Title-hungry Sharks go for baseball clincher

Thrice denied of a first-ever title, the Manila Sharks will be pulling all stops to finally clinch Baseball Philippines Series 6 title today.

And Manila team manager Joehl Palanog is aware that the Cebu Dolphins will be doing everything to foil the Sharks and drag the best-of-three title series to the limit at the Felino Marcelino Memorial Stadium in Taguig City.

“They are sure to make adjustments, but we have also made adjustments, especially in defense,” said Palanog whose charges lost the Series 2 championship to Cebu two years ago.

The Sharks also blew their title chances in Series 3 and Series 5, both to the Batangas Bulls.

“Hopefully we can pull it off tomorrow [today],” said Palanog. “The boys’ morale is very high and they are well prepared.”

Manila will open the 1:30 p.m. match with a fresh hand in Mike Gante, according to Palanog, who decided to gamble and “burn” Jonjon Robles during the Sharks’ 5-3 win in Game 1 last Saturday.

Also expected in the strong Manila bullpen are national team ace pitcher Charlie Labrador and Mick Natividad.

Labrador had a shaky start in Game 1, allowing three hits and three runs in the opening frame.

This forced Palanog to field in Robles, who dished out more than the maximum 75 pitches during the game, and made himself ineligible for today’s Game 2.

Cebu team manager Isaac Bacarisas said he is confident the Dolphins will bounce back today through veterans Joseph Orillana and Miggy Corcuera and the squad’s rookie hotshot Lorenzo Ubungen.