Agulto goes gonzo to upset Braves, 11-7

The Northern Yankees picked up their second win of the season on Tuesday night largely due to the efforts of one-man band Jesse Agulto, who pitched and hit through seven quality innings to hand the Tanapag Braves their fifth loss of the season.

The primetime edition of the Big League returned to Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field in upsetting fashion as the previously one-win Yankees upended the Braves to drop them to 6-5.

Agulto performed well in all aspects of the contest, as the Yank’s starting pitcher went the distance in the seven-inning contest, allowing seven runs off of nine hits with 12 strikeouts to pick up the win.

Though his team was trailing 4-3 after three, Agulto had only given up two hits, but all three of the batters he walked eventually crossed home plate to put the Yankees in a hole.

Agulto eventually found his control and walked only Henry Iguel the rest of the way, while his team cranked up their offensive machine in the clutch.

Shortstop Jeff Saures hit a solid 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a walk, and two runs scored—including the game winner, while teammate Lense Ogarto went 3-for-4 with three base knocks and three runs batted in.

Ogarto knocked in Agulto before scoring the final run for the Yankees, but Agulto led the way for New York’s namesakes with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate that yielded two singles and a two-run triple to finish the night with three RBI’s and three runs scored.

At 2-8, the Yankees still have a long way to go before being able to call themselves contenders, but now is the right time for them to hit their stride as any of the four teams will have a shot in the playoffs.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead at the top of the first when Robert Sellem scored on a throwing error that also allowed Saures to reach base, but the Braves answered back in their next at bat when Sato Manalo capitalized on an error as well. The Yankees took the lead back in the bottom of the second when Brian Guerrero and Agulto crossed home plate for a 3-1 advantage, but the Braves battled back to score three in the top of the third to complete their obligation to the seesaw scoring trend.

After trailing 4-3 through four and a half innings, the Yankees put together a pair of four-run innings in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to take a commanding 11-4 lead before the Braves answered back in the top of the seventh with three runs.