Padres advance to semis over Blue Jays, 7-4

The Padres kicked the Blue Jays out of contention after they won, 7-4, in the continuation of the postseason of the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League last Thursday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

It was a slow burn for both teams at the plate as the night had a chill that a rainy August could only bring. Fortunately, it didn’t rain so the game could be completed after multiple rained out games over the past two weeks.

When the batters finally heated up, the Blue Jays had first dibs at home base as Terrel Rabago reached from an RBI single by Frankie Lieto for a 1-0 lead in the third inning. They could’ve tacked on more runs but left runners on base after Padres pitcher Jose Deleon Guerrero said enough was enough and registered the minimum three outs.

Then, in the next inning, the Padres finally came out to play as their catcher Austin Benavente led things off with a base on balls. A second base on balls was issued by Blue Jays ace Kevin Kapileo, and it all went downhill from there.

Benavente and Jordan Suel scored, followed by two more runs. Then back to the top of the lineup, Ben Jones and J.R. Suel rounded the bases to make it 6-1.

The Blue Jays were mum in the fifth, but found life again in the sixth as Lieto scored for a 2-6 game.

Then the Padres, even with a four-run lead, added another insurance run in the eighth to make it 7-2. That was the icing on the cake as the Blue Jays conjured up just two more runs and failed to rally further, for a 4-7 loss.

The Padres will face off in the semis against the winner of the Bandits vs. Sandlot.

Last Friday’s game between the Bandits vs. Sandlot was postponed due to technical issues on the field. If the weather permits, it’ll be played tonight. The Falcons faced off against the Cardinals last night in the first semis game if it didn’t get rained out.