MAZATLAN 4, NAVOJOA 3 IN MAZATLAN (GAME 1)
Batting star: Ricky Alvarez was 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.
Pitching star: Ryan Newell pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Jorge Flores was 3-for-4. Oscar Felix pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one. Jose Isidro Marquez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.
The game: With two out in the bottom of the first, Anthony Giansanti doubled, Carlos Munoz walked, and Alvarez tripled them both home to give Mazatlan a 2-0 lead. Navojoa tied it in the third. Flores singled with one out. With two down, Paul Leon and Victor Mendoza walked, loading the bases. David Vidal walked to bring one run in and Christian Zazueta singled to bring home another, making the score 2-2.
Navojoa took the lead in the fourth when Marco Guzman singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Flores' single. The lead lasted until the bottom of the fourth. Alvarez singled, Issmael Salas was hit by a pitch, and RBI singles by Ricardo Valenzuela and Diego Maduro made it 4-3 Mazatlan.
And that was it. Navojoa got a man on base in each of the last three innings, but did not advance him past first base.
WP: Francisco Rios (2-0). LP: Raul Carrillo (0-1). S: Newell (2).
Notes: Valenzuela was 1-for-3 and is batting .400. Salas is 0-for-1 and is batting .400. Alvarez raised his average to .364.
Rios has an ERA of 2.70. Newell has an ERA of zero. Marco Antonio Rivas pitched two-thirds of an inning and also has an ERA of zero.
Rios started for Mazatlan. He pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out two. Carrillo started for Navojoa. He pitched 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk and striking out four.
Record: Mazatlan was 3-3.
MAZATLAN 4, NAVOJOA 3 IN MAZATLAN (GAME 2)
Batting stars: Ramon Rios was 2-for-3 with a triple.
Pitching stars: Adolfo Ramirez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Roberto Espinosa retired all four batters he faced. Alejandro Soto pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Christian Zazueta was 2-for-4.
The game: Navojoa got on the board in the first inning when Jorge Flores singled, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a Juan Perez single. In the third Jorge Sesma singled, Flores walked, a double steal put them on second and third, a sacrifice fly scored one, and an error brought home another, making the score 3-0.
Mazatlan got back into it in the fourth. Rios and Anthony Giansanti singled. Carlos Munoz had an RBI double, Ricky Alvarez hit a run-scoring single, and an infield out tied the score at 3-3. Mazatlan took the lead in the fifth. Itali Mota singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Rios' triple, going ahead 4-3.
Navojoa got the tying run to third with two out in the seventh, but a ground out ended the inning and the game.
WP: Espinosa (1-0). LP: Esteban Haro (0-1). S: Soto (1).
Notes: Alvarez was 1-for-2 and is batting .375.
Gabino Alvarez pitched two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of zero. Ferrol Heredia walked the only man he faced, but the man didn't score, so his ERA remains zero.
Mario Garcia started for Mazatlan. He pitched 2.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits and three walks and striking out two. Ruddy Acosta started for Navojoa. He pitched 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks and striking out three.
Both games were seven innings.
Mazatlan has now won three in a row.
Record: Mazatlan is 4-3, tied for fourth place with Los Mochis, three games behind Obregon.
Next game: Mazatlan once again hosts Navojoa tonight.