The Winter Ball season isn’t long, and even with the longest regular season of the four leagues that comprise the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe, the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico’s 68-game regular season zooms by.
With just 12 games left in the regular season, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo (15-6) and Charros de Jalisco (14-7) are neck-and-neck for the second half title. Three games back of Hermosillo are the Caneros de Los Mochis and Algodoneros de Guasave at 12-9.
Hermosillo visits Monterrey (7-14) Tuesday through Thursday this week before returning home to host three games against Guasave over the weekend. They’ll open a three-game set with Jalisco on Christmas Day and finish the season with a home series against Mazatlan (10-11).
Jalisco hosts Mazatlan for three games to open the week before traveling to Obregon (9-12) for a weekend series. They’ll start next weekend hosting Hermosillo for three games before finishing the season with a three-game series at Mexicali (10-11).
Aside from the series between the two teams, Jalisco has the easier path to the second half title, facing three teams that are under .500 in the second half (and the season), while Hermosillo has to face Guasave, a team that could still potentially win the second half and the regular season title.
Naranjeros de Hermosillo 7, Caneros de Los Mochis 6 – League ERA leader Robert Stock allowed four hits and one run, walking four and striking out two on the way to his 10th win of the season. Jasson Atondo went 3-for-4 and leads the race for the LAMP batting title with a .348 average, and Luis Garcia drove in a pair with a two-run homer. The win extended the Naranjeros’ lead over the third-place Caneros to three games in the second-half standings.
Tomateros de Culiacan 8, Yaquis de Obregon 3 – Esteban Quiroz hit his eighth homer of the year, a three-run shot in the sixth, as the Tomateros posted five in the frame to romp over Obregon. Quiroz went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer, and four RBIs as the first-half winners improved to 8-13 in the second half.
Algodoneros de Guasave 8, Aguilas de Mexicali 2 – Four Guasave pitchers combined to limit Mexicali to just three hits and two walks as the Algodoneros pulled into a tie for third with Los Mochis. Yadir Drake went 2-for-5 with four RBIs for Guasave, clubbing a pair of two-run doubles.
Sultanes de Monterrey 5, Venados de Mazatlan 2 – Norge Ruiz allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in eight innings of work, and four Sultanes had two hits.
Mayos de Navojoa 10, Charros de Jalisco 7 – Jack Mayfield’s seventh homer of the season tied the game at seven in the bottom of the fourth for Jalisco, but the Charros bullpen allowed the go-ahead run in the fifth on a single by Joe Stewart, and Navojoa added two more in the ninth on a single by Agustin Ruiz.
Tonight in the LAMP
No Games Scheduled
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