New-look Mariners bounce back to defeat Sharks by Jonas Terrado
(Photo - Joseph Ventura)Mariners 5, Sharks 3
A drastic change was all the Muntinlupa Mariners needed but their debut match wasn’t a start that they wanted. However, the Mariners fought back in their next game by pulling through with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Manila Sharks to forge a four-way tie at second place at 1-1. In the last game of the two-game weekend series against the highly-touted Sharks, Muntinlupa relied heavily on the arms of pitchers Romeo Jasmin and Ramil Placides and the timely bat of Wilfredo Hidalgo. Hidalgo broke a 3-3 tie with a big RBI triple in the seventh inning allowing Placides (1-0) to be named as the winning pitcher after tossing three hitless innings. Prior to the go-ahead hit, Muntinlupa’s Ruel Batuto scored from third off a sacrifice fly from Rommel Maniago in the sixth frame. Manila was on the verge of picking up another win after Edward Landicho belted a solo home run while Roger Landicho sent home Jarus Inobio for an early 2-0 lead. But Muntinlupa quickly in the bottom half as Hidalgo scored on a throwing error from third Maniago drove-in Sherwin Canlas to tie the count at 2-2. However in the third, Marvin Malig drilled a hit to right field that scored former Mariner Al-Denn Lozada that gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead. Mick Natividad pitched five innings and gave up just three hits while reliever JB Castro (0-1) was handed with the loss. The Mariners will next meet Series 3 champion Batangas Bulls during the weekend while the Sharks battle with another Metro Manila-based team in the Forward Taguig Patriots.
