Gida crushes Elephants

Makoto Gida maintained its winning ways with last night's 4-3 come-from-behind victory against the Brother Elephants in Tienmu to take game two of the three-game series between the defending champions of the former Taiwan Major League and CPBL.

In a jam-packed stadium, Gida welcomed their new corporate sponsor Makoto Bank of Taiwan, with a thrilling victory, thanks to the bat of designated hitter Cheng Chin-yi (鄭景益).

Cheng first blasted a two-run dinger that left the ballpark in a hurry to tie the game in the ninth inning, then he won it in the 10th with an RBI-single just inside the first base line.

His single-handed efforts that beat the defending CPBL champion Elephants earned him the game-MVP honor.

The game started off with the Elephants drawing first blood in the third inning on center fielder Chen Chih-yuen's (陳致遠) two-run triple off Gida ace Huang Chin-chih (黃欽智).

A 3-0 lead after seven innings of play seemed plenty for Elephants starter Hisanori Yokota because he was simply unhittable through the seventh in a three-hit shutout.

The relentless Gida, however, just would not quit.

Second baseman Lin Yi-shian's (林義翔) single, coupled with a costly error by Elephants second baseman Fong Shun-shian (馮勝賢) broke Gida's run-drought in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-1.

The normally reliable Elephants closer Hsiao Ren-wen (蕭任汶) took the mound in the ninth in a save opportunity.

With one on and one out, Hsiao's hanging curve could not escape the speedy bat of Chen Chin-yi, and the result was a two-run game-tying homer and a blown save for Hsiao.

Hsiao's problem with his control loaded the bases for the Gida in the bottom of the 10th and again his breaking pitch to Cheng did not do what it was intended to do.

This time, the unforgiving bat of Cheng costed Hsiao and the Elephants the game.

Gida reliever Lee Ming-chin (李明進) kept the Elephants off the board in four straight innings for the win, while Elephants starter Yokota could only watch his brilliant pitching performance at the beginning of the game go down the drain with a no-decision.

Lions 5 Whales 2

Elsewhere in the league, the President Lions went and visited the China Trust Whales in Hsinchu for the final game of their four-game series.

The Whales jumped to a one-run lead in the first, thanks to third baseman Chen Chien-wei's (陳健偉) RBI single.

That was the only lead that the Whales would see all night, because the Lions made it 3-1 by the end of the seventh against Whales starter Kao chien-san (高建三) on three solo homers and eventually won it by a score of 5-2.

Lions starter Joe Davenport pocketed the win and the game-MVP honor for his outstanding effort on the mound, giving up only one run on five hits over seven innings of play.

The Lions victory salvaged a 2-2 tie for the Lions in the series.