Gida takes step toward playoffs

With the home crowd pulling behind their team, Taipei Gida put on a solid performance en route to a 6-4 win over the visiting Chiayi Luka last night.

Gida broke the ice in the bottom of the first on first baseman Wu Chen-han's (吳承翰) two-run triple for an early lead.

The resilient Luka fought back and tied the game at two runs apiece on top of the fifth, only to see the Gida take a three-run lead later in the same inning, highlighted by a double-steal that scored shortstop Lin Kuen-han (林琨瀚).

Trailing by the score of 6-3, the Luka made it a little more interesting in the eighth, as they scored on pinch hitter Chuen Chuang-cheng's (闕壯鎮) RBI-double to make it 6-4.

That was as close as they got, because Gida reliever Weng Fong-yu (翁豐堉) struck out the last hitter in the ninth inning on a called third strike with two runners on, to nail down the win.

Gida starter Liang Rue-hao (梁如豪) won his second consecutive start as he gave up three runs on nine hits over seven innings of work, while Luka starter Yang Shih-cheng (楊世丞) took the loss for giving up all six of the Gida runs.

Offensively for the Gida, first baseman Wu Chen-han's (吳承翰)three-RBI performance earned him the game MVP honor.

Wu was 2-for-4 for the night from the batter's box.

With the win, the Gida took a giant step in their push for the postseason, as they extend their lead over the Luka to 2-1/2 games with three games left to play.

Wang Chin-yong's (王金勇) never-ending hustle paid off last night as the Brother Elephants defeated the Chinatrust Whales 7-6 to take the first game of a three-game series.

The Elephants sent Wang Chin-lee (王勁力) to the mound to face the Whales' Sung Chao-chee (宋肇基), who was currently on the top of the winning list for local pitchers with 14 wins, sharing the spot with the Bulls ace Tsai Chung-nan (蔡仲南).

On the top of ninth with two outs and runners on the corners, Wang Chin-yong's grounder to the third caused the Whales' Chen Chien-wei（陳健偉）to commit a throwing error to the first. Wang beat the throw and the Brothers scored the winning go-ahead run.