Patriots grab first win of Series 5
by Jonas Terrado
Patriots 9, Uni-Bikers 6
After seven stinging defeats, the Forward Taguig Patriots have finally entered the win column of Baseball Philippines Series 5.
Behind five runs in the seventh and eighth frame, the Patriots snapped the three-game winning streak of the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers after a 9-6 victory at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
It has been a disappointing campaign for Taguig in the current tournament with several wasted opportunities to pull off a win, including a crushing 5-4 loss to the league-leading Batangas Bulls that went extra innings last week.
The Patriots, who made it to the semifinals after winning eight of 10 games in the classification round of Series 4, became the last team to post a win in the current tournament while snapping Dumaguete's three-game winning streak.
Taguig took advantage of two fielding errors by the Uni-Bikers to complete a four-run seventh frame before Ernesto Binarao scored a run that made it a three-run advantage before he retired the game's last nine batters to settle the final score.
The lefty hurler managed to struck out four batters during that stretch to be adjudged as the winning pitcher.
Down 6-4 in the seventh frame, Richard Siacor, who reached base on a single, touched home plate from third after a throwing error by catcher Edmer del Socorro before Melvin de Castro scored on a double by Jay Moral to tie the game at 6-6.
Moral went on to produce the go-ahead score on after a throwing error by second baseman Joaquin Jover before Jeff Hardillo completed the binge on a one-run single that delivered home Ferdinand Recto for an 8-6 lead.
In the eighth, Binarao hit a single, reached second on a fielders' choice and third on a Richard Siacor single before easily crossing home on a groundout by de Castro.
Taguig managed to make 11 hits in the game while its defense held Dumaguete hitless in the last five innings after making nine in the first four frames.
The Patriots actually began the contest with four runs in the opening frame that saw Recto hitting a two-run single.
But del Socorro and Justin Payongayong hit a pair of two-RBI hits to tie the contest in the bottom half of the said inning.
From there, Dumaguete took a 5-4 lead in the third when Payongayong scored on a single by UAAP Rookie of the Year Ram Alipio. A del Socorro run pushed the margin to two runs two innings later that was the last gasp for the Uni-Bikers' offense.
Taguig will next face the Alabang Tigers this weekend with Saturday's game to be held at the Rizal ballpark and the next day at the Alabang Country Club. Dumaguete, meanwhile, battles the Manila Sharks on Saturday at the Sto Nino Field in Marikina before staging the last game of the series in Manila.