Forward Taguig, Dumaguete rally to win

Forward Taguig and Dumaguete pulled off a pair of magical come-from-behind victories over heavy favorites Manila and Cebu, respectively, yesterday to boost their stock in Baseball Philippines Series IV at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.

Ernesto Binarao parked a JB Castro fastball to centerfield in the bottom of the eighth inning and then pitcher Ferdinand Bedrina held his ground in a no-relief job as the Patriots nailed their second straight win against an opening day loss.

Binarao, this time sent to centerfield, bailed out Forward Taguig for the second straight game after he fanned out six batters and yielded just five hits in nine complete innings that powered his team to a 5-2 win over the same squad Saturday.

The Sharks fell to their third loss against a triumph in this event sponsored by Mizuno, Gatorade, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, Welcoat Paints, Industrial Enterprises, Inc., Harbour Centre, The Heritage Park and Agility Logistics with Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, PABA, Sports Radio and Makisig Sports as partners.

The Unibikers, who lost a heartbreaking three-game series to the Batangas Bulls in Series III, pounced on late errors by the Dolphins, the Series II titlists, to claw back from four runs down and carve out a masterful 10-9 triumph, their second in four starts.

The third game pitting Muntinlupa against Batangas was halted due to darkness.