Sharks bite Tigers behind late comeback
by Jonas Terrado
Sharks 9, Tigers 7
Trailing by five runs, the Manila Sharks had to endure a lousy late afternoon performance to maneuver a late-inning rally.
The Sharks, behind Nino Tator's offense, scored seven unanswered runs in the last two innings to deny the Alabang Tigers' bid of winning their first win with a 9-7 victory to remain unbeaten in three games.
Currently, Manila is still tied for first place with the Batangas Bulls and has already equaled the wins they posted in Series 4, when they lost eight of 11 games.
Tator capped off a perfect 4-for-4 game by hitting a two-run double that shattered a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning to record the biggest comeback through the first two weeks of Series 5.
A former UP Fighting Maroon and current member of the RP national team, Tator had four RBIs (runs-batted-in) to bounce back from a hitless effort against the Forward Taguig Patriots last Sunday.
With Jenald Pareja at second and Francis Candela on first, Tator drilled a flyball off losing pitcher Ramil Placides to put the Sharks on board and although he was tagged out on the same play for attempting to stretched his hit to a triple, the damage was already done.
From there, Manila's fireball ace Charlie Labrador, who replaced starter Joseph Albindo at the start of the sixth frame, closed out the Tigers in the ninth by striking out Jake Cumlat and Raymund Mariano before retiring Ruel Batuto on a easy flyout to leftfielder Al-Denn Lozada for the victory.
It was a crushing blow for the Tigers, already reeling from a disappointing 5-3 setback to the Batangas Bulls last Sunday after losing a two-run lead, as they fell to their third defeat in as many games to tie the Forward Taguig Patriots in the cellar.
Overshadowed by the loss, leadoff man Gian Paulo Llaguno had a stellar performance for the Tigers. Currently a league rookie and a sophomore standout at Adamson University, Llaguno made three hits and drove two runners home while being a homer shy of posting a cycle.
He, along with fellow Adamson teammate Welvin Vispo were responsible in stretching Alabang's slim 3-2 lead with two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings.
But the Sharks slowly made a run as Tator hit a two-run single to right-center that cut the deficit to 7-4 in the seventh.
In the next inning, Lozada delivered home Roel Empacis before scoring home from third on a sacrifice fly by Jarus Inobio.
With the deficit cut to one and Marvin Malig and Romy Bumagat at first with one out, Alabang miscued on a double play attempt as second baseman Matt Laurel made a poor throw to first that allowed Malig to tie the game.
Alabang's loss also put in vain a solid showing from Batuto and Roy Baclay.
Batuto had five strikeouts despite allowing two runs off six hits in 3 2/3 innings while the journeyman Baclay, making his return to the league after playing to suit up in Series 4, gave up just two hits and two runs in 3 1/3 innings in perhaps one of his best games in recent memory.
Placides, who also failed to play a single game in the previous tourney, took the loss after yielding five runs in the eighth frame.