Winter Leagues Playoffs 2020-2021: Tomateros de Culiacan Win Second Straight LMP Championship Series

From the desk: FANÁTICO DEL BÉISBOL DE INVIERNO

2020-2021

Liga Mexicana del Pacifíco

LMP CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

GAME SEVEN

(4-3) Tomateros de Culiacan         7

(3-4) Naranjeros de Hermosillo     6

FINAL/10 inn

BOXSCORE 1/30/21 - In the all decisive game seven, Los Naranjeros starter Cesar Vargas toes the rubber opposed by Tomateros right-hander Edgar Arredondo at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo.  Los Naranjeros small-ball their way to a 1-0 lead in the first.  Left fielder Norberto Obeso leads off the game with a base hit, is sacrificed over to second, advances to third on a fielder's choice, then scores on a liner to center field by first baseman Victor Mendoza.  But their lead is short-lived.  Cesar Vargas yields two runs on three hits and two walks before ever recording an out in the top of the second.  He exits the game leaving the bases loaded.  Center fielder Yoelkis Guibert then greets Hermosillo reliever Marcelo Martinez with a two-run single to right.  Los Tomateros again load the bases but leave all three runners stranded, not before taking a 4-1 lead.  All runs are charged to Vargas.  Hermosillo opens the bottom of the second with a lead-off walk and a double from catcher Julian Leon.  Shortstop Jasson Atondo's sac-fly scores Rolando Acosta from third, making it a 4-2 game.  With two outs in the top of the third, first baseman Jesse Castillo homers to right, giving Los Tomateros a 5-2 lead.  Hermosillo runs into more trouble in the fifth, but this time it's behind the plate.  Replacement catcher Alejandro Flores allows lead-off batter Joey Meneses to safely reach on a third strike passed ball, then permits him second base on yet another passed ball.  Meneses then scores on a fielder's choice making for a 6-2 Culiacan lead.  In the bottom of the fifth, Jasson Atondo scores from third on a fielder's choice bringing Los Naranjeros back within three.  Hermosillo strikes again in the seventh.  With two outs and runners on first and second, third baseman Isaac Paredes homers into left/center bleachers off Tomateros reliever Carlos Torres tying the game at six.  Two subsequent singles and a hit by pitch load the bases, but Los Tomateros escape further damage remaining deadlocked at six.  That's the way the score stays, and into extra innings, they go.  But Los Tomateros waste little time.  With one out in the tenth, Jesse Castillo hits his second home run of the game.  Hermosillo goes down quietly in the bottom of the tenth, and Culiacan's comeback is complete.  The defending champions come all the way back from a 3-1 series deficit against the favored Naranjeros de Hermosillo to win three straight games and clinch back-to-back LMP championships. Second, only to Hermosillo, this marks the team's 13th LMP championship.  It's their second in a row and their third title in the last four years.