Brewers beat the Yankees

In what was regarded as the biggest game of the year, the Miller Lite Brewers downed the first place Northern Yankees Friday night, in a thriller that took place at Francisco M. Palacios baseball field.

After rocketing out to an 8-1 lead, the Yankees watched as the Brewers chipped away at their lead, first tying the game in the fourth, and wrenching it from their grasp in the seventh.

A shaky start by starting pitcher Joe Guerrero led to a Roy Celis relief appearance that held the Yankees sluggers at bay, allowing four runs off of nine hits in eight innings of work.

“They called on me to help out Joe, so I came in. It was a little rough at first, then I retired 11 in a row. I told the boys if we could get them out 1-2-3 in the eighth that I could take them home,” said Celis.

With this win, the Brewers improved their record to 8-3 and are now within striking distance of the Yankees for the pennant race in the Saipan Major League. The clash of the titans was to be the last game of the regular season, however; there are two make up games for rainouts. The D9ers will face off against the pirates on Wednesday, June 2, and the Brewers can force a one game playoff for the pennant if they beat the Pirates on Friday, June 4.

The game got started in an atmosphere more akin to the playoffs than a regular season contest, with the crowd lining up around the stadium fence, cheering for their teams and the smell of barbeque in the air.

Jester Garcia lead off the first for the Brew crew by getting on base courtesy of a Yankees third baseman John Reyes throwing error. Tony Celis singled to advance the runner and Tony Camacho’s sacrifice fly to center brought Garcia home, putting the Brewers on the board.

The Yankees’ Clifton Silil was the first to step into the batters box in the bottom of the first and was also the first to be sent back to the dugout, falling victim to pitcher Joe Guerrero. John Reyes singled to get the offense started and Robert Bansil walked on to join him. Guerrero got his second victim at the plate when Tony Camacho heard the strike three call. The Yankees got on the board when Mel Sakisat singled in Reyes, and took the lead when Chris Camacho singled in Bansil. Sakisat made it in when Johnty Jones hit him in and Camacho found his way home when Tony Luzama knocked him in to give the Yank’s the 4-1 advantage.

The Brewers went down 1-2-3 in the second, and the Yankees exploited their lack of offense by piling on the lead with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning. The Brewers called upon pitcher Roy Celis to put a lid on the Yankees “O” in the second, but it didn’t start out well for the player, umpire and coach. Celis was hit for a triple by Silil, a single by Reyes; he walked Bansil and gave up another triple to Camacho. After Jones hit Camacho home, the score was 8-1, and the Crew had a long road ahead of themselves.

They took the first step when Garcia made it on base they same way he did in the first. Tony Celis followed with a single and Jess Mesa made his way on with a base knock. Camacho sac flied to left field to bring in Garcia, and Manny Sablan singled Celis across the plate. The Brewers cut the lead in half when Bruce Norita hit Mesa in, bringing the score to 8-4 after three and a half.

The Miller Lite wrecking crew tied the game in the following inning when Celis, Mesa, Camacho and Justin Reyes crossed the plate. Lost in the fog of offense was the superb pitching of Roy Celis. After the shaky start, he allowed six hits over eight innings, retiring 11 of the Yankees in a row before walking Tony Camacho in the sixth.

After the Yankees let them stick around for several innings, the Brewers decided to take the lead when Francis George, Justin Reyes and Jester Garcia became runs nine, 10 and 11.

There was nothing that the Yankees could do, as Celis shut them down 1-2-3 in the seventh, surrendered only a double in the eighth, and gave up a pair of singles in the ninth.

The Yankees know that this is all a part of the season, and the defending champs are not about to let the loss blur their focus. As the Brewers and their fans were cheering after the final out, one of the pin stripers shouted to his teammates, “Let them enjoy it!”

SML action continues Wednesday night as the Pirates square off against the D-9ers in the first of the make up games at the Francisco M. Palacios baseball field. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm.