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Yankees stay alive, win Game 3
The Saipan Stevedore Yankees huddle during Game 2 of their title series against the GSM Brewers in the 2014 Saipan Baseball League last Monday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. The Yankees lost Game 2, but came back in Game 3 to remain in contention.
(ROSELYN B. MONROYO)
The Yankees will try to equalize the best-of-five championship showdown with another victory in tonight’s Game 4, while the Brewers will make their second attempt to close the series.
The pennant champions gave the Brewers a dose of their own medicine, playing solid defense in Game 3 to avert the defending champions’ bid for a series sweep. The Brewers, who allowed the Yankees to score in only one inning in each of the first two games, this time made no more than one run in the three innings they hit the board.
The Yankees’ strong defense forced the Brewers to back-to-back 1-2-3 plays in the first two innings, which ended with the former on top, 2-0. Rightfielder Brian Camacho gave the Yankees their first run at the bottom of the first, as his single drove leadoff batter A.J. Lizama home. Camacho also reached home plate off Greg Iskawa’s single.
The Brewers moved within one with Roy Celis scoring off Ben Flores’ error at third base at the top of the third and the defending champions had a chance to steal the lead with runners on first and second. However, the Yankees made a double play to keep the upper hand with shortstop Lizama tagging out Ton Leon Guerrero at second before throwing to first baseman Gary Cruz for the third out.
After the missed opportunities, the Brewers managed to tie the match with Tyrone Omar blasting an RBI single at the top of the fifth.
The deadlock did not last long, however, as leftfielder Ben Jones countered with a two-RBI double at the bottom of the fifth and he also scored off Leon Guererro’s miscue to lift the Yankees to a 5-2 advantage.
The Yankees kept the driver’s seat, as their defense held the Brewers to only one run in the last four innings. The Brewers got their third run in the seventh inning with Leon Guerrero reaching off Flores’ booboo at third base. The defending champions failed to launch a rally, as they went 1-2-3 in the sixth and ninth inning and were done in the eighth after only four batters, as the Yankees worked out another double play.
