Dulei directs Masters over Mets, 10-9

After trailing 5-2 through three complete innings on Monday night, Kaleb Dulei ran in from left field in relief of starting pitcher Nic Guerrero in the top of the fourth inning and led the Freedom Air Masters to an improbable comeback in continuation of the 2005 edition of the Saipan Major League at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field in Oleai.

Dulei held the Metropolitans’ bats at bay and reached a milestone before his team got its offense in gear to force extra innings.

With the score tied at nine apiece, the Masters’ saviour drove in the game-winning run when he singled in Ben Dueñas in the top of the 10th inning. All that remained was the final three outs for the San Antonio nine. Dulei first fanned Ryuji Kobayashi, and got Scharm Rengiil to ground out to second before he left Bobby Castro looking at a called strike three in the bottom of the tenth.

Dulei finished the night without walking a batter and allowing five runs off of four hits through seven innings to pick up the win, and he did so without walking a batter. After striking out two batters in each of the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and 10th innings, he picked up his 12th ‘K’ against Castro to tally his 22nd of the season, but his lifetime strikeout total is a little more significant.

Dulei entered the game with 694 career strikeouts in the SML, and became only the second hurler in league history to reach 700 when he fanned John Sablan in the bottom of the sixth to join all-time record holder Tony Benevente (816). By the time it was over, Dulei recorded career strikeout 706.

He had control of his pitches as well as his bat as Dulei also dominated on the other side of the plate with four singles and a double in six trips to the batter’s box to finish the night 5-for-6 with a plate crossing.

The Masters finished the night with 17 hits, and aside from Dulei also got a quality night at the plate from third baseman Ben Dueñas, who went 3-for-5 with three singles and three runs scored.

Neither team scored when Dulei entered the game in the fourth inning, but the Masters began to chip away at the San Antonio lead when they scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to pull to within one.

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning before the Masters turned the game around when Duenas, Mesa Henry Huet, and Dennis Cruz crossed home plate amidst a four-run, five-hit seventh that gave them their first lead of the game, 8-5.

The Mets answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Master added another in the top of the eighth to take a 9-7 advantage. With two outs, Otsuka Masatoshi smacked a ball that was mishandled by Duenas and allowed Rengiil and Toru Tarutani to score to tie the game at nine apiece. Neither team was able to score in the ninth, allowing for Dulei’s late-game heroics.