It is always hard for San Miguel Beer (SMB) to win if June Mar Fajardo isn’t healthy. That’s a truism as solid as the tallest tree in Mt. Apo.
That became so glaringly obvious again when the Beermen bowed to the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, before more than 15,000 spectators at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
In the 105-91 SMB loss, Fajardo, bothered by a hurting shoulder, hobbled to a mere nine points, marking the second consecutive game that he went under 10 points after his puny six points the day before.
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo is known to average 20-plus points per game. But since incurring the injury a while back that causes piercing pain each time he raises his arms, Fajardo could only be 80 percent best at the most.
Credit to his fortitude that he refuses to just be a spectator from the bench, electing to suit up though the heavens fall, so to speak.
He’s always been a fighter, the reason he has won nine Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards since he joined the league in 2012 — five more than the four MVPs each by Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio.
I don’t think Fajardo’s nine MVPs will be surpassed, let alone, even equalled?
Not in our lifetime, I guess.
Oh, yes, SMB won Game Three on Jan. 9 despite Fajardo’s forgettable six points for a 2-1 Beermen lead over the Gin Kings in their best-of-seven semifinal series in the PBA Philippine Cup.
But that happened because Don Trollano came up with a spectacular career-high, 33-point performance.
Alas, lightning does not always strike twice.
So that in Sunday’s Game Four, Trollano was conspicuously “absent” and, my golly, not one from the deep SMB bench had stepped up to fill the vacuum.
The Beermen, through Chris Ross and CJay Perez, did appear, when they drilled in nine three-pointers in the first 12 minutes to build a 16-point lead.
But a game consists of four quarters, fellas. Why SMB could only sink four of their 22 threes in the last three frames was a puzzle even Einstein couldn’t solve.
And even as Fajardo plucked 20 rebounds, Gin King Scottie Thompson transformed that into garbage with his triple double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the rousing Ginebra win.
With the series reduced to a best-of-three beginning Wednesday, Jan. 14, SMB and Ginebra are now locked in a phone booth slugfest. Bloody brawl.