Mets suffer seventh loss at hands of Brewers, 15-5

The defending champion Miller Lite Brewers turned a competitive one-run game with San Antonio Metropolitans into a massacre when they exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to earn their sixth campaign of the 2005 edition of the Saipan Major League.

The Brewers turned their one-run lead into an eight-run divide when they converted four hits, three walk, and an error into seven runs half-way through the game. The offense took the pressure off reliever Jonathan Camacho, who entered the game in the in the top of the third after starter Byron Kaipat failed to find success on the hill.

Kaipat was credited with four runs against through the first two innings before Camacho handled the final five with a run off of four hits and four strikeouts.

On the offensive side, shortstop Dane Lizama had a solid 3-for-5 performance at the plat with three singles, an RBI, a stolen base, and three scores, while third baseman Tony Celis added to the seven-run salvo with a three-run single. Celis finished the evening 3-for-5 with two singles and a triple, four runs batted in, a stolen base, and a run scored for the Brewers.

As they have done in several of their contests throughout the season, the Mets led off the game with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. In keeping with tradition, the 1-7 team surrendered the lead when the Brewers scored a trio in the bottom of the second for the 3-1 lead. The San Antonio squad retook the lead in their next at bat when they rallied for three runs in the top of the third to take a 4-1 advantage, and the Brewers took their turn on the seesaw when they scored a pair to take a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

After the Mets failed to answer in the fifth, the Brew crew made up for the Mets’ apparent lack of offense with a double-dose of their own as they scored seven runs off of four hits to take a commanding 12-4 lead.

The stunned San Antonio squad managed a run in the top of the sixth, but it was a far cry from the rally they needed, and the Brewers went on to score three more runs to end the game when the umpires invoked the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Brewers’ catcher Manny Sablan continued his consistent hitting with a 2-for-4 outing that net the nimble all-star a pair of singles, two runs batted in, and a stolen base.

The win keeps the Brewers in the running for the pennant with a record of 6-2, but they still trail the first place Ford Rangers (6-1) and the Northern Yankees (5-1), who play each other this Saturday evening, May 21 at Tan Ko field at 6:30pm.