Last night's contests between the Sinon Bulls and Naluwan Gida in Taichung, and the President Lions and the First Securities Agan in Tainan, marked the first time in league history that teams from the former Taiwan Major League (TML) faced teams from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).
Fans that had sought inter-league play for years finally got their wishes.
The Bulls-Gida matchup featured two former No. 1 draft picks in Tsai Chung-nan (蔡仲南) of the Bulls and Huang Chin-chih (黃欽智) of the Gida in a classic pitching faceoff.
Both starting pitchers kept the scoreboard reading 0-to-0 through the first seven innings of play with some great pitches and fine defensive help on the field.
When the dust finally settled, however, it was the Bulls that had the last laugh in their 3-1 season opener.
The visiting Gida drew first blood on third baseman Chang Tsung-kwei's (張琮貴) solo homer on the top the eighth. Chang drove the hanging curve from Tsai over the left-center fence.
The one-run Gida lead was short-lived, however, thanks to three straight unanswered runs by the Bulls -- highlighted by team captain and game-MVP second baseman Huang Chung-yi's (
Bulls reliever Hsu Wen-pin (徐文彬) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth for the win, while closer Ramon Morel pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Agan 2, Lions 1
The game in Tainan between the Agan and the Lions was equally exciting as the visiting Agan held on for a 2-1 victory over the Lions.
The Agan jumped to an early one-run lead on second baseman Tsai Hung-jeh's (蔡泓澤) RBI single on top of the first, and made it 2-0 in the third with shortstop Rafael Osuna's run-scoring liner.
The 2-0 lead seemed good enough for the Agan pitching staff, as starter Liang Rue-hao (梁如豪) and reliever Lee Fong-hua (李風華)combined for eight strong innings of work in a potential shutout.
On the verge of being shut out on their home field, Lions designated hitter Chen Lien-hung (
Chen's solo blast in the bottom of the ninth cut the Agan lead in half, but the comeback effort fell one run short, as Lee managed to squeezed the final three outs.
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