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THE BATANGAS Bulls took a step closer towards clinching the title in the Baseball Philippines Series V as they won Game 1 of the best-of-three series, 13-4, against the Manila Sharks last Saturday at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.
The Bulls seized the lead for good in the fifth inning after they peppered Manila reliever Mick Natividad with a barrage of hits, which translated into seven runs that turned the 3-all game into a one-sided rout.
Game 2 is this weekend with Batangas aiming to take their second championship.
At the helm of the onslaught was Ericson Eguia who fired in a game-high six runs-batted-in, which included a two-run double in the fifth inning. He had an RBI single in the first frame that gave them the early lead but the Sharks responded with three runs in the third inning behind a two-run by single by first baseman JB Castro.
The Bulls equalized the match with two runs at the bottom of the third and then broke free in the fifth with Romeo Jasmin batting in Carlo Banzon. Eguia's offensive prowess then sparked the Bulls as he batted in two runs before they went on to finish their opponents off with seven more runs that gave them a 13-3 lead.
Manila suffered from the absence of experienced slugger Romy Bumagat, who was taken to the hospital after he was hit in the eyebrow by a foul ball.
Jasmin had a one-run, one-hit game in three innings in a big relief job for starter Vladimir Eguia, who allowed three runs and four hits but struck out five. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio
