Night and day: A tale of the Chihuahuas first two home games

What began as the home season debut turned into day and night for the El Paso Chihuahuas, who came back home on Tuesday.

At about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday night, the last bit of Chihuahuas fans trickled out of Southwest University Park after El Paso's embarrassing 14-1 loss to Salt Lake in their home opener.

They were beat badly just a day after the Chihuahuas shutout Las Vegas 14-0 on Monday. Even former Chihuahua outfielder Jabari Blash got some cheers from the crowd last night when he hit a two-run home run in the second inning.

As the Chihuahuas started a comeback, trailing 4-1, the Bees went off for 10 combined runs in the seventh and eighth, ultimately resulting in the 14-1 loss.

Just a bit after 2 p.m. on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, the Chihuahuas found redemption in comeback fashion, beating out Salt Lake 4-3 in a special day game.

Javy Guerra and Luis Urias led the charge for El Paso, as Guerra hit a two-run home run at the bottom of the sixth and Urias went 3-for-5. It was right fielder Shane Peterson that hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, which would then solidify the 4-3 win.

But what was more important was the fact of the atmosphere that was felt in Southwest University Park. What was once just a dream for local baseball fans became a reality in 2014, and now year five for the club is here.

It's amazing how the Triple-A club has not only engrained its name in local sports, but has also become El Paso's top sporting organization. No, it's not the Miners football or basketball team that everyone's talking about. It's Chihuahuas baseball.

Four years ago, there wasn't a consistent color palette at Southwest University Park. But on Tuesday, just about every single fan was wearing red, black or white to commemorate their home team.

And the numbers are still there. There were 9,231 roaring fans who witnessed a disappointing 14-1 loss on a Tuesday, with about 2,000 still in the stands up until the end. There were over 6,000 fans on a Wednesday afternoon to watch the Chihuahuas play their second home game of the season.

That says one huge thing about this city and the sport: they're both working together to do something right. The marketing stays fresh at Southwest University Park, the merchandise is better than ever and come tomorrow, the rest of this week and for the 2018 season, Chihuahuas baseball is alive and well in El Paso.