Viva Los Toros: Tijuana Toros Weekly Recap #11
Tijuana Toros weekly recap
After two consecutive weeks of 5-1 records, the Toros wanted to continue the good stretch at home against the best team in the South Zone, the Puebla Pericos. The team made some roster moves to improve the squad in hopes of making the playoffs in the North Zone.
Roster Moves
The Toros, on Wednesday, incorporated to the active roster young pitchers Dagoberto Vargas and Jonathan Maciel. Vargas is a 24 year-old pitcher from Empalme. He finished the Northen Mexican League as the Tecate Toritos team leader in saves with 18. Maciel, a 23 year-old pitcher from California, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2013 draft and played in the Minors for four years. Neither had been activated to a Mexican League before. To make room for the players in the active roster, the team had to optioned pitchers Omar Renteria and Jesus Garcia.
Vs Pericos
Game 1: Not the start they thought
Juan Apodaca hit a home run but too little too late for the Toros, as they dropped the first game against the Pericos by a score of 8-3 at Gasmart Stadium. Miguel Peña was the starting pitcher for Tijuana but couldn’t continue after just two and a third innings on the mound. He earned the loss allowing two runs on two hits, walking three and only striking out one. Mauricio Lara earned the win on six innings of work in which he allowed just one run on four hits, didn’t walked anybody and struck out four.
Game 2: Tied series
After a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning, the Toros rallied and rallied big. They scored seven times to go ahead big and even though the bullpen made it close again, Tijuana held on for a 10-8 victory to tie the series a game apiece. Olmo Rosario had four runs batted in and Jorge Cantu had three more RBI on a night that witnessed more than 10,000 fans at Gasmart Stadium. Alex Sanabia got a no decision after being in the mound for five and a third innings in which he allowed three runs on eight hits, struck out a pair and walked one. Jason Urquidez got his 23rd save of the season.
Game 3: Toros upset Puebla
Olmo Rosario scored on a throwing error to give Tijuana the winning run in the eleventh inning for a walk-off 3-2 win over the best team in the South Zone and a series win. More than 10,000 fans were in attendance again for a thrilling third game between the Toros and the Pericos in Gasmart Stadium. Dustin Martin also helped the cause with his 16th home run of the year and with that, Tijuana was only a game and a half back of third place Vaqueros Laguna.
Vs Guerreros
Game 1: A comeback to start
The Toros were down 7-4 in the eighth inning and everyone thought Oaxaca was going to surprise Tijuana but then things went back to normal with a spectacular comeback. A five-run rally helped the “Bulls” win the first game of the series 9-7 with an amazing support by the faithful at Gasmart Stadium. With the more than 12,000 fans in attendance on last Friday’s game pushed the yearly attendance total to nearly 500,000 for the season.
Game 2: Walking off for a cause
An amazing game with a thrilling finish took place at Gasmart on Saturday. Barry Enright and Rudy Acosta were involved in a pitchers duel from the start. Enright was in the game for eighth strong innings allowing just one hit and Acosta was on the mound for six innings of five hit ball. It was in the bottom of the ninth inning when Juan Apodaca hit a walk-off solo home run off former Toros pitcher Ramon Ramirez for the win. To make the night more special, the Toros wore a special yellow and purple jersey. Those colors are the same of the Telethon Infant Rehabilitation Center, a hospital for kids with physical problems. The team put 200 jerseys like the ones they wore with all of the money going to the Tijuana center.
Game 3: Sweep for the weekend
Miguel Peña allowed only one run on seven solid innings of work and Olmo Rosario had three RBI in a no-doubter of a win for Tijuana. 9-1 was the final score to complete the sweep. With the win the Toros are now in third place alone in the North Zone after being up a game and half on the Vaqueros Laguna. They are five and half games behind the leader Monterrey, but maybe the most attractive thing of all is that Tijuana is just two games behind second place Monclova and this Tuesday they start a three game series against the Acereros.
A reporter for EVT in the region, also for Síntesis TV in Baja California and a correspondent for ESPN México. A sports freak, crazy about the teams in San Diego and Tijuana. My goal is to provide information for the people by always being a fan. Understanding the point of view of the players and organizations and with that to tell the truth with an objective approach.