ZAPOPAN, Mexico – Down two games to none in the Serie del Rey and facing the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol’s most potent lineup with a comparatively weak bullpen, the Charros de Jalisco needed starter Luis Ivan Rodriguez to stifle the bats of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and hope he could work relatively deep into the game.
He was able to accomplish neither, allowing six runs on eight hits, striking out two and walking none in four innings and giving up three home runs before handing the ball off as the Charros fell 7-2 to the Diablos, who lead the series three games to none and have the opportunity to sweep the Serie del Rey for the second year in a row tomorrow night.
“They are executing, and when we make mistakes with pitches, they are connecting with them,” Charros manager Benji Gil said in Spanish following the game. “When they make mistakes, we either let them pass or we foul them. That has been the difference. And today, if you ask me who was the best team, it was definitely them. Without a doubt.”
For the Diablos, the middle of the lineup set the table, and No. 6 hitter Jose Pirela clubbed a three-run homer in the fourth and Carlos Perez hit a pair of solo homers, one in the fourth and another in the ninth, as the Reds feasted on the Jalisco pitching, clubbing four homers to drive in six of their seven runs.
Leading off the top of the third, Johneshwy Fargas hit a grounder to the left side, and Diablos’ third baseman Rio Ruiz made a throw that short-hopped first baseman Jose Marmolejos, allowing Fargas to take second when the ball skipped into foul territory. Mallex Smith ripped the third pitch he saw into the right field corner for a triple, scoring Fargas. Michael Wielansky followed with a single up the middle to score Smith and give the Charros a 2-0 lead.
The Diablos answered immediately, with Julian Ornelas singling to lead off the top of the fourth, and Jose Marmolejos followed with a single to give the Diablos runners at first and second with no outs. With a 2-2 count, Jose Pirela launched a three-run homer over the left field wall to give the Diablos the lead. After Rodriguez struck out Rio Ruiz, Carlos Perez launched a solo homer to left that made it 4-2 Diablos.
An inning later, Allen Cordoba led off, sending the second pitch he saw from Rodriguez over the left field wall. After Robinson Cano singled, Charros manager Benji Gil lifted Rodriguez, bringing on Andrew Perez, who allowed a two-out RBI single to Jose Marmolejos that scored Julian Ornelas to make it 6-2.
“Obviously, I like the home runs. I love them,” said Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy of his team’s power surge. “Two from Carlito [Perez] here, one from Pirela, one from Córdoba. Most of this playoff, the last month of the playoff, if you look at the numbers, we are way below all the teams that are playing in home runs. But we are hitting doubles, we are stealing bases, we are producing runs in other ways. And that is the thing that is very dangerous for our team. If we start to take the ball out of the park, we are gone.”
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In the other dugout, the Charros were never able to get much going offensively after the third, going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight baserunners.