Pirates strike 1st in Masters League finals

The Pirates struck first to start off the best-of-three championship series in the 2023 Tan Holdings-SBL Masters League on a manic Monday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

They held off the Dodgers, 10-6, after scoring the majority of their runs in the first three innings, and their pitchers dominating the mound.

The Dodgers had the first at-bat and James Benavente led things off with a double, followed by a base on balls to Derek Aguon. Both rounded the bases for a two-run lead before Pirates pitcher Bill Camacho said enough and registered three outs.

The Pirates evened the game quickly though as Jerome Delos Santos and Mark Toves scored—and with a whip of the bat, Audie Maratita sent the ball flying past the fence for a homerun that put them up, 4-2.

Teammate Eric Palacios then hit a double and scored the fifth run before the end of the first inning.

The next inning saw another homerun—but this time by the Dodgers’ Ed Manibusan who hit a two-run jack that brought home John Acosta. That was all the damage they could do however, as Camacho quickly shut down the next three batters.

The Pirates still had a one-run lead, but clamored for more—and delivered as they scored two at the bottom of the second for a 7-4 lead. The Dodgers had minimal activity in the third inning which the Pirates capitalized on and continued to add to their lead with another two-run inning by Delos Santos and Pete Sablan to make it 9-4.

Pirates pitching then found themselves in a jam in the fourth inning, but managed to escape unscathed and hold on to their five-run lead. The Dodgers’ offense came back to life in the fifth inning as Rich Quitugua and Aguon scored, but great defensive plays by the Pirates’ shortstop saved them extra runs and put out their fire before it burned too hot.

Toward the end of the game, the Pirates felt like their lead was sufficient and didn’t score anymore until their last at-bat, but it was more than enough to take the win after the Dodgers’ bats turned ice cold from exceptional pitching by J.J. Laniyo and Sablan.

Tonight is Game 2 of the championship series. Will the Pirates win it all, or will the Dodgers win and force a tie-breaking third game this Friday? Catch the action at 6:30pm at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.