Cards fly to win Game 1, 17-8

It didn’t rain on their parade as the long overdue best-of-three championship series of the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League between the Cardinals and Padres finally got underway last Wednesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

The field was actually slick with the light evening showers that welcomed both teams on the field before the first pitch and in the first inning—but the clouds held up throughout the rest of the game—unlike the Padres who blew their lead and lost, 8-17, to the defending champions.

The Padres struck first and found home plate three times after three back-to-back runs as the bags were juiced from an inauspicious start by Cardinals pitcher Bill Camacho. The top of the Padres’ lineup—Ben Jones Jr., J.R. Suel, and Tony Salas—all scored for an early 3-0 lead.

Padres hurler Zach Blas then gave up one run to the Cardinals’ Tony Tenorio who brought home Brian Camacho after a triple for a 1-3 game in the second inning.

The Padres’ bats were still hot and Salas reached base again then was eventually brought home, followed by another run scored by Keith Kintol to extend their lead, 5-1 at the end of the third.

However, the Cardinals’ pitching staff was given a reprieve when their offense rallied and turned the tide when they pushed across run after run in the fourth. The Padres’ pitching staff, on the other hand, was breaking down as they could not get any batters out and gave up seven consecutive runs to blow their lead. When the dust settled, the Cardinals were up, 8-5.

It wasn’t over yet, but the Padres were back to square one and were down by three runs. They could only muster one run in the fourth to get within two, 6-8.

Pat Tenorio Jr. then padded the Cardinals’ lead to three runs again in the fifth, and it stayed a 9-6 ballgame until the seventh inning. The Padres were mum and prayed to the high heavens for a savior that didn’t come as the Cardinals’ Nokki Saralu and Eli Aughenbaugh took their game to the next level with two runs in the seventh, and two more runs in the eighth. Tony Tenorio and T.J. Sablan added two more for a 15-6 total at the top of the eighth.

It was lights out for the Padres as they scrounged up just two more runs at the bottom of the eighth, and the Cardinals flew into a blowout 17-8 game to clinch the first game of the best-of-three championship series.

If weather permits, Game 2 is scheduled for tonight at 6:30pm.