Metropolitans mentor Masters, 17-13

The San Antonio Metropolitans erupted for eight runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead for good, as they earned their first win of the season with a 17-13 victory over the Freedom Air Masters on a night that featured a record from their rookie shortstop Mike Palacios in the continuation of the 2005 season of the Saipan Major League.

Down 7-6 after three complete, the Mets roared to life in the top of the fourth inning to score eight runs off of seven hits to double up on the Freedom Air Masters and wrest control of what was an otherwise close game.

Palacios provided the stability at the No. 2 spot in the line up for the San Antonio nine en route to duplicating what only Tony Camacho and Jack Taitano accomplished in the SML by hitting a perfect 6-for-6.

The contact hitter slugged four singles, a pair of doubles, scored three times, and drove in two runs to match the seldom- reached mark and to give his team an advantage at the plate.

Taitano was the first to set the record when he went 6-for-6 on March 20, 1988, while Camacho reached the mark twice. The first was on April 30, 1988, and the second 11 years later on March 29, 1999.

Palacios wasn’t the only member of the Mets who had a hot stick, as left fielder Adrian Castro went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run batted in, and starting pitcher Ryuji Kobayashi went 2-for-5 at the plate with a single, a double, and a run batted in.

Unfortunately for Kobayashi, the hurler didn’t experience the same success atop the hill, as he pulled himself from the game after only one and one third innings after experiencing some difficulties with his windup that caused him to bawk in two runs.

Kolani Castro took the hill for the struggling Kobayashi and fanned a pair of batters to get the Mets out of the inning in a 5-5 tie. Leo Bobai and Tom Sakuma crossed home in the bottom of the third inning to give the Masters the lead, but the Mets quickly regained the advantage with the eight-run rampage.

The Masters fell to 0-3 on the season, but one bright spot for the struggling squad was the play of shortstop Ben Mesa who hit 3-for-5 and was a double away from hitting for the cycle. Mesa finished the night with an inside-the-park homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning, a single, a triple, and three runs batted in.