Roxas’ rare grand slam powers Bulls past Sharks

Vio Roxas is not called the home run king for nothing. Yesterday, the veteran slugger lived up to his status when he belted a grand slam homer to power Batangas over Manila, 9-3, and into the semifinals of the Dunkin Donuts Baseball Philippines Series 7 at the Felino Marcelino stadium in Taguig City.   The bases-clearing blast to left field highlighted a seven-run splurge that wiped out a 3-1 Manila lead and sent the Bulls on the way to their fourth straight victory. Batangas, the Series 3 and Series 5 champion, also secured a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinals while inflicting a first loss in four games on the defending champion Sharks. Earlier, Alabang scored three runs each in the seventh and eighth innings and took an abbreviated 12-2 victory over Quezon City. Alabang, whose semifinal chances improved with its second win in four games, imposed its might early on with a four-run second frame to grab the lead for good, 4-1. Brothers Carlos and Jay Laurel starred in Alabang’s three-run explosion that made it 9-2 in the seventh before the Tigers finished off the Angels in the next inning as Paulo Mallari, Adrian Bernardo and Fernando Badrina scored to wrap up the match under the 10-run mercy rule. Linescores:                  
QUEZON CITY—011 000 00x—2    7    4
ALABANG—040 011 33x—12   9    9 BATANGAS—000 010 071—9    10   6
MANILA—000 021 000—3    5    1