Manila Sharks, Cebu Dolphins dispute Baseball Series 8 crown

MANILA—Manila and Cebu didn’t take chances with their twice-to-beat incentives, dumping their respective rivals right away to arrange a title encounter for the Baseball Philippines Series 8 yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Field.

Shortstop Marvin Malig slammed one RBI single each in the first and eighth innings for the Sharks to down the Taguig Patriots, 2-0, and book their fourth straight trip to the finals. They are also on the prowl for a record third straight crown going into Saturday’s Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series.

Later, the Dolphins had a field day thrashing the Batangas Bulls, 9-2, to make the finals. They are on a hunt for their third crown after winning the Series 2 and Series 4.

Joseph Orillana held sway for the Dolphins in eight innings, giving up five hits and two walks, while striking out seven batters.

Earlier, the Sharks’ Jennald Pareja walked, then traipsed to scoring position on Nino Tator sacrifice bunt, before Marvin Malig drove him home with two outs hitting a ground to left centerfield on the top of the first inning.

The Sharks put another run in the eighth, with Malig scoring Pareja on a similar grounder to the same direction.

Charlie Labrador delivered in the first seven innings for Manila, fanning out five batters that came his way while giving up four hits. Czech Republic-league veteran Jon Jon Robles took the mound in the last two frames, yielding one hit, one walk while striking out two.