Forward Taguig leaned on the versatile Ernesto Binarao’s heroics as it turned back Muntinlupa, 10-7, yesterday to seize the solo lead and inch closer to the semifinals in Baseball Philippines’ Series IV at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.
Binarao yielded four hits and four runs in four innings but made up for it with key putouts in the top ninth and proved as lethal at the plate where he batted in four runs in a deciding nine-run splurge in the first two innings as the Patriots sealed a sixth straight win in seven games.
It proved enough for Forward Taguig to surge past Series II champion Cebu, which fell to Series III titlist Batangas in a 4-3 decision that was halted twice by rains.
Youthful Bulls pitcher Vladimir Eguia allowed eight hits and three runs in nine complete innings but the Dolphins’ Joseph Orillana was worse as southpaw MVP of last year yielded eight hits and one more run than the former as Batangas, which was coached by Ramil Mercado in the absence of Randy Dizer who was out-of-the-country, sealed a second straight triumph and third overall against four setbacks.
The Dolphins absorbed their second loss against six victories and would try what it failed to accomplish yesterday by going for an outright semifinal berth-clinching win over the Bulls at 7 a.m. today.
With the Mariners zooming to a quick 2-0 start on top of the first inning that was capped by shortstop Saxon Omandac’s one-run single to centerfield, Binarao’s bat went to work when he blasted a Romeo Jasmin curve ball to left field for a two-run double sparking a six-run splurge that turned things around in favor of the Patriots, 6-2, after the first inning.
Binarao then parked the exact same pitch by Jasmin to right field for a two-run homer, two of the three runs scored by Taguig in the bottom second that gave it a comfortable 9-2 upper hand.
After pitching three innings, Binarao was switched to right field by Taguig manager Ricardo Jimenez in favor of Ronaldo delos Reyes, who seemed to have a hard time handling the Muntinlupa batters as he allowed the Mariners to inch closer, 5-9.
And then Binarao returned to the mound as the Patriots held sway against a desperate Muntinlupa fight back that quickly fizzled out.
Mizuno, Gatorade, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, Welcoat Paints, Industrial Enterprises, Inc., Harbour Centre, The Heritage Park and Agility Logistics are sponsoring this tournament with Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, PABA, Sports Radio and Makisig Sports as partners.

Linescores:
First Game
Muntinlupa        2-0-0 0-1-0 0-2-2 runs 7, hits 13, errors 5
Forward Taguig    6-3-0 0-1-0 0-0-x runs 10, hits 12, errors 6
Second Game
Cebu            0-0-1 0-1-0 0-1-0 runs 3, hits 7, errors 4
Batangas        3-0-0 0-0-0 1-0-x runs 4, hits 8, errors 3

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