Oscar Robles is likely grouchy today.
If he is, it’s because he’s no longer managing the Aguilas de Mexicali, who stumbled out of the gate to a 12-14 record going into Friday’s action, having been replaced with former New York Yankee and Milwaukee Brewer Pat Listach.
After leading Culiacan to a 43-25 record last season, Robles came to Mexicali and was handed a team with one of the league’s top starters in David Reyes and elite power bats in Yadir Drake and Alex Mejia and added Bobby Bradley and Estevan Florial in the early going.
But for all their offense, they only have outscored the opposition 103-96 under Robles, and having bumbled to a middling record in the first half, the skipper was shown the door.
Listach, who played seven years in the Major Leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros, is best remembered as having been traded by the Brewers to the New York Yankees along with Australian reliever Graeme Lloyd, only to be sent back to the Brewers when x-rays revealed a bruised foot suffered days before the trade turned out to be broken.
Since retiring as a player, Listach managed six seasons at the Triple-A level in the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs organizations, going 435-419, two seasons at Double-A in the Cubs organization, where he went 148-130, and two seasons with the Acereros de Monclova of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, where he won a division title in 2019 and had a 110-76 record. He served as the bench coach at High-A Winston-Salem in the Chicago White Sox organization last summer.
At 13-14, the Aguilas are in seventh place, five games back of first-place Obregon.
Naranjeros de Hermosillo (16-11) 6, Venados de Mazatlan (8-19) 1 – Harold Ramirez went 2-for-3, hit his fourth homer of the year, doubled, walked twice, scored twice, and drove in two runs as the Naranjeros made short work of the Venados. TT Bowens had a pair of doubles for Hermosillo, and starter Wilmer Rios went eight full innings, allowing one run on six hits and striking out five.
Charros de Jalisco (15-12) 5, Tucson Baseball Team (11-16) 3 – Mateo Gil went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI and LAMP RBI leader Bligh Madris drove in a run with a double in the third. Starter Ronald Medrano threw 5 2/3 innings for Jalisco, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four. Jose Urena hit a solo homer for Tucson.
Aguilas de Mexicali (13-14) 4, Caneros de Los Mochis (16-11) – Pat Listach got his first win as Aguilas manager Friday thanks to Philip Evans’ 2-for-4 night with three RBIs. Evans hit a two-run single in the first and drove in Norberto Obeso with a double in the eighth. Estevan Florial’s RBI double in the fourth scored Moises Gutierrez with the winning run.
Jaguares de Nayarit (14-13) 5, Yaquis de Obregon (18-9) 2 – Jesse Castillo and Niko Vasquez each had two RBIs as Nayarit knocked off first-place Obregon in the series opener. Vasquez’ two-run homer in the sixth gave the Jags a 2-1 lead, and Castillo’s two-run triple in the eighth put them ahead for good. Starter Odrisamer Despaigne went seven innings for Obregon, allowing two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.
Algodoneros de Guasave (10-17) 7, Tomateros de Culiacan (14-13) 5 – Orlando Pina hit his league-leading sixth homer, a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh than gave Guasave a 7-2 lead, as the Algodoneros notched a win in the opener. Drew Avans went 2-for-5 and scored twice for Guasave, and Levi Jordan went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Jon Singleton hit a two-run double in the eighth for Culiacan, but the Tomateros couldn’t rally any further.
