MANILA, Philippines – Undermanned Batangas downed Cebu, 4-2, yesterday to close in on a 10-game sweep of the classification phase in Baseball Philippines Series Five at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.
The Bulls, playing without top hitters Junifer Pinero and Virgilio Roxas, scored two runs on a key error in the fifth inning and then went to pitcher Romeo Jasmin in the final three frames to hold down the Dolphins.
Batangas, which was already assured of the first of two outright semifinal berths, thus booked a ninth straight win and could cap a sweet sweep if it could hurdle the same Cebu nine at 7 a.m. today at the same venue.
“We would need all the momentum we could get and I think a sweep would do it,” said Batangas manager Randy Dizer.
Ericson Eguia parked Sebastian Uichico’s fastball deep into right field in the fourth inning that broke a scoreless deadlock and gave the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
But the Jonard Pareja sneaked in a run on an errant throw by second baseman Jesse Natauanan from a groundball by big boy Miggy Corcuera in the fifth to knot the count at 1-all.
Natauanan, however, made for it as he and Jose Jose drew consecutive walks to open the bottom of the fifth and waited their chance to come.
The golden opportunity came thanks to Pareja, who miscalculated a throw that allowed gave Batangas a 3-1 lead, an advantage it kept to until the end to preserve the win.
Earlier, Alabang pummeled the struggling Forward Taguig Patriots, 16-1, in a shortened seven-inning affair as brothers Matt and Jay Laurel and US-based Carlos Borromeo all homered for the Tigers.
It was Alabang’s second straight win to climb up to a record of 3-6 while the Patriots remained in the cellar with a dismal 1-8 card.
Over at the Sto Nino Baseball Field in Marikina City, the Manila Sharks claimed second spot in the team standings after a 10-9 win over the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers.
Manila overtake Cebu with a record of 5-3 after the latter fell to 4-3 following the loss to the Bulls while Dumaguete slipped to 3-5.