Cardinals shut out Braves, 7-0

The defending champions Cardinals earned their third win of the 2024 Tan Holdings-SBL season after shutting out the Braves, 7-0, last Tuesday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

In a rarity, a pitcher pitched a complete game without giving up a run. Cardinals’ K.J. Villagomez held down the fort against the Braves as they handed them their second loss of the season.

In winning form, the Cardinals have bounced back from their opening game loss and have now won three games in a row for a 3-1 record behind undefeated Bandits’ 3-0 sheet.

As they say, “team work makes the dream work” and that’s exactly what the Cardinals’ defense did as they backed their pitcher up and secured the complete game shutout.

The pitcher-and-catcher dynamic of Villagomez and Jerald Cabrera was in perfect synchronicity throughout the game.

From behind the plate, Cabrera showed off his own arm’s strength as he threw out runners leaning too far off the base. He called Villagomez’ arsenal of pitches immaculately as well as the Braves recorded just seven hits in the whole game.

Meanwhile, in the batter’s box, the Cardinals made sure to pick up their pitcher as well and produce runs while the Braves were down.

The first inning saw Ton Tenorio score the first run for an early 1-0 lead. Braves young gun Aaron Camacho then had all things working for him in the second and third as he came away unscathed and gave the Braves’ offense a chance to get on board.

However, the Cardinals’ lumber restored their ball magnetism in the fourth and scored four runs from Nate Camacho, Cabrera, T.J. Sablan, and Pat Tenorio Jr. for a 5-0 lead.

Two more runs would score for the Cardinals in the fifth and it was more than enough to secure their third win as the Braves failed to get on board.