Braves early blast beats Yankees, 9-5

He may not have known it when he laced up his cleats before his team readied for the Northern Yankees on Tuesday night, but John Tudela did just about everything for the Braves to help them earn their fourth win of the Big League season at the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

Tudela went seven innings in the complete game win in which he allowed five runs off of nine hits, walked a batter, hit an unsuspecting Kevin Babauta in the bottom of the third, and struck out seven to keep the Yankees at bay.

Tudela had a solid night at the plate as well, hitting 2-for-4 with a single, a double, a run scored, a run batted in, and a stolen base. The hurler got plenty of help from his teammates, as shortstop Sato Manalo wielded the big stick with a pair of singles and a run scored, while late edition Jess Norita went a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of base knocks and a stolen bag.

The ace first took the hill in the bottom of the first inning with a 2-0 lead courtesy of his single that drove in Henry Iguel and Jordan Suel scoring on an error. Tudela than fanned a pair and gave up a single in four batters faced. Suel singled in Myron San Nicholas in the top of the second before Tudela trotted out to the mound in the bottom of the inning, gave up a couple more hits, and made another pair of batters whiff to leave the mound with a 3-0.

Tudela led off the third with a single to get the Braves offense in gear and would later cross the plate amidst a six-run, five-hit inning that broke the game open. When the dust finally settled, Tudela got into a little trouble of his own when he allowed the Yankees to come back with four runs off of three hits, but his manager stuck with him. Despite a passed ball and a bean ball, Tudela escaped with a 9-4 lead.

There was a distinct lack of pings from the Yankees aluminum bats in the next three innings, as the boys from the northern end of Saipan were only able to manage a single in the fifth before notching a pair of hits in the seventh. The hard-hitting hiatus was music to Tudela’s ears, as he set the arm on cruise control the rest of the way.

Right fielder Betti Tomokane was slugging away as well with a single, a triple, a run scored, and two runs batted in to give the Braves a little breathing room atop the Big League standings.

Big League action continues tonight at Tan Ko field when the Comets take on the same Northern Yankees in a battle for sole possession of second place at 6:30pm in Oleai.