GAMEDAY RECAP
Mariners Ride Jon-Jon Train to Blank Sharks
Mariners 4, Sharks 0
MANILA - Makati Mariners left-hander Jon-Jon Robles is quietly establishing himself among Philippine Baseball's premier hurlers. After going 0-3 with a 4.94 earned run average over 31 innings pitched in Series 1, the southpaw has yet to give up a run in Series 2.
On Sunday, Robles overcame some control problems en route to pitching his second consecutive shutout, a 4-0 six-hitter against the Manila Sharks at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. The southpaw also blanked the Forward Taguig on Opening Day to give him 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
Robles' performance over the Sharks was not exactly smooth sailing for the Mariners however as the Sharks squandered some scoring chances and left eleven men on base.
Furthermore, Robles had to battle through some of his erratic wildness as he walked six batters — one intentional — aggravated by some pain around his right leg suffered during aggressive base-running in the sixth inning. He could be seen wincing on the mound as the game moved into the late innings.
Just as consistent as Robles was on the mound were Francis Candella and Alden Lozada, who once again delivered for the offense.
Candella had three hits for the second week in a row and drove in two runs, including the decisive first run in the Makati fifth inning, while Lozada collected two more runs batted in to give him a Series-high six on the young season.
Manila starter Charlie Labrador matched zeros with Robles through the first four innings before running out of steam in the fifth.
Former Team RP stalwart Editho Justo tripled to left field with two outs. Chris Jimenez drew a free pass and Candella knocked a single into left field to give Makati a 1-0 lead. Lozada then followed with a two-run double to center field for a 3-0 cushion.
The Mariners then chased Labrador in the seventh on Candella's two-out rbi-double for the final margin.
Manila had its best chance in the eighth inning. Edward Landicho and Larry Icban opened the frame with back-to-back singles. But Virgilio Roxas, who has not been his usual self at the dish all year long, struck out swinging amidst a sudden but brief downpour. Bacchus Ledesma then grounded into an inning-ending second-to-first-to-home double play.
"Dalawang run na dapat iyon. Umulan ng malakas nang pumapalo ako. Hindi ko makita ng mabuti yung bola [ni Robles] (That was supposed to be two runs in the bag. Then it started raining hard for just that one at bat. I had difficulty getting a bead on [Robles'] pitches)," said Roxas.
GAMEDAY
| Sun, Oct 14, 2007 | ||||||||||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Manila | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Makati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| WP: Robles (2-0) LP: Labrador (0-1) | ||||||||||||