Challengers hand Cards first loss with a 12-7 upset

The Challengers won the first contest of Saturday's doubleheader against the Bern Cardinals, handing the Swiss Champions their first defeat in 2009.

Starting the season 13-0, the Cards were favorites to keep their streak alive against the Challengers.

But the Zurich squad played an almost flawless game, and profited from a shaky Cardinals defense late in the game.

Reliever Tobias Siegrist was credited with the win as he tossed four innings, allowing only two unearned runs on four hits and four walks, while also striking out six.

After scoring only three runs in the opening innings off Christoph Beyeler, the Challengers broke through in the seventh inning against reliever Tobias Imboden.

They sent 11 batters to the plate in that inning, and took the lead at 9-5 by scoring six times. Yonimiler Martinez' two-run double highlighted the inning in which five consecutive Challengers reached safely with one out before Imboden managed to record the second out. Two walks and a wild pitch later, the Cardinals, all of a sudden, were trailing with just two innings left.

They got back two runs in the bottom of the eighth on substitute Angel Maduro's misplay at first base, but Siegrist managed to stop it right there by getting Sam Paulino to fly out to deep left field.

The Challengers tacked on three more insurance runs in the top of the ninth as the Cardinals' defense was non-existent by committing four huge errors, two alone by first baseman Ron Zimmermann on the same play. First, he misplayed the throw from third baseman Rudi Vargas, and then fired the ball back to third in an attempt to get Martinez. But the ball sailed out of play, enabling another run to score.

Yonimiler Martinez was the only Challenger with extra-base hits as he ripped two doubles, also collecting two RBI's.

Game notes
Siegrist took sole possession of third place on the all-time list for walks as he was walked twice for career walks 153 and 154. ...The 3-4-5 batters of the Cardinals' lineup went a combined 5-for-14, but didn't get a single RBI.