Padres, Natives bag wins in last regular season games

The Padres and Natives bagged wins in the last regular season games of the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League last Friday and Monday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

Last Monday, the Padres won, 5-3, over the Royals.

The game was quiet in the first four innings of the game as both teams could not connect the big hits and left runners on base. The Padres registered just one hit in the first, got one runner in the second off a walk, fell in order in the third, and finally got four runners on base but failed to bring them home.

The Royals were equally in shambles offensively as they didn’t record a hit but had three runners on base from walks and an error.

Finally, the Padres’ bats came alive in the fifth and they brought in five runs from Jonah Flores, Ben Jones, Jr. Suel, J.P. Sablan, and Austin Benavente. The Royals, on the other hand, came up short as they scored just three in the fifth off Nate Torres, Frank Norita, and Travis Malwebug for a 3-5 game.

The Padres’ pitching staff went on to shut down the Royals’ offense in the last inning and won by just two runs.

Meanwhile, the Natives’ swan song ended with their only win of the season after beating the White Sox, 8-4, last Friday.

The Natives drew first blood as the top two batters—Cam Towai and Tim Deleon Guerrero—scored two runs for an early 2-0 lead. The White Sox could not find the ball and left the first inning without a run, while the Natives put up four more in the second for a 6-0 game.

The White Sox finally rounded the bases and got on board in the fourth from a run by J.J. Laniyo to make it 1-6. However, the Natives went on to score two more, while the White Sox’s last-minute signs of life came too little too late as they scored three in the last inning, for an 4-8 final.

In the final regular season standings, the Falcons clinched the pennant with their 9-1 record; Bandits and Padres are tied at 8-2; the Cardinals are at 7-3; Sandlot, Braves, and Blue Jays are 6-4 each; and Royals are at an even 5-5; Bears are 4-6; D-9er’s are 3-7; White Sox are 2-8; Natives are 1-9; while Blue Shark lost all their games at 10 losses.

The postseason schedule has yet to be determined.