Sharks devour Patriots, clinch twice-to-beat edge

Standings

y-Manila 4 1

x*-Cebu 3 1

x*-Batangas 3 1

x-Alabang 2 3

Pampanga 1 4

Taguig 1 4

y-clinched twice-to-beat edge

x-clinched semifinal berth

*-playing at presstime

Games Saturday

(Felino Marcelino Baseball Stadium, Taguig City)

9 a.m. – Alabang vs. Manila

1:30 p.m. – Batangas vs. Cebu

Manila smothered Taguig, 7-1, to gain the twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinal round of the Dunkin Donuts Baseball Philippines Series VI at the Felino Marcelino Baseball Stadium in Taguig City yesterday.

National team mainstay Charlie Labrador and Jon Jon Robles took care of the mound and yielded only a run and five hits as the Sharks regained the lead with a 4-1 slate in the tournament presented by Dunkin Donuts and organized by Community Sports Inc.

Manila shoots for the championship berth against Alabang on Saturday, also at the Taguig diamond.

Christian Galedo drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning to score Nino Tator, who walked, reached second and third after the Patriots failed to draw an out on Marvin Malig and Ricardo Jimenez.

A double by Ramil Empacis in the third inning sent home Bambol Servo, who also doubled, before Empacis scored on another double by Francis Candela.

The Sharks went 5-0 in the sixth on an RBI single by Saxon Omandac, scoring Empacis after he advanced to third on a walk. Empacis and Galedo added an RBI each in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively.

Taguig broke a scoring spell on in the eighth, when Christian de Leon hit an RBI double to score Evert Balderrama, who singled and advanced to second on a passed ball.

Linescores:

Manila                  100 202 101  7 10 0

Taguig                   000 000 010  1   5  1