Elephants sink Whales to take 3-0 lead in series

The defending champions Brother Elephants are now just one win away from grabbing another back-to-back championship after they edged the Chinatrust Whales 6-5 last night in Hsinchuang Stadium.

The Elephants now lead the Whales 3-0 in the best-of-seven series and can clinch the title in Game 3 tomorrow.

After losing the opener the previous night in Tienmu Stadium 6-1, the Whales were forced to change their starting roster, sending triple-crown winner Sung Chao-chee (宋肇基, 5-3 against the Elephants this season) to the mound to face the powerful batting lineup of the Elephants.

The Elephants started with Jonathan Hurst (5-3 against the Whales this season) as scheduled.

The Elephants wasted no time in establishing control of the game by hitting Sung hard in the first inning. Feng Shen-shien (馮勝賢), who belted a tie-breaking solo homerun in Tienmu Stadium in Game 1, started a string of four hits that gave the Elephants a three-run lead in the first inning. An error by Whales' left fielder Hung Chee-feng (洪啟峰) also contributed the three-run inning for the Elephants.

The Elephants' offense continued attacking Sung in the second by scoring another two runs on two hits and one walk.

The Whales had to replace their ace starter before the second inning was completed. Whales' catcher Shi Chin-shou (石金受) committed another error while trying to pick off the runner on the second as the Elephants stole two bases in the inning alone.

The Elephants later scored another run off Hsieh Cheng-shoon (謝承勳), the Whales' second reliever of the night, to lead the Whales 5-0 at the end of the fifth inning.

The Whales' batters finally entered the action at the top of the sixth inning. Lin Yueh-liang (林岳亮) and Chen Chien-wei (陳健偉) each got a hit before Hung Chee-feng's (洪啟峰) double drove in the first run for the Whales. The Whales collected four hits and scored three runs in the inning to trail the Elephants 6-3.

In the seventh the Whales were able to once again attack Hurst. The bases were loaded for the first time for the Whales with one hit, an error by Elephants second baseman Feng Sheng-shien and a walk by Hurst with only one out. Hurst got out of the jam by getting the remaining two outs to allow just one run.

Although the Whales managed to score another run in the eighth, Hurst held on and pitched a complete game.

Hurst said during the post-game interview, "I felt good through the first half part of the game, but after the sixth I kind of lost my concentration.

"But this is the championship series; I gave everything I have, even if they want me to pitch 200 balls. I would not care about the pitch count at all."

Game 3 of the series will be played tomorrow in Chiayi Stadium, where the Whales will be playing their first home game in the series.

The Whales will have to win the game to keep the series alive, but history is not on their side. No team has ever won from a 0-3 deficit in the series.

The game will be carried live on VideoLand Sports TV (Ch. 49) and CBS radio starting at 6:35pm.