In a nail-biting finish, the Tomateros de Culiacán held off the Naranjeros de Hermosillo 7-6 at Estadio Fernando Valenzuela to secure their second consecutive series victory.
The Guinda squad took an early lead right out of the gate. With a runner on first in the opening frame, Joey Meneses ripped a solid RBI double down the left-field line to score Ramiro Peña and put the visitors on the board first.
Hermosillo answered back to take the lead in the second and third innings. However, Lorenzo Bundy's squad responded immediately. In the top of the fourth with the bases loaded, Fabricio Macías flied out to right for a sacrifice fly, driving in Jon Singleton for Culiacán's second run.
Culiacán reclaimed the lead in the sixth frame. With the bases loaded with Guindas, Luis Verdugo popped up a shallow fly ball to shallow right field; first baseman Víctor Mendoza was unable to make the catch, allowing all three runners to clear the bases and putting the Sinaloan capital side ahead 5-3.
The Culiacán attack didn't stop there. In the seventh inning, with Ichiro Cano running at third, Ramiro Peña executed a textbook squeeze play to bring home the sixth run. Peña struck again in the ninth frame to drive in his second run of the night with a sacrifice fly to right field—a insurance run that proved to be the game-winner in the 7-6 victory.
On the mound, Culiacán native Axel Sauceda earned the win out of the bullpen after tossing a scoreless inning to log his second victory of the campaign.
With the series secured, Tomateros take the field this Thursday looking to complete the series sweep in Sonoran territory.