all areas. Magallanes and Aragua look pretty strong

CARACAS .-

Everything that happened in the regular round is behind us. Today begins a new season with the five championship teams, refurbished with new additions, try to advance to the next stage, the final and one step closer to the coveted championship the 2011-2012.

Knowing the new parts that were added to the five clubs, the La Guaira Sharks seem, on paper, the most favored, since they managed to get hold of the services of Luis Jimenez (.300,. .903 OPS with 10 homers and 33 RBIs), probably the most sought after hitter among those available, in addition to the starters Armando Galarraga (1-2, 6.65), Brian Sweeney (3-0, 3.00) and reliever Jose Jimenez (1.86 ERA in 19.1 innings). "This is a championship you have to start from scratch and not trusted anyone, here there is not much room for error," said manager Mark Davalillo when asked about what it means to lead in a round robin. "We take the best batsman to strengthen our strong point all season and boost the output of Marte and Enright our best pitchers with two good pitchers like Armando Galarraga and Brian Sweeney, "he said Davalillo.

The Navigators will face the fury of the "Bull" Zambrano

Magallanes starts on Monday with a complicated round robin series against the Caribbeans in Puerto La Cruz Anzoategui

CARACAS .-

Magallanes Navigators start the round robin on Monday measured against Carlos "El Toro" Zambrano, one of the most prestigious pitchers throughout the League. The Navigators will begin its journey in the postseason with a complicated series of two games in Puerto La Cruz on which they must face the "Bull" and Renyel Pinto, one of the best pitchers in the regular round.

Carlos Garcia sends to the mound American Matt Wright (2-1, 2.95 Efe) who has been pretty good in his four starts for the Navigators to display an extraordinary ratio of strikeouts / walks 21 / 4. For his part, the team of Ariel Prieto depends on the pitching of Zambrano (0-1, 2.45 Efe). This will be Zambrano's last start during the campaign and wants to do well for the Caribbean fans. His output will be the only one with the tribe in the round robin in his own words, and then want to start preparing for spring training. The season series between the teams was in favor of the Caribes 5-4 . The tribe will look different on offense with the additions of Celestino Lopez, Rene Reyes and Jose Castillo. The Navigators will base its hopes on the quality of Wright's arm and a renewed bullpen arms Orberá Moreno and Luis Ramirez.

COLUMBIA

Not a lot of good news coming out of Columbia for Giovanny Urshella. The Tigers haven't played since last Wednesday and Thursday. Giovanny had a basehit in four at bats on Wednesday and finally got a two hit game on Thursday. This may have only been Giovanny's second multi hit game this season with only three more weeks left to play.

On the season, Urshella is only hitting .215 (17-79), 5 doubles, 1 triple, .304 slugging, 8 strikeouts swinging, 2 strikeouts looking, 9 walks, 9 runs scored, and only 4 runs batted in. Fielding numbers haven't been the best. Giovanny's had 80 total chances in the field, has 2 throwing errors and 2 fielding errors for a .950 fielding percentage.

No big deal.. Not a prospect.

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Casilla's bat helps keep Gigantes in hunt

Twins infielder collects three hits, scores twice in Cibao's rout

Dominican Winter League

Cibao 9, Licey 1

Alexi Casilla (Twins) was 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI for the Gigantes, who improved to 1-3 in round-robin play, on Monday. Astros prospect Jimmy Paredes had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Diory Hernandez (Braves) had a pair of RBIs. Braves farmhand Donell Linares plated the Tigres' lone run with an RBI single.

Escogido 8, Cibaenas 3

Former Major Leaguer Pablo Ozuna led the Leones to their fourth straight win with three hits and two RBIs. Wilkin Castillo (Rockies) was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base, while veteran hurler Runelvys Hernandez earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings of relief. Giants farmhand Juan Perez doubled twice and drove in a run for the Aguilas.
Alexi Casilla batted .260 with 52 runs scored and 15 stolen bases in 97 games for Minnesota in 2011. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Mexican Pacific League

Culiacan 5, Navojoa 4

Mexican League veteran Refugio Cervantes hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Tomateros rallied to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-7 series. Former Major Leaguer Cory Aldridge was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Padres farmhand Ali Solis delivered an RBI single. Former Braves farmhand Matt Esquivel homered for the Mayos.

Hermosillo 5, Mexicali 1

Former Major Leaguer Karim Garcia slugged a two-run homer as the Naranjeros knotted their playoff series, 1-1. Mark Hamilton (Cardinals) slugged a solo homer and big league veteran Edgar Gonzalez allowed a run on four hits over seven innings for the win. Marco Duarte (Red Sox) took the loss after surrendering two runs on three hits over five frames.

Obregon 8, Guasave 7 (10 innings)

Veteran Alfredo Amezaga (Marlins) delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Yaquis a 2-0 series lead. Carlos Valencia had three RBIs and catcher Iker Franco reached base four times while scoring twice. Red Sox prospect Tony Thomas was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs for the Algodoneros.

Cibao Giants hire two reinforcements

Catcher Miguel Perez and LHP Eric Berger

SAN FRANCISCO M. .-

The Cibao Giants announced the hiring of catcher Miguel Perez and LHP Eric Berger.

The general manager of the Gigantes del Cibao, Pablo Peguero, said Berger and Perez come from the Venezuelan League.

Berger, who belongs to the Cleveland Indians, pitched for the Bravos in Margarita, where he compiled a 1-1 record and 2.84 ERA in 10 games. Pitched six innings, allowing nine hits, two earned runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.

In the summer, Berger launched in the double "A" and triple "A". Double "A" was 2-0 and 2.53 ERA. In 31 starts, two as a starter, threw 57 innings with 44 hits, 17 runs (16 earned), 22 walks and 67 strikeouts. In triple "A" was 0-1 and ERA of 10.05 in 11 games.

While in Venezuela, Perez belonged to the Aragua Tigers.

AGUILAS .-

Following the integration of Miguel Tejada, a "domino" effect seems to have affected the club and now there is talk about possible interactions of Bartolo Colon, Rafael Furcal and Melky Cabrera. In cases of Furcal the 8th, and Cabrera either the 14th or 15th to date have been. But all this is subject to confirmation ...

The rotation for the next four days will be Fausto Carmona, Raul Valdez, Shane Youman and Manauris Baez ...

Lorenzo Barcelo's streak ended at 21 the number of scoreless innings pitched.

GIGANTES.-

The management announced the signing of catcher Miguel Perez (Tigres de Aragua) and left-hander Eric Berger (Bravos de Margarita), both from the League of Venezuela. The pitcher is in the Cleveland Indians in the summer and worked at the level of AA (2-0, 2.53 in 31 starts, two as a starter) and AAA (0-1, 10.05 in 11 games) ...

Wilson Betemit made ​​his debut last night as DH and cleanup hitter.