Cardinals eliminate Braves in postseason start

Defending champions Cardinals eliminated the Braves as the postseason of the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League got underway last Monday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

The Cardinals held off the Braves, 8-3, as the former’s firepower exploded in the eighth inning to advance to the semis against the top seed Falcons on Aug. 26.

The game was neck-and-neck at the end of the second inning as both teams put up three runs each. The Cardinals had the first lead as they scored three in order in the first from back-to-back-to-back runs by Jerald Cabrera, Nokki Saralu, and Brian Camacho.

But the Braves replied quickly from a run in the first by Joell Borja, then Dre Jones and Keoni Serrano tied the game up in the second, 3-3.

The Cardinals’ Nate Guerrero then went on to dominate the rest of the way as he pitched a complete game and held the Braves to just the three runs in nine innings of work. He gave up 10 hits, struck out nine batters, and gave up four base on balls.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ offense scored five in the eight to break the tie and keep the lead. Eli Aughenbaugh started it off with a single that resulted in a run after another single by Pat Tenorio Jr. K.J. Villagomez then reached base off a Braves’ fielding error that allowed Tenorio to score, followed by a breakdown in Braves’ pitching as they walked two consecutive batters. They would eventually score and when the dust settled, the Cardinals were up by five, 8-3.

The Braves had the last at-bat, but Guerrero managed to hold them down despite walking two batters. The Braves couldn’t capitalize as Guerrero’s defense went on to field the balls cleanly and register the maximum three outs before runners could advance home—and the Cardinals clinched the first semis spot of the season.

If it didn’t rain last night, the Padres and Blue Jays played with results of that to follow. Tonight’s game is the Bandits vs. Sandlot. The winners of those games will face off in the semis on Aug. 27.