In an era when offensive power dominates the news headlines and home-run hitters are media darlings it is easy to forget sound pitching is what gets teams in the win column at the end of the day.
While the Sinon Bulls have been in terrific form with an 8-2 streak that puts them on top of the league standings, the President Lions have quietly snuck up and established themselves as the number two team in the league.
The Lions' success has been backed by solid pitching performances from starters Joe Davenport, Pan Wei-luen (潘威倫) and Tseng Yi-cheng (曾翊誠), in addition to a bullpen headed by relievers Chen Yang-kai (陳揚 凱), Sheng Po-chang (沈柏蒼) and Tsao Jung-yang (曹竣揚) that could easily make the starting rotation on any other teams.
All three starters have ERA's that are below one and as a result opposing hitters are batting around .200 against the Lions.
Even with the loss of Tseng for the season to a serious leg injury, at least three of the relievers out of the bullpen can handle starting duties for manager Hsieh Chang-hern (謝長亨).
Kao Ying-cheh (高英傑), a professor at the Taipei Physical Education College and pitching coach for Taiwan's 1992 Olympic silver medal-winning team, said the Lions have got it all.
"The Lions pitching staff is as complete and as consistent as they come. That, coupled with the team's all-round pace should make them a formidable opponent in any manager's mind," he said.
These young guns (Davenport at age 26, Pan 21, Tseng 24, Chen 24, Sheng 25, Tsao 26) may not have all the experience that is essential down the stretch for a championship-caliber team, but their determination and desire to win could carry them through and give the Lions fans something to cheer about come October.
Round-up
Last weekend, the First Securities Agan avenged two one-run losses to Makoto Gida earlier last week by beating them 9-2 and 5-4 in a double-header last Saturday.
In Game 1, regular Agan closer Lee Fong-hua (李風華) came out of the bullpen for his first starting assignment of the season and responded by holding a red hot Gida attack to two runs over six innings of play.
Reliever Randi Mallard of the US then came in and finished off the Gida with three scoreless innings to record his first save of the season.
Game 2 featured Agan pitcher Liang Rue-hao (梁如豪), who pitched his team to a thrilling 5-4 victory. Normally a starter in his own right, Liang earned his third win of the season from a relieving role and told reporters afterwards, "A win is a win, I'll take it any way I can!"
Elsewhere, the Bulls beat the Whales in two shutout victories by a score of 2-0 and 4-0, with Bulls' starter Osvaldo Martinez and reliever Ramon Morel teaming up in the second game in Tienmu last Sunday. The two natives from the Dominican Republic have quietly become skipper Chen Wei-cheng's (陳威誠) winning combination.
The three-game series between the Lions and the Brother Elephants last week put the ailing Elephants further out of reach.
Despite an 8-4 win in Tienmu last Saturday to end the Elephants' seven-game winless skid, the Lions won the series by outscoring the defending champs by a combined score of 13-1 in the other two games.
Earlier this week, the Bulls continued their domination on the field as they took games one and two against the Elephants 9-4 and 3-0.
Led by third baseman Chang Tai-shan's (
Chang, who leads the league with five homers only 10 games into the season, is five home runs short of 100 career-runs and is hoping his form does not dip.
"I hope the ease with which I hit the five homers so far will not jinx my hitting performance later on this season."
Upcoming Games
Stadia in southern Taiwan will be packed this weekend as the Lions play host to the Gida in Tainan for a three-game series (tonight and Sunday); and the Agan takes on the Whales in Kaohsiung (tomorrow and Sunday) for three contests of their own.
The Bulls-Elephants matchup will move to Taipei with a game scheduled tonight in Hsinchuang and a game in Tienmu tomorrow.
The two series down south are excellent opportunities for the Lions and the Whales to gain some ground, as they take on weaker opponents.
The Elephants, with last season's 16-game winner Jonathan Hurst back in town, should put on a good showing against the streaking Bulls for President Chen Shui-bian (
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB