Yankees beat Rangers into submission

The Northern Yankees maintained sole possession of first place this morning as a result of their one-sided victory over the Ford Rangers at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field on Monday night, as they thumped the former Pirates 10-3 in their first head-to-head match-up in the Saipan Major League.

The Yankees took an early lead and held on the rest of the way with a combination of good pitching and clutch hitting.

Chris Camacho answered the call from manager Tino Camacho and manned the hill for five- and two-thirds innings before being relieved by Jonathan Jones in the sixth as the duo held the Rangers to four hits on the night.

Camacho allowed three runs off of three hits and fanned three in his time on the mound while Jones finished the final four and a third without surrendering a run, giving up one hit, and fanning five.

Rangers hurler Roy Celis was not his usual rocket-like self, as he allowed the Yankees to score 10 runs off of 18 hits through eight innings before Dung Tenorio gave up a hit in clean up duty in the ninth.

The Yankees improved their record to 9-1 with the win while the Rangers slid into third at 7-3—a game behind the second place Miller Lite Brewers and two games off of the pennant pace.

Centerfielder Clifton Silil led the ride on the Rangers with a near perfect 4-for-5 performance at the plate in which he smacked three singles and a triple en route to driving in three runs. Silil scored twice off of RBI singles hit by first baseman Tony Camacho, who finished 2-for-4 on the night, while leadoff hitter Ben Jones went 4-for-6 with three singles, a double, and an RBI.

Jones’ first at bat was remembered by the Rangers as the start of a bad night. The slugger hit a harmless shot to third, but the throw to first fell a bit shy and allowed the Yankees with a runner on second to start the game. He was driven home off of Silil’s triple in the next at bat, and Camacho knocked in Silil to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead early.

The pinstripers scored again in the top of the second to improve their lead to 4-0 before the Rangers finally woke up in the fourth when Jerome Delos Santos singled in Pete Tomokane. Tomokane scored again in the fifth after reaching base on an error and shortstop John Reyes scored as a result of one to pull to within one run of the Yankees, 3-4.

The wheels fell off of the trucks in the top of the sixth when the Yankees answered back with three runs off of five hits. While neither team was able to score in the seventh, the Yankees churned out a pair in the top of the eighth when Jones and Silil crossed home plate, and another tally in the top of the ninth capped scoring.

The contest was to be the second between the powerhouses, but relentless rains on Saturday forced a rescheduling of their first-round competition. Monday was their second round match-up. The date of the rematch has not yet been announced.