Tijuana Toros Recap: Juan Pablo Oramas, Frank Diaz Give Tabasco Life In Series
Tijuana, Mexico
The Tijuana Toros played the second game of their three-game set against Olmecas de Tabasco on Wednesday at the Estadio Gasmart.
The first game ended in a 15-2 win for the Border City Bulls, but this second game was a very distinct encounter as Tabasco took the slim 3-2 win in what proved to be an enticing pitching duel.
Carlos Hernandez was on the mound for Pedro Mere and Houston Jimenez opted to start Juan Pablo Oramas instead of the scheduled starter Angel Araiza. This decision proved to be a golden one by the former Twins’, Pirates’, and Indians’ shortstop as Oramas had a stellar outing.
The Tabasco native only allowed a run on three hits through five and two thirds innings as he led his hometown club to an unexpected victory in the border city confines. Olmecas’ bullpen was also nearly perfect as it only allowed a run on a hit after Oramas finished his duties.
Toros’ starter Carlos Hernandez allowed all three runs that led to Tijuana’s downfall in his five and two thirds innings of labor. Paul Paez, Jesus Pirela, Gerardo Sanchez, and Juan Sandoval were all flawless out of the ‘pen as they combined for three and a third scoreless innings in relief.
The Border City Bulls’ offense was very uninspiring, with only four hits on the day. Two of those four hits came from Isaac Rodriguez, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games and also stole two bases in the encounter. The lone run of the game came in the seventh inning via a walk to Dustin Martin with the bases loaded.
The standout at the plate for Tabasco was Frank Diaz, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. The Venezuelan outfielder also pulled off a spectacular grab in left field to deny Cyle Hankerd of any runs in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. Diaz proved to be the hero of the night for Tabasco as he improved to a .333 batting average on the season.
The Tijuana Toros missed a golden opportunity to improve their record over the .500 mark and instead fell to an 8-9 record.
Tijuana is now the fourth place team in the LMB Zona Norte division and really needs to win this series on Thursday night. Tabasco improved to a 7-10 record, but are still the penultimate placed team in the Zona Sur division. The final game of the series will be decided this Thursday at the Estadio Gasmart with Kyle Lobstein and Angel Araiza as the probable pitchers.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.