Monterrey defeats Aguascalientes to secure fifth consecutive series

Nivaldo Rodríguez and José Cardona led the Sultanes to an 11-1 victory over the Rieleros de Aguascalientes on Wednesday at the Mobil Super Stadium.

Monterrey (19-9) holds a record of 11-3 at home this season, maintaining first place in the Northern Zone and the Mexican Baseball League.

For the Rieleros (11-18), this loss marked their sixth consecutive defeat, keeping them in last place in the Northern Division.

Nivaldo (1-2) achieved his first win in his sixth start of the season, while maintaining his position among the leaders in ERA with a 1.64 earned run average.

In front of 6,258 fans, the Venezuelan Rodríguez pitched six innings, allowing only one run on six hits, striking out six batters and not giving up any walks. The loss went to the Colombian Carlos Ocampo.

Pepe Cardona is batting .800 in the series, with eight hits in 10 at-bats, four runs scored, three RBIs, two doubles, and two stolen bases.

The Monterrey team has a half-game lead over the Tecos de los Dos Laredos and a game and a half lead over the Toros de Tijuana at the top of the Northern Division.

The Fantasmas Grises took the lead in the first inning with a ground ball to shortstop by Christian Villanueva, driving Cardona home from third base.

Rieleros tied the game 1-1 and avoided the shutout in the bottom of the second inning with Carlos Muñoz's fifth home run of the season.

Monterrey scored three runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the seventh inning to secure the victory.

The pitching staff of Aguascalientes has thrown nine wild pitches in the first two games in the capital of Nuevo León.

The series will conclude on Thursday at a special time of 18:00 hours, with Daniel de la Fuente (0-1) as the starting pitcher for the home team, facing Luis Niebla (0-0).