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WITH the regular season winding down and playoffs looming around the corner, action in the Guam Masters Baseball League is heating up as teams are vying for their final position in the standings.

On Monday night, two games were on tap at the Paseo Stadium.

Giants 14, Cardinals 9

In the first of two games scheduled, the Pac Sports Giants and Kleene Guard Cardinals squared off in a battle for the fourth-place spot. At the end of the night, Pac Sports notched a 14-9 victory and pulled a half-game over the Cardinals. The Giants improved their season-record to 10-4 with the victory, while the Cardinals dropped to 9-4 on the season.

Pac Sports wasted no time early in the game and quickly opened up a three-run 3-0 lead in the first inning. However, Kleene Guard capitalized on costly errors by the Giants to eventually equalize the game at 3-3 in the top half of the second inning. Pac Sports answered back in their half of the second with two more runs and retook a 5-3 lead.

After giving up four runs in the bottom of the third inning to the Giants, the Cardinals needed to get something restarted offensively to prevent falling into a deeper hole. In the top of the fourth inning, Kleene Guard began to chip away at their deficit as they scored two runs making it a 9-5 game. With teammate Rick Cordero on base, Roland “Undu” Cruz sent one out of Paseo for a two-run homer.

The Cardinals held their own defensively and ended the Pac Sports side in the bottom of the fourth to put them right back at the plate. The Cardinals then scored two more runs to make it a two-run 9-7 game. However, a determined Giants squad responded huge again by tallying four runs to rebuild a huge 13-7 lead. Shon Muna led the mini-surge driving in a run after being credited with a double.

Last opportunity

Down 14-7, Kleene Guard had one last opportunity in the seventh inning for a comeback. In the inning, Cruz added two more RBIs to his count after hitting a single that drove in teammates George Barcinas and Leroy Leon Guerrero. Pac Sports quickly put what looked like the start of a rally to a halt as a successfully turned double play ended the game.

Vince Delgado led the Giants' offense going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored, while teammate Shon Muna went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. In the losing effort, Cruz, who went 3-for-4 with a homerun and five RBIs, led the Cardinals.

Twins 6, Masters 5

In the second game of the night, the Tamuning Twins picked up their ninth win of the season after defeating the A.C.I. Masters 6-5.

With both teams playing a tight game throughout, the score was knotted at 5-5 heading into the final inning. The Twins were able to put a runner in scoring position courtesy of an A.C.I. throwing error. Moments later, Ben Fama hit an RBI-single to drive in teammate Kang Lee for the game-winning run.

Tamuning’s Ken Santos earned the victory from the mound, while A.C.I.’s Ken Sablan was dealt the loss.