Jasmin stars as Bulls beat 'Bikers
by Jonas Terrado
Bulls 2, Uni-Bikers 1
Romeo Jasmin is proving why he was a great offseason pickup for the Batangas Bulls.
The former UAAP Most Valuable Player and reigning Best Pitcher for champion Adamson University who was acquired in a trade with the Alabang Tigers helped propel the Bulls to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory past their rival Dumaguete Uni-Bikers.
Replacing ace pitcher Vladimir Eguia in the fifth frame, Jasmin kept the Dumaguete offense hitless while conspiring with Jesse Natanauan in helping Batangas staved off a 1-0 deficit with a key seven-inning surge to steal the win away from the Uni-Bikers.
The Bulls hiked their record to a perfect 3-0 to tie the Manila Sharks for the lead.
With the score tied at 1-1 with two outs in the seventh, Natanauan, who earlier drove home Ericson Eguia from second on an RBI single, stole from second that forced catcher Edmer del Socorro to make a pickoff attempt.
But del Socorro's gamble didn't pay off as it enabled Jasmin, who reached third on Natanauan's hit, to score the go-ahead run that put the Bulls in the lead for good.
Gaining momentum from that key play, he went on to retire six of the last eight batters to help Batangas leave the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium with a win.
The often-submarine thrower allowed no hits and walked two while striking out two batters - all against Marlon Caspillo in the sixth and ninth innings, respectively.
In setting up the rally, Ericson Eguia hit a single on a groundball to left field before reaching second on a Jasmin single.
From there, Natanauan, who replaced designated hitter Rommel Cambronero in the sixth, hit a short pop fly into right field off a one-ball, one-strike pitch from losing pitcher Darwin dela Calzada that tied the count.
It was the lone hit of the game for Natanauan, who last week scored the game-winner in Sunday's 5-3 win over the Alabang Tigers.
The loss was a disappointing one for the Uni-Bikers, who is still searching for their first win after two games.
Dumaguete took lead early, when Saxon Omandac drilled an RBI double that scored leadoff runner Andro Cuyugan in the first frame. However, it was a quiet afternoon for the Uni-Bikers, as they added two more hits in the third frame and never made one since.
The lethargic offense put in vain a solid outing for southpaw Darwin dela Calzada. The 2008 Jun Bernardino MVP gave up seven hits and struck out four in a no-relief, eight-inning effort.
Dela Calzada won't be pitching on Sunday, as he threw 99 pitches, 24 more than the maximum limit of 75 in order to hurl the next game.
Eguia, meanwhile, was also impressive, fanning four batters in four innings before Jasmin took over the mound.