Sultanes de Monterrey (26-19) 10, Tigres de Quintana Roo (19-25) 5 – Josh Lester went 3-for-3, scored twice, drove in four runs, and hit a three-run homer as part of a six-run inning in the fourth to power the Sultanes past the Tigres in Monday’s long game in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. Socrates Brito added a three-run homer in the eighth for the Sultanes, and opener Justus Sheffield threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, a walk, and striking out three.
It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over, But It Ain’t Looking Good – At roughly the halfway point of the season, three teams have records below .500 and find themselves between 4 1/2 games and six games out of the final playoff spot in their division.
The Leones de Yucatan, at 15-30, are at the bottom of the Zona Sur. They’ve played more than half their games against teams with records under .500, and are 5-19 in those games. They can’t win at home, where they’re 8-19, and they’re only a little better on the road, where they’re 7-11. They’ve already fired a manager and brought in Hensley Meulens to replace him on May 19; since then, they’re 6-11.
Looking at the Leones, one thing is for sure: it’s not the pitchers that are the problem. Yucatan has the second-best ERA in the league with a 4.07 mark, they’ve allowed the fewest run (202) in the Zona Sur, have allowed the fifth-fewest walks (137) and hits (409) in the league.
At bat, though, they’re struggling. They’ve scored the fewest runs in the league (168), are batting .238/.314/.335 as a team, ranking last in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging, and they traded away one of their best hitters and biggest power threat, Yadir Drake, to the Algodoneros de Union Laguna for Alfonso Rivas, who is 7-for-26 in nine games.
Up north, the Saraperos de Saltillo (14-28) and Dorados de Chihuahua (17-28) continue to struggle, though the Dorados are over .500 in their last 10 games, having won six of them. Both teams pitching staffs are in the middle of the pack, right in the meaty part of the curve, as George Costanza would say. But Saltillo is third from the bottom in runs scored with 196 and Chihuahua is only a little better, having scored 232.