Baseball Recap: Manzano Takes a Loss

The home team had won the previous five meetings between Manzano and Sandia, and Sandia kept the tradition alive. The Monarchs fell just short of the Matadors by a score of 13-11 on Saturday. The Monarchs haven't had much luck with the Matadors recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.

Diego Bustamante

Earned Runs

04/05/25 vs La Cueva	6
03/04/25 vs Valley	3
03/15/25 vs Albuquerque	1
03/01/25 vs West Mesa	1

Diego Bustamante was huge no matter where he played even without the win. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Manzano is 4-2 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 3-8 otherwise. Bustamante was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.

In other batting news, Aljaris Pineda was cooking despite his team's loss, going 4-for-5 with two runs and one triple. That triple was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Landon Stewart, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.

Manzano's loss dropped their record down to 7-10. As for Sandia, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record up to 16-3.

Coming up, Manzano will face off against Del Norte at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Monarchs are facing the Knights at the right time seeing as the Knights are stuck on an eight-game losing streak. As for Sandia, they will venture away from home to challenge Eldorado at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Matadors 3.9, the Golden Eagles 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.