CULIACÁN, SINALOA. In a closely contested battle, the Tomateros de Culiacán fell 4-3 to the Charros de Jalisco in the series opener at Estadio Tomateros.
The Guinda squad showed resilience after falling behind early. In the fourth inning, Ichiro Cano put the home team on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Culiacán's first run.
In the fifth frame, the Culiacán offense kept up the pressure and loaded the bases. Fabricio Macías showed patience at the plate to draw a walk, driving in Ramiro Peña to trim the deficit.
The third run came courtesy of JP Martínez's aggressive baserunning. The Cuban outfielder reached base with two outs following a wild sequence, stole second base, and advanced to third on a throwing error by the visiting catcher. Moments later, he crossed the plate on a wild pitch from reliever Mario Meza.
The home side fought down to the final out, but the visiting bullpen managed to hold off Tomateros' comeback effort to secure the 4-3 win.
The series continues tomorrow at 6:05 PM, featuring a pitching matchup between Norge Ruiz for the Guindas and Luis Ángel Rodríguez for Jalisco.