There have been four exhibition games played between Major League Baseball teams and clubs from the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol over the last two springs.
With Tuesday’s 12-8 win over the Sultanes de Monterrey at Estadio Exxon Mobil Super, the Boston Red Sox have evened the recent competition between MLB and the LMB at two games apiece after the Diablos Rojos del Mexico took a pair of games from a split squad team of New York Yankees last year.
The pair of games in Monterrey closed out the Red Sox spring training schedule, and while they didn’t use the entire MLB lineup or many pitchers who will start the season in Boston, they did roll out a pretty formidable squad.
Both Monterrey Starters Have MLB Experience – Former New York Yankee Luis Cessa and former Yankee and Pittsburgh Pirate Manny Banuelos each got a start against the Red Sox, though neither fared well. Cessa lasted 1 1/3 innings on Monday night, getting out of the first inning with no damage done, but only securing one out in the second before allowing singles to Kristian Campbell and David Hamilton, a walk to Connor Wong, an two-run double to Marcelo Mayer, and then a walk to Jarren Duran. At that point, Alex Cora had seen enough, but Wong scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Bregman got Cessa his third earned run of the day.
Banuelos, who had a great winter season in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, allowed five runs on three hits and three walks, with Rob Refsnyder and Campbell hitting homers for the Sox, and he didn’t come back for the second inning.
Aroldis Chapman Still Firing Seeds – Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh Monday evening, using 19 pitches to get it done. The Cuban Missile hit triple digits on the radar gun with five different pitches — three four-seam fastballs and two sinkers. While his velocity may have dropped a bit from when he arrived in the Major Leagues, his fastest toss was 100.8 mph Monday, and coupled with a sinker with similar velocity, a slider, and a changeup, Chapman still has some weapons.
Roberto Valenzuela Shined For Sultanes – Second baseman Roberto Valenzuela went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in Tuesday’s game. Valenzuela’s entire professional career has been played in Mexico, and at 30, he’s almost certainly not going to appear in a Major League uniform unless he buys it himself. But he’s had a great career playing year-round in Mexico with the Sultanes and Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in the LMB and with the Yaquis de Obregon and Venados de Mazatlan in the LAMP. With a .293/.371/.398 batting line over 1,010 games in Mexico across both leagues and two Caribbean Series appearances, Valenzuela will now have a nice memory of a game where he showed, given a chance, he could compete with big leaguers.
The Red Sox, and MLB, Are a Big Draw In Monterrey – Over the past 29 years, MLB has visited Estadio Exxon Mobil Super for 12 regular season games as well as this two-game exhibition set. The regular season games averaged 19,057 fans, with a high of 27,104 coming out to see the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 on April 4, 1999, and a low of 16,496 saw the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on April 13, 2019. Monday’s game between the Sultanes and the Red Sox drew 21,806, and Tuesday’s game drew 22,078. In the 1990s and early 200s, Monterrey was occasionally floated as a potential expansion or relocation site for an MLB club, and while operating an MLB team in Monterrey would likely be economically prohibitive now, there’s an undeniable appetite for high-level baseball in Mexico. Hopefully, MLB brings more regular season games to Monterrey, Mexico City, and other venues in the country in the next few years.
Teheran to Tijuana – Julio Teheran has signed with the Toros de Tijuana after being released from spring training by the New York Mets. Teheran, 34, made one start for the Mets in 2024, dividing the rest of the season between Triple-A Syracuse, Monterrey of the LMB, and Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs organization. The Sultanes held his rights going into this season, but released the Colombian righty so he could go to camp with the Mets.
Photo: Boston Red Sox’s Rob Refsnyder, shown here in action during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Baltimore, homered on Tuesday against the Sultanes de Monterrey. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
