Not showing any signs of a long layoff, San Miguel Beer never looked this good.

The Beermen, with two former MVPs leading the way, picked fellow powerhouse Talk ‘N Text apart on Friday night, posting a 109-86 victory for a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven Final Four series in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Arwind Santos instigated the second quarter breakaway and June Mar Fajardo hurt the Tropang Texters in the third as the Beermen zoomed to leads of as many as 30 points and made Talk ‘N Text look so bad.

“This is just one game, even if we beat them by 30 or whatever, this is just one game,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “I’m sure they will bounce back. Talk ‘N Text is a very strong team with a lot of championship experience.

“We have a lot of respect for them,” Austria, who took over as coach at the start of the season, added.

Santos shot 10 of his 21 points in the second period, where the Beermen peeled away from a 34-all game with a 19-2 run to close out the second period.

And just when everyone thought that the Beermen would cool off, Fajardo tossed in 13 of his 23 in the third as San Miguel opened up a 74-44 lead courtesy of a triple by Alex Cabagnot with 4:03 left.

San Miguel came into the contest as the No. 1 seed and had the luxury of a long break as it watched the others slug it out in two phases in the quarterfinals.

Talk ‘N Text came from those two rounds, bundling out crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra in emphatic fashion.

The Tropang Texters were expected to take the Beermen to the limit if they played the way they did against the Gin Kings. But their sudden dip in performance didn’t give them a chance on Friday night.

Ranidel de Ocampo tossed in 11 points in the first period and had Talk ‘N Text taking early control. The Texters closed out the quarter sitting on a 27-20 lead, which alarmed Austria.

“I was really nervous before the game, also excited because this is my first game in the semis,” Austria said. “I was surprised. I thought that it would really be a close game. They had a good start and I told myself: ‘Wow, this will be a problem.’”

Cabagnot, who was acquired in a trade with Globalport before the start of the quarterfinals almost two weeks ago, gave the Beermen another potent scoring option, finishing with 13 points.

Marcio Lassiter was the fourth player in twin digits for Austria with 10.

Meanwhile, Alaska shoots for a commanding 2-0 lead against Rain or Shine on Saturday as their half of the Final Four resumes also at the Mall of Asia Arena.

That game is slated at 5 p.m. with the odds stacked slightly in favor of the Aces, who scored an 87-80 Game 1 win after coming back from a 17-point second quarter deficit.

But Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao did not castigate his players after the loss.

Paul Lee, after a seven-point effort in Game 1, is expected to lead the Elasto Panters again as Rain or Shine tries to get back on the winning track after losing for the first time in close to two months last Thursday.

Calvin Abueva, who shot 14 points and had 14 rebounds in the series opener, will again be the energizer for the Aces.