Mexican League: Games of January 5

Day four of the playoffs.  Mexicali advances.  Los Mochis evens the series.  Hermosillo takes a commanding lead.

MEXICALI 7, CULIACAN 3 IN CULIACAN

Twins:  Brad Boyer (Culiacan) was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Mexicali:  Russell Branyan was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, scoring three times.  Chris Roberson was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBi.  Juan Omar Espinoza pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Culiacan:  Luis Mauricio Suarez was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.  Adan Amezcua was 2-for-4 with a run.  Felix Perez (Cincinnati) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once.

The game:  Mexicali opened the scoring in the third with a sacrifice fly.  Branyan homered leading off the fourth and Gil Velazquez delivered an RBI single to make it 3-0.  Xorge Carrillo (Mets) singled in Branyan in the fifth to make it 4-0.  Suarez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to get Culiacan back in the game at 4-2, but in the seventh a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Francisco Mendez increased the lead to 7-2 and put the game out of reach.

LOS MOCHIS 6, NAVOJOA 1 IN LOS MOCHIS

Navojoa:  Jon Weber was 1-for-4 with a run.  Fernando Flores was 2-for-4.  Luis Fonseca was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Los Mochis:  Yancarlo Angulo was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Jason Bourgeois (Cincinnati) was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Ramon Orantes was 1-for-2 with a home run, his third.

The game:  Los Mochis got its first run on a wild pitch and a second on Orantes' homer to go ahead 2-0 in the first.  They added two more in the second when Angulo homered and Bourgeois had an RBI single.  Another run scored in the third on a run-scoring single by Jake Fox and they got one more in the fifth on Angulo's RBI single to go ahead 6-0.  The lone Navojoa run scored in the sixth on a double play.

HERMOSILLO 8, GUASAVE 3 IN GUASAVE

Hermosillo:  Daryle Ward was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Yunesky Sanchez was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and scored twice.  Jose Aguilar was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.

Guasave:  Jesus Lopez was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Jose Manuel Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Jesus Cota was 1-for-4 with a run.

The game:  It was scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Sanchez hit a solo homer.  Guasave came back in the bottom of the fifth, as Lopez doubled in one to tie the game and another run scored on a force out to put Guasave up 2-1.  Ward hit a three-run homer in the sixth to give Hermosillo the lead back at 4-2.  Lopez singled in a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3, but Hermosillo scored three in the seventh to put the game out of reach.  Aguilar singled in one and Jerry Owens singled in two.  Guasave did not get a hit after the sixth.

PLAYOFF STANDINGS

Mexicali defeats Culiacan, four games to none.
Navojoa and Los Mochis are tied, two games apiece.
Hermosillo leads Guasave, three games to one.