The Old Pueblo Tribe once again played an inter-squad matchup between the Red and the Gold and it was full of fireworks once again. A common phrase that has been uttered about this teams offense and defense this inaugural season for them.

After coming off of a 10-5 win over the Cerverceros on August 23rd, they were ready to replicate another game of fireworks.

1st Inning – Old Pueblo Tribe Red 0 – 0 Old Pueblo Tribe Gold

Andres Barrera got the start for the Gold in this one and made quick work of the Red. After a single and a walk got some early traffic on the base paths, that didn’t phase Barrera. He was able to force batters into weak contact and getting a swinging strikeout to end the inning with no damage done.

Then it was Alex Gamez who got the start for the Red, and this is where the first runs of the game came across.

Angel Faras got the traffic on the base paths started with his patience at the plate. He was able to draw the walk after drawing a full count. Dylan Hartmann came up to bat and was also able to draw a walk and a stolen base on the base paths.

Gary Mason Jr reached on an error which brought Angel Faras for the first run of the game.

Kaiden Reeve was then tasked with bringing in the rest of the runners on the base paths and that is exactly what he did. Reeve hit a 2-run RBI single, to bring the Gold’s lead to 3-0.

Mark Lynam was later hit by a pitch, then Alex Gamez was able to lock it down and get two straight strikeouts, ending the inning.

2nd Inning – Old Pueblo Tribe Red 0 – 3 Old Pueblo Tribe Gold

Barrera was also able to make quick work on the Red bringing in the hot bats back into the dugout quickly. He was able to force weak contact on three batters for a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Then in the bottom of the second, this brought up Cesar Santiago, Jesse De Haro and Andres Barrera in the 1-2-3 spots in the inning. Santiago was able to draw the walk and advance to second base after a wild pitch.

De Haro and Barrera both struck out, bringing the top of the lineup back into the game. Angel Faras was able to draw the walk but the inning was ended after a lineout for the third out of the inning.

A solid inning of work by both, Alex Gamez and Andy Barrera.

3rd Inning – Old Pueblo Tribe Red 0 – 3 Old Pueblo Tribe Gold

Cris Tejada, Alex Gamez and Danifer Diaz were due up for the Red in the top of the third inning, and both Cris Tejada (BB) and Alex Gamez (1B) both were able to reach base which was able to bring up the top of the lineup.

Hector Torres was tasked with drawing in both, Tejada and Gamez into home plate. Torres has already been batting a +.400 batting average this season. He once again proved his power at the plate, banging in a 3-run home-run shot. Torres has been having a huge season with the Tribe and this homer just justified it. Torres will definitely be a huge name to watch as the Tribe approaches their second season, and for professional ball scouts.

At this point, it was a tied ball game, 3-3, heading into the bottom of the third inning. But for one certain player, this didn’t sit right with him. That player was Gary Mason Jr. After Dylan Hartmann reached the base paths after a single of his own, Mason Jr, knew what had to be done. After a 1-0 count, Gary Mason Jr was able to construct some damage of his own, a huge 2-run homerun to bring the Gold’s lead to 5-3 in the top of the third inning.

The third inning was ended after Alex Gamez was able to get two strikeouts as well as Hector Torres showing off his pop speed by catching a runner stealing second base.

4th Inning – Old Pueblo Tribe Red 3 – 5 Old Pueblo Tribe Gold

As I mentioned, Gary Mason Jr wasn’t to content with leaving this game tied. But Art Madrigal felt the same way in this scenario. With two outs on the board, Madrigal did what many in the Red dugout expected him to do. That was a huge solo-shot HR to dig into the Gold’s lead, now the score was just 5-4. Madrigal has also been having an amazing season, batting a huge +.350 BA this season and will also be another huge name to watch going into the next season.

Mike De La Cruz was also able to snag a stolen base after his single in the fourth inning. De La Cruz has been a huge threat every time he gets on base, ready to steal a base at a moments notice.

Now the bottom of the fourth inning was definitely the moment where the most fireworks so stay with me here. It all started off after Matt Jankowski, Cesar Santiago and Jesse De Haro all reached base via walks. After the walks to Jankowski and Santiago, this opted an early call to the bullpen. This situation gave Danifer Diaz a huge opportunity with traffic on the bases. But this situation also loaded up the bases for Marcus Catalano, one of the hottest hitters the Tribe has to offer. Catalano reached base on error which scored three total runs. Bringing the Gold’s lead to 8-3 after Catalano reached first base on an error, this allowed Jankowski, Santiago and De Haro all showed off their speed to reach home on that error.

