Brewers outgun Pirates

The Pirates took the lead early, but weren’t able to add to it until the seventh inning, as they dropped another game to the Brewers, 9-4, at the Francisco M. Palacios baseball field Wednesday night.

The Brewers took a couple of innings to get started, but a three-run third, highlighted by a Tony Celis homer, sparked a 7-0 scoring run over four innings. They were able to withstand a three-run rally by the Pirates in the seventh, and added a pair of their own in the eighth to seal the deal.

This is the second win in a row for the Brewers, and their sixth win in the last seven games. Sitting just a half game behind first place, the Brew crew is exactly where they want to be as they near their final game with the Yankees.

The Pirates know that they are capable of better games. At 4-5, they are in third place, and if not for a sub-par performance by the D9ers, they may have found themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time.

Wasting no time, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead by scoring in the first, when Peter Tomokane brought Mario Sablan home with a base hit. Brewers’ pitcher Byron Kaipat had a little difficulty finding the strike zone in the first, walking three. He was able to do just fine afterwards, striking out six and walking one until reliever Roy Celis came in, two-thirds through the seventh.

Down one-zip in the third, Jester Garcia led off the inning for the Brewers, getting on base via a Norman Tenorio walk. Tenorio was still in the giving spirit, as he let Garcia balk his way to second. Celis was the next to bat for the crew, and he got the joint jumpin’ when he out drove the fence line to give them a 2-1 lead. JR Suel later added to the lead when Bruce Norita took one for the team.

Over the next three innings, Francis George, Norita, Ray Seman, and Celis would cross the plate for the Crew before the Pirates could respond.

It was 7-1 going into the seventh, and the Pirates were determined to get something going for their team. JJ Laniyo flied out to start, but the following batter got the party started as Jason Gay reached first. Jerome Delos Santos singled and Mario Sablan tripled to continue the rally. Tomokane knocked in Sablan with a single, and later advanced to second off a Kaipat wild pitch. Kaipat was done for the night after walking Joey Dela Cruz, allowing Roy Celis to come to the mound. Celis K’d Ed Kapileo to end the rally and the inning.

The Brewers scored two more runs in the eighth as Garcia and Tony Celis crossed the plate again, giving them a five-run lead. Two more shots at Celis yielded nothing for the Pirates, as they went down to the Brewers 4-9.

The D9ers face the Yankees Friday night in the battle of extremes, while the Pirates face the Niners Wednesday, May 26. Both games are scheduled for 6:30pm at the Francisco M. Palacios field.