In front of a full house on New Year's Day, the Charros de Jalisco won the opening game of their Mexican Pacific League (LMP) seven-game playoff series against the Venados de Mazatlan at the Estadio Panamericana de Beisbol in Zapopan. 

Leftie Marco Tovar pitcher gave up seven hits in six complete innings, allowing just one run in the 4-1 victory.

The Charros opened their account in the third innings with a sacrifice fly by Jesús “Chuyito” López. An error by the Venados saw another run added in the same innings. 

An RBI by new recruit Jon Weber made it 3-1 in the sixth and a homer by first base Marquez Smith in the seventh widened the margin.  Relief pitchers Adrián Ramírez, Carlos Vázquez, Geoffrey Broussard, Iván Salas and Mario Mendoza saw the Charros safely home to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

A full house of 11,334 fans watched the game.

The second game in the series is scheduled Friday, January 2, 7:30 p.m. at the Estadio Panamericana.

The rest of the series is as follows:

Sunday, January 4, 5 p.m. (Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, Mazatlan)

Monday, January 5, 8 p.m.  (Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, Mazatlan)

*Tuesday, January 6, 8 p.m.  (Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, Mazatlan)

*Thursday, January 8, 7:30 p.m. (Estadio Telmex, Zapopan)

*Friday, January 9, 7:30 p.m. (Estadio Telmex, Zapopan)

*if necessary

Other LMP playoff games:

Cañeros de Los Mochis vs, Tomateros de Culiacán (0-1)

Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón vs. Águilas de Mexicali (1-0)

Regular season success

The Charros have enjoyed surprising success in their first outing in the LMP, topping the regular season standings with a win percentage of .618. Charros’ players figured prominently in both the batting and pitching leader stats, Japhet Maadopr topped the league with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs, while Jose Manuel “Manny” Rodriguez had the second-best batting average of .341, and Leo Heras was third in the stolen bases column with 14. On the pitching side, Orlando Lara had the league’s third best record with seven wins, and Brian Broderick of the United States placed second with 16 saves (in 17 appearances).

Thanks to their outstanding form in the regular season, the Charros are the favorites to take the MLB crown.

On the commercial front the season has been an unqualified success, with average attendances around the 8,000 mark, even at evening games with lower temperatures.