Miscues lead Los Mochis to victory over Jalisco
Throughout the game, Los Charros were leading, but a bad outing by Aaron Kurcz allowed Los Cañeros to snatch the victory at the most crucial moment of the first round.
With a home run by Sebastián Valle and a single by Leandro Castro, both in the ninth inning, Los Mochis broke their losing streak of four consecutive games, handed Jalisco their third consecutive loss, and prevented the eighth save for Charros' star closer.
The defeat overshadowed the performance of starting pitcher Bruce Kern, who allowed six hits, one run, two walks, and struck out four in six and two-thirds innings. Kern left without a decision and the loss went to his teammate Kurcz. The visitors took the lead with a run scored by Agustín Murillo after a hit by Jesús Valdez.
Kurcz's pitching, with some ups and downs, had the Mochis offense under control.
In the fifth inning, Manny Barreda, Cañeros' pitcher, gave walks to Henry Urrutia, who made his debut with Jalisco, and to Cacao Valdez; immediately after, he allowed two sacrifices that allowed Cuban Urrutia to score and make it 2-0.
Los Mochis reacted in the seventh inning when Valle scored after having the bases loaded, prompting Rojas to take Kern out and send Adrián Guzmán to the mound. Guzmán was then replaced in the eighth inning by another debutant, Stephen Shackleford, who struck out the batters.
But the fateful ninth inning arrived for Charros, where luck was not on Kurcz's side.