Baseball Game Preview: Manzano Monarchs vs. Sandia Matadors

Manzano hasn't had much luck against Sandia recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Monarchs will head out on the road to challenge the Matadors at 10:00 a.m. Manzano has given up an average of 9.4 runs per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Manzano is headed into Saturday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Saturday. They lost 16-5 to La Cueva. That's two games in a row now that the Monarchs have lost by exactly 11 runs.

Aljaris Pineda was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Grant Lord was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Sandia). They put the hurt on Santa Fe with a sharp 22-3 victory on Saturday. The Matadors have beaten the Demons the last nine times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Demons has come to flipping the script.

Sandia pushed their record up to 14-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Manzano, they now have a losing record of 7-8.

Manzano couldn't quite get it done against Sandia when the teams last played back in March of 2022 as they fell 15-10. Can the Monarchs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.