Manila IX nips Cebu; Taguig rips Quezon City

MANILA—Marvin Malig smashed a two-run home run and Edward Landicho added two more runs with a single as defending champion Manila nipped Cebu, 5-4, Saturday in the Baseball Philippines Series 7 at the Felino Marcelino Stadium in Taguig City.

Malig cut Cebu’s lead to 3-2 with his homer off Christian Maghanoy in the bottom of the first inning while Landicho sparked a three-run burst in the third frame that gave Manila the lead for good at 5-3.

Cebu opened the rematch of the Series 6 finals with three runs on Jonard Pareja’s two-run double and Miggy Corcuera’s single RBI.

But the Dolphins could get just one more run through Maghanoy, who singled home Corcuera in the eighth inning.

Jeffrey Hardillo also blasted a two-run homer to finish with four RBIs as Taguig gave newcomer Quezon City a rude  welcome with an 8-3 rout in the second game.

  Malig led off the third inning with a single, Paco Tantuico followed with a double and both scored as Landicho singled. Filipino-Japanese Franco Hashimoto, seeing action in the league for the first time, forced out Landicho at second but later scored on a fielding error by Cebu shotstrop Ramil Magno.   Roy Baclay was the winning pitcher for Manila despite giving up six hits in the first three frames.   Charlie Labrador took over from Baclay in the final six innings, fanning seven batters and allowing six hits.   Cebu’s Joseph Orillana relieved Maghanoy, striking out two batters and yielding three hits under his watch. Maghanoy took the mound once again in the sixth but that hardly mattered as he gave up three more hits and was the loser for Cebu.