Dylan Hartmann was also able to reach home after his double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Dylan Hartmann and Marcus Catalano were both able to reach home plate after an error by the right fielder to the catcher.

Danifer Diaz was able to make quick work of the Gold despite the errors, and was able to lock it down for a 3-strikeout inning.

This brought the final inning tally to 5 runs scored by the Gold, bringing their lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

5th Inning – Old Pueblo Tribe Red 4 – 10 Old Pueblo Tribe Gold

Andres Barrera was making quick work of the Red’s lineup in the top of the fifth inning, getting a quick weak fly out to the catcher for the first out of the inning. He later struck out a batter for the second out of the inning, but Alex Gamez was standing strong at first base after his single to shortstop. During Hector Torres third at bat of the game, Gamez saw a golden opportunity to further advance him into scoring position. But Gamez getting into prime scoring position wasn’t even needed as Hector Torres, who had already homered in his previous at-bat, decided to do the unthinkable. Homering once again in a huge position, to cut down the Gold’s lead to four, bringing Alex Gamez home on a huge 2-run RBI homer. Michael Vasquez (1B) and Jojo Escarcega (2B) both also reached base. They were in prime scoring position for M.Duran, who reached base on an error and was able to bring home Vasquez and Escarcega. Bringing the score to 10-8, as he went to the bottom of the fifth inning. This brought up Matt Jankowski, who was set to take on the reliever position in this one. He came in with two outs in the inning, and despite having traffic on the bases, and an error score some runs. Jankowski wasn’t phased at all, attacking the very next batter and getting the strike out in six pitches.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, with Danifer Diaz still in the game for the Red, he was once again able to make quick work of the Gold’s lineup. Striking out two and forcing one into a weak fly-out. At just two innings pitched, Diaz was already up to a huge five strikeouts, and definitely had a ton more in the gas tank for more.

The Pitchers Duel (6th inning – 9th inning)

The bottom of the fifth inning by Danifer Diaz started off a pitchers duel that went inning by inning till the end of the game. Both Matt Jankowski (4.1 IP) and Danifer (5.0 IP) were in for their respective relief appearances and didn’t allow a single run during those appearances.

Jankowski made quick work of the Red in the top of the sixth inning by getting one strikeout, then two weak contact hits, a ground out and a line out.

Diaz did a little bit of the same, getting two straight strikeouts and despite allowing a single to Adriel De Haro. That didn’t bother Danifer at all, he was able to quickly attack Barrera and after getting ahead in the count 1-2, Danifer forced him into a groundout. Ending the inning with no damage done.

Matt Jankowski made sure that everyone he faced on Saturday, knew that he was dealing. His seventh inning performance put that thought in everyone’s mind though.

Jankowski made quick work and got a 3-pitch strikeout on the first batter, and making quick work of the next two batters on 4-pitch strikeouts. Jankowski had the most perfect 1-2-3 inning that he could’ve asked for.

In the top of the seventh for Diaz, he was able to force all three batters into weak contact for some quick outs, even despite having speedster, Catalano on the base paths. Catalano was able to draw the walk from Danifer but, Diaz made quick work after Catalano and got the third out of the inning.

Jankowski once again came out for the top of the eighth inning and it was another 1-2-3 inning for Matt. Jankowski actually finished his night with four straight 1-2-3 innings, not allowing a singular hit through his 4.1 innings of appearance. It was a huge night for Jankowski, especially considering that just before he came into the game, the Red’s bats were HOT. Scoring eight runs in just five innings, but Jankowski was just on his game on Saturday, and everyone quickly realized, that this was Jankowski’s night.

Diaz’s night was also hugely impressive, in five innings of work, Diaz was able to strikeout 10 batters. For reference, Danifer only faced 20 batters on Saturday and was able to strikeout 50% of them. He was also able to produce a ton of weak contact on the base paths for easy outs for his defense. Allowing the defense to work behind him on easy plays rather than extending the AB.

Here are both Matt Jankowski’s and Danifer Diaz’s final lines from their appearances on Saturday.

Jankowski: 4.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 52 P, 37 STK

Diaz: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO, 88 P, 57 STK