Mexican Baseball League to play seven-inning games, follows WBSC international baseball, softball
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The Mexican Baseball League (LMB) announced that regular season games played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be seven innings and start at 7.30 pm. The new rule doesn't apply to games scheduled during the season's first week.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:ve30/twitter-iframe {"url":"https://twitter.com/LigaMexBeis/status/1511857348238880779"} -->
<blockquote class="wp-block-ve30-twitter-iframe twitter-tweet" allowtransparency="0" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" width="auto"><a href="https://twitter.com/LigaMexBeis/status/1511857348238880779"></a></blockquote>
<!-- /wp:ve30/twitter-iframe -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>LMB's target is to reduce the duration of games and came to the decision after acknowledging that <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/seven-inning-games-at-wbsc-u-23-baseball-world-cup-a-new-era-in-international-baseball-and-boost-to-competitive-balance"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">seven-inning games</span></strong></a> resulted in 56% of scores with a run difference of three or less ("highly competitive games") at the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2021-u23-baseball-world-cup/home"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup</span></strong></a> that Mexico hosted last year.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Mexico was also the host of the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2016-u23-baseball-world-cup/home"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016</span></strong></a>. Nine-inning games resulted in only 24% of highly competitive games.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Professional leagues, including Major League Baseball (MLB), scheduled so far seven-inning games only in doubleheaders.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:ve30/twitter-iframe {"url":"https://twitter.com/WBSC/status/1088791692608708608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1088791692608708608%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wbsc.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fseven-inning-games-at-wbsc-u-23-baseball-world-cup-a-new-era-in-international-baseball-and-boost-to-competitive-balance"} -->
<blockquote class="wp-block-ve30-twitter-iframe twitter-tweet" allowtransparency="0" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" width="auto"><a href="https://twitter.com/WBSC/status/1088791692608708608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1088791692608708608%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wbsc.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fseven-inning-games-at-wbsc-u-23-baseball-world-cup-a-new-era-in-international-baseball-and-boost-to-competitive-balance"></a></blockquote>
<!-- /wp:ve30/twitter-iframe -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Game clocks will become another important tool to reduce game times. They will measure the duration of coaching visits. Coaches will be able to visit the mound three times in seven-inning games and four times in nine-inning games. Each visit will last no more than 30 seconds. They will also monitor the time of pitching changes, which won't exceed two minutes.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Game clocks will be available in each LMB ballpark starting Friday, 6 May.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The 20-team LMB is a WBSC Associate Member. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Opening day is scheduled for Thursday, 21 April. The defending champions Tijuana Toros will host the Mexico City Diablos Rojos at the Estadio Chevron. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Nine games <strong><a href="https://www.milb.com/mexican/scores" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="are scheduled for Friday, 22 April (opens in a new tab)"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">are scheduled for Friday, 22 April</span></a></strong>.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"customBackgroundColor":"#f8f5dd"} -->
<p style="background-color:#f8f5dd" class="has-background"><strong>You may also be interested in</strong>:<br>- <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/seven-inning-games-at-wbsc-u-23-baseball-world-cup-a-new-era-in-international-baseball-and-boost-to-competitive-balance">Seven-inning games at WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup: A new era in international baseball and boost to competitive balance</a><br>- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Olympic bronze medalist Asencio to play in the Mexican League (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/olympic-bronze-medalist-jairo-asencio-to-play-in-the-mexican-baseball-league" target="_blank">Olympic bronze medalist Asencio to play in the Mexican League</a><br>- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="World Series winner Josh Reddick heading to Mexico (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/mlb-world-series-winner-josh-reddick-to-play-in-the-mexican-baseball-league" target="_blank">World Series winner Josh Reddick heading to Mexico</a><br>- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval will play in Mexico (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/former-mlb-world-series-mvp-pablo-sandoval-to-play-in-the-mexican-baseball-league" target="_blank">Former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval will play in Mexico</a><br>- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Israel's ace Joey Wagman to pitch for Veracruz (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/israel-national-team-ace-joey-wagman-to-play-for-veracruz-in-the-mexican-baseball-league" target="_blank">Israel's ace Joey Wagman to pitch for Veracruz</a><br>- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Meet South Africa's Dylan Unsworth, an LMB star (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/south-africas-dylan-unsworth-an-amazing-journey-in-baseball-across-five-continents" target="_blank">Meet South Africa's Dylan Unsworth, an LMB star</a><br>- <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/game-clocks-video-review-to-be-enforced-at-wbsc-premier12-major-international-baseball-event-olympic-qualifier">Game clocks, video review to be enforced at WBSC Premier12 major international baseball event, Olympic qualifier</a><br></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->