Brewers take 2-0 lead in finals

The Miller Lite Brewers relied on their bats as they did it again Friday night, downing the Northern Yankees 9-6 in Game 2 of the Saipan Major League best-of-five championships at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

The Brewers got a complete game out of pitcher Joe Guerrero in a game that barely resembled the defensive battle in Game 1. Guerrero did a good job holding off a late Yankees charge in the eighth inning, and received a lot of help from the Brewers offense to keep the lead alive.

“In the eighth inning they were just hitting my ball, hitting it down the gap. [In the] ninth inning I just changed around the pitches, moved around on the mound, and got them to hit ground balls. We had good defense and teamwork,” said Guerrero.

The scoring started in the first when both teams combined for six runs, but it was the Brew crew that had the 4-2 lead. The Yankees later tacked on a run, but it was the Brewers that continued to add to their lead with a run in the fourth and fifth before a three-run seventh. The pinstripers rallied for three in the eighth, but to no avail as Guerrero closed the door to pick up the win.

There was a little bit of controversy in the eighth when the umpires made three rulings on a balk that had both of the managers in a stir.

“Well, it’s really confusing because I witnessed the balk. The chief umpire called it a balk. At the same time, the runner beat the tag [at home]. The official call at first was a balk but it was over-ruled by the second base umpire and then was overturned, but still the runner was safe because the tag was late.

On the other hand, when they did not rule a balk, the runner is entitled to have third base because that’s a live ball. So, they overturned it again and they came up with the first ruling as a balk-it’s the runner that cannot move, but still, I don’t agree with that-but it’s no longer a balk” said Yankees manager Faustino Camacho.

Guerrero didn’t agree with the call at the time, and explained his view.

I got confused. [The umpire] called a balk. He said that I was full-winding, but it was a half-wind. Then I saw the runner coming so I stepped out and-boom, he called a balk. According to my manager, the ump said that I was in full wind, but I wasn’t in full wind. I’ve been pitching my whole life. I know that if I half-wind, step out, and throw home and it’s not a balk, but let him call it. We got back to the game and I got the three outs. You don’t want to argue with the umpires.”

Chris Camacho and reliever Jonathan Jones pitched a good game in the loss for the Yankees, but now they need to figure out who is going to start in tonight’s Game 3. Elmer Sablan and Jones seemed to have the Brewers figured out in Game 1, but they received no help from their offense. Camacho is still trying figure out where his offense has gone.

“I am still confident in my players. I still cannot figure out why they cannot hit the ball. I won’t blame much on the long layoff that they had. I think that they lost the momentum and the spirit of playing ball. I talked to them, and I will talk to them over the weekend and we’ll try to have this thing go until Game 5. I am confident that we can do it, but there’s one thing tat we are missing and that’s our sticks. I am still hoping that we’ll come back.”

The only team that was able to beat the Yankees twice during the regular season was the Brewers, and with a two-game lead in the now best-of-three finals, they appear to have momentum on their side going into Game 3.

Players and fans alike will have to wait for a while to see how the defending champs bounce back in Game 3 tonight, and if the first two games have been any indication, they will be in for a good one. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 6:30pm at Palacios Field.