GAMEDAY RECAP

Sharks Prey On Uni-bikers to Break Into Win Column

Sharks 6, Uni-bikers 3

MANILA - The Manila Sharks did not bother to circle around their prey at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium on Sunday. They went right after the Dumaguete Uni-bikers behind a breakout performance from key offensive players as well as a rally-killing relief effort from right-hander Joseph Alvindo to capture their first win of Series 2 at the expense of the still winless Uni-bikers, 6-3.

Nino Tator, Virgilio Roxas, and Rommel Roja — the heart of the Sharks line-up — brought out the metal after entering the game in a 5-for-21 funk with no extra base hits and only one rbi between them.

Tator went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs, Roxas launched a homerun, while Roja collected three hits to pace the Sharks' eleven-hit attack.

Leadoff hitter Joey Guerrero also went 2-for-3 with a walk and Manila got its running game going behind a Series-high four stolen bases.

Right-hander Charlie Labrador started strong on the mound for the Sharks in retiring the first seven Uni-bikers hitters and was staked to a 6-0 lead through four innings. But akin to his last outing when a meltdown on the hill proved costly for Manila in a loss to Makati last weekend, Labrador again run into trouble in the fifth inning, no thanks in part to two costly errors on his behalf that paved the way for a two-run Dumaguete rally.

"Maganda naman pinupuhol ko, pero malas lang at nalalaglag ang mga bola (I was throwing the ball well, but then the balls started falling)," said Labrador after the Sharks committed the game's three errors in that shaky fifth inning.

Edmer Del Socorro reached second after Labrador threw away a comebacker. Kelly Culubong followed with an rbi-single to put Dumaguete on the board. An errant pick-off throw from Labrador, a passed ball by Roja, and an error by right fielder Jarus Inobio one out later brought home Culubong to make it 6-2. Paul De Leon's double put runners at second and third to send Labrador to the showers.

Manila skipper Jhoel Palanog then brought in Alvindo, who prompty got Edward Tuazon on an infield pop-up and Andro Cuyugan on a called third strike to flush the Dumaguete rally. Alvindo allowed one run on four hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts to pick up the win.

"The quick start with the bats coming around turned the game in our favor," said Palanog after Manila built a 6-0 lead thru the first four innings.

Manila opened the scoring against Dumaguete starter Lito Pulgo in the second inning. Roja led off with a triple. Bambol Servo reached on an infield hit. Edward Landicho was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dumaguete caught a break when Roja was thrown out at home on Jake Ilao's fielder's choice grounder to third to leave the bases loaded. George Delmo, who started in place of Denver Largo, was then charged with a passed ball allowing Servo to give Manila a 1-0 lead. Larry Icban drew a walk to reload the bases. Guerrero followed with a run-scoring single and one out later Tator also stroked an rbi-single to make it 3-0.

Roxas then led off the third by crushing a hanging slider from Pulgo over the left field fence. That would be all for the right-hander, who ended up taking the loss after giving up four runs on six hits, a walk, and a hit batter.

Del Socorro came in relief but could not stop the bleeding. Roja greeted him with an infield hit and one out later scored on Landicho's two-bagger to make it 5-0 thru three. Manila got its sixth run in the next frame when Guerrero opened with a free pass and scored one out later on Tator's double to knock off Del Socorro.

The Uni-bikers then brought in ace Darwin Dela Calzada and the left-hander shut down the Manila offense the rest of the way on two hits and three walks along with four strikeouts, but it wasn't enough as the Dumaguete bats came up a couple of key hits short. Dela Calzada himself whiffed three times.

"Huwag lang tayo bumigay. Makapalo lang tayo ng sunod-sunod tuwing kailangan at susulit rin ang ginagawa natin sa batting practice (Let's not give up. If we can just string together a few hits on a timely basis, then our batting practice sessions would not be in vain)," said Pulgo, who noted the way the Uni-bikers were ripping the cover off the baseball during practice sessions.

Unfortunately, the lackluster Dumaguete offense has its problems at the top of the line-up. The first four spots in the batting order are a combined 3-for-41 with eight strikeouts thus far.

De Leon paced the Uni-bikers offense with three hits in his first game of the season, including an rbi-single in the seventh that accounted for the game's final run.

 

 

GAMEDAY

BP COVERAGE - WEEK 3

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