Sharks, Bulls seek win No. 2 in BP Series VII

MANILA, Philippines - Action in the Dunkin’ Donuts Baseball Philippines Series VII resumes today with defending champion Manila and Batangas seeking their second straight victories against separate rivals at the Felino Marcelino Baseball Stadium in Taguig City.

The Sharks face the Alabang Tigers in the 9 a.m. opener of an explosive twinbill which also features the Bulls-Cebu Dolphins encounter at 1 p.m.

Manila and Batangas were actually scheduled to play Taguig and Quezon City, respectively, last Saturday but the games were postponed due to inclement weather. The matches will be played instead on Nov. 27, also at the Taguig diamond.

Meanwhile, the Batangas-Quezon City and the Alabang-Cebu tiffs that were also called off last Sunday due to inclement weather will be held on Nov. 20 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, according to the organizing Community Sports Inc.

Manila opened its title-retention bid with a close 5-4 victory over Cebu in the opener of the league presented by Dunkin’ Donuts two weeks ago while Batangas kicked off its drive for a third crown with a 12-2 rout over Alabang in eight innings.

The Sharks have kept the core of the team that won the Series VI crown where they beat the Dolphins in their best-of-three series, 2-1.

“We didn’t think that we are the defending champions. We just focused on forming a good team for this series,” said Manila coach Jhoel Palanog.

Batangas, meanwhile, formed a youthful squad prior to the series with team manager Randy Dizer confident of his wards chances against the league’s veteran teams.