The Undercards: Juan Miranda Go-Ahead Homer Lifts Obregon Over Mexicali

A few well-timed homers can turn you from goat to hero pretty quickly. Juan Miranda has not had a great postseason for the Yaquis de Obregon, but he has slammed 4 home runs including a couple when his team could have not have needed them any more.

Mexican Pacific League Championship Series Game 2: Yaquis de Obregon 4, Aguilas de Mexicali 2

After Obregon emerged victorious in Game 1 of the series, the Aguilas came out strong in the first inning of this one, scoring twice on a run-scoring single off the bat of Jon Weber (there was an error involved), and an RBI single by Jorge Guzman. But their momentum was short-lived as an RBI double by Alfredo Amezaga and an RBI single by Doug Clark tied the game in the 3rd, and four innings later, Juan Miranda compounded the Aguilas misery with a go-ahead solo homer. Mexicali’s bats when silent after the 1st- they had three hits in the first inning and just two afterwards- and they would lose the game 4-2. For Obregon, Miranda went 1 for 2 with his big homer and a walk before being removed for a defensive replacement while Iker Franco went 1 for 4 with a run scored at the plate and an even better job behind it as the Yaquis 5-hit Mexicali. Starter Rolando Valdez was fabulous following the tough 1st, going 6 innings allowing just 2 runs, 1 earned, on 5 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. For Mexicali, Weber went 1 for 4 with a run scored while Wes Bankston had a tough day, going 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. The Aguilas have a daunting task ahead of them as they hope to get back in this best-of-seven series after losing the series’ first two games.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) Championship Series: Criollos de Caguas 4, Idios de Mayaguez 2

Not too much that Rays fans should care about form this game, but the pitching matchup was interesting as ex-big leaguer and Rays Triple-A player Matt DeSalvo matched up against Michael Nix, who was Scott Kazmir‘s teammate this season on the Independent SugarLand Skeeters. It was DeSalvo who came away looking like an enigmatic Kazmir while Nix cruised. DeSalvo went 4.2 innings and allowed just 3 hits, but he allowed 4 runs as one of the hits was a Johnny Monell homer and he walked 4 while striking out just 3. On the other side, Nix was sharp for Caguas to earn the win, going 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 6 while walking 2 and posting a 10-1 groundout to flyout ratio. DeSalvo was a solid prospect in the Yankees organization for a time (and briefly made the majors with New York), but his outing Wednesday was similar to his stint in the Rays organization back in 2009 when he walked 39 versus just 36 strikeouts on his way to a 6.44 ERA in 13 appearances and 57.1 innings pitched.