WITH its players wielding hot bats, Manila
scored a lopsided 11-5 win over Antipolo yesterday in a duel
of unbeaten teams and streaked to its fourth straight victory
in Baseball Philippines Series 3 tournament at the Rizal
Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Sharks decided the outcome in the third
and fourth innings where they scored eight runs, with national
team mainstay Niño Tator keying the romp with four RBIs and
capping his game-long brilliance with a home run to left field
that landed outside the ballpark.
"Determinado silang maglaro. Hindi kami
naghahanap ng home run, basta maganda lang ang mga palo namin,"
said Manila manager Joel Palanog, whose charges came up with
15 hits.
Manila’s starting pitcher, Romeo Jasmin,
allowed only three runs while giving up five hits in four and
one-third innings. His reliver, Joseph Albindo, yielded a hit
and two runs.
National player Charlie Labrador, who
usually starts for the Sharks, closed out with a no-hitter in
the ninth as the Sharks notched their fourth win in row in the
league organized by Community Sports Inc.
Batangas stunned defending champion Cebu,
scoring a come-from-behind 8-6 victory in the second game. In
the third game, Taguig notched its first win in four games by
beating Makati 10-0 in seven innings via the mercy rule.
Roel Batuto finished off a five-run binge
in the sixth frame with a pinch-hit, two-run homer off fellow
national player Joseph Orillana to left field to power
Batangas to a 7-4 lead from a 2-4 deficit.
The Bulls improved to 2-1 in a tie with the
Pilgrims.
Cebu scored two runs on Batangas errors in the first but
the latter tied it up with a two-run home run by Virgilio
Roxas.
