OWN CORRESPONDENT

JOHANNESBURG - Bottom-of-the-log Pretoria Padres defeated the Marks Park Mustangs 9-6 in a shock Major League Baseball result on Sunday.

Padres caught Mustangs on the back foot as they scored one run in the first innings and then five in the next. The first two runs in the second inning came from a home-run by Lewellyn Gerber and the next three off another home-run by JP Lourens.

The first five runs threw Mustangs completely off their game. Mustangs, usually a strong hitting side, were only able to score one run off Padres pitcher Kyle Garrett in the fourth, though Mustangs at times were unlucky as Padres took some top quality catches.

Padres again scored two more runs in the fifth to take the score to 9-1.

Mustangs showed signs of life late in the game as Archie Mokotedi and Eric van Rookhuyzen each hit solo home-runs in the bottom of the eighth and Mustangs manufactured another run to reduce the deficit.

Mustangs managed to load the bases in the last three innings but just didn’t capitalise and left too many runners on bases. In the bottom of the ninth innings Mustangs scored two runs and had runners on one and two with the tying run at the plate before Padres got the out.

Top hitters for Padres were Campbell van der Merwe (three for five) and Brian Lourens (one for two). Top hitters for Mustangs were Mokotedi (three for four) and Van Rookhuyzen (two for four).

In another match on Sunday the Randburg Mets beat Boksburg Cardinals 4-1 in a closely fought pitching duel. Both teams’ starting pitcher threw the entire game; Matthew Cooley for Cardinals and Brendon Mitchell for Mets. Mitchell threw 13 strike-outs, shutting out Cardinals for eight innings before only giving up one run. In the other match of the weekend Edenvale Giants beat Benoni Indians 15-0.