Cheng Jau-han’s two-run blast in the top of the ninth erased a late-game deficit for the Sinon Bulls as they held on to defeat the La New Bears at the Hualien County Baseball Stadium on Saturday night.
The resurgent Sinon infielder who has had a couple of down years after injuries has finally regained his top form by leading his team in the batting averages (tied with Lin Yi-chuen with .379), total RBIs (18), total bases (50) and total stolen bases (tied with Cheng Hong-da with three).
“It’s the first time in a long time I have been playing without any physical discomfort,” Cheng said after the game in which he drove in all three of the Bulls’ runs.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
It was his double to the left in the top of the second that scored the runner from first to put the Bulls ahead 1-0, before the Bears fought back to tie the game at 1-1 an inning later.
The score remained deadlocked until Lin Chih-sheng’s clutch single following a stand-up double by Tsai Jien-wei gave the Bears a 2-1 lead in the sixth, a lead they would hold until the ninth when Cheng took Bears closer Jermaine Van Buren deep for a two-run shot that stole the show.
Picking up his third win of the season to improve to a 3-1 record was Sinon starter Lin Keh-chien, who pitched eight strong innings of two-run on only three hits and nearly suffered a loss if it had not been for Cheng’s game-winning homer in the ninth.
Taking the loss was Van Buren, who blew his second save in eight chances to drop to 1-2 for the year.
LIONS 13, ELEPHANTS 4
Poor defense on the part of the Brother Elephants led to six unearned runs for the Uni-President Lions and that was the difference as the men in the golden uniforms lost 13-4 in Tainan for their fourth straight loss.
Even former Major Leaguer Tsao Chin-hui with his 150-kph fastball was no match for the red-hot Lions, who had won two straight and seven of their past eight heading into Saturday’s contest.
They pounded Tsao for nine early runs on eight hits and four devastating walks to chase the Elephants starter in the third.
The 9-0 lead was more than enough for Lions starter Chris Gissell, who allowed four runs (only one earned) on eight hits in five innings before his bullpen chipped in with four innings of scoreless relief to preserve the win.
Leading the offense for the Lions was outfielder Yang Song-hsuen who went an amazing three-for-four with five RBIs.
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