Bulls, Sharks arrange title clash

MANILA, Philippines - Batangas and defending champion Manila whisked off their respective semifinal rivals yesterday to set up a title showdown for the Dunkin’ Donuts Baseball Philippines Series VII at the Felino Marcelino Baseball Stadium in Taguig City.

The Bulls fended off a late Alabang Tigers’ charge and hacked out a 7-6 victory while the Harbour Centre-backed Manila dominated the Cebu Dolphins to fashion out a 13-5 romp.

Batangas and Manila start their best-of-three championship series on Dec. 11 in a rematch of the Series V titular showdown which the Bulls won.

Jon Jon Robles and Junifer Pinero blasted two-run hits in the fourth inning with Robles making up for the two-run home runs he yielded to Cebu’s Christian Maghanoy and Jennard Pareja in the second and third innings, respectively.

The Dolphins tied the game at four midway at the top of the third before the Sharks cashed in on a sacrifice fly by Jarus Inobio to score Junifer Pinero, who sparked the fourth inning splurge with an RBI single to score Francis Candela and Marvin Malig.

Robles then delivered a base hit to deep right field to clear the bases and send Nino Tator and Pinero home.

The Bulls surged to a 7-2 lead on a three-run binge in the fourth inning as they pounced on the Tigers’ eight errors but had to fend off their rivals’ four-run blast in the eighth and ninth frames to gain a crack at the championship in the league presented by Dunkin’ Donuts and organized by Community Sports Inc.

Relief pitcher Romeo Jasmin held on after yielding four runs in the closing frames, striking out Marco Martinez and Matt Laurel to clinch the win for the Bulls.

It was actually Batangas’ sixth straight victory, counting their five-game sweep of the elims but coach Randy Dizer was far from being satisfied with his wards’ performance.

“This is the worst game we have played in this series,” said Dizer. “I told them that they are too relaxed thinking that it will be an easy game even at the start of the game.”

Laurel and Kelly Culubong drove in a run each as the Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the opening frame. But they turned erratic and surrendered two runs to the Bulls on two errors, enabling Teddy Landicho and Carlo Banzon to score and tie the match.

Nico Dizer and Alberto De Leon then crossed home on two more errors by Alabang for a 4-2 lead before the Bulls uncorked a three-run binge in the fourth on an RBI double by Banzon and two errors from the Tigers to score Landicho and Banzon.

The Tigers, however, refused to give up and struck behind Martinez and Laurel, who had a pair of singles before scoring on a catching error in the outfield in the eighth.

Alabang moved to within a run after pinch runner Dennis De Guzman came all the way to score from first on a catching error and Joe Boy De Mesa singled to left field to score second base runner Kevin Cruz.