Philippine batters rally past Thais in East Asia Cup

MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion Philippines unleashed a nine-run spree in the seventh inning to clear the way for an epic come-from-behind 10-6 victory over Thailand in the XII BFA East Asia Baseball Cup at Sai Tso Wan Recreation Ground in Hong Kong Monday.

Sparked by Diego Lozano’s two-run homer, the Pinoy batters sent nine runners to the plate off five hits and four Thai errors in the game-changing bottom seventh to turn the tables around, 10-5, after trailing by 1-5, as they got their title retention bid off to a positive start.

Phl pounced on a throwing miscue by the Thai pitcher to score Erwin Bosito and Francis Michael Gesmundo and chop two runs off the lead then Lozano whacked a 0-1 pitch over the right field line to drive himself and Jennald Pareja home and tie it at 5-5. Successive RBI hits by Jonash Ponce, Mark Steven Manaig, Juan Alvaro Macasaet and Bosito stretched the lead to 9-5 before Macasaet beat a pickoff attempt and stole home to make it a five-run cushion.

Phl coach Edgar delos Reyes lauded his wards for their no-quit attitude, especially after their opponents, who are bannered by Thai-Americans, seized an early 5-0 upperhand.

“We were down by five in the sixth inning, we keep telling our players never give up.” said Delos Reyes. “We were expecting their pitchers to show up today and we reminded our players to just be patient and we will get those hits.”

The Pinoy batters had nine hits overall against the Thai pitchers, making five of them in the seventh.

Thailand, which actually outhit Phl by one, slipped to 1-1 in the tourney featuring five countries.