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 (
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
TECH ISSUES: Before Sinner’s match against Diallo the lights went out at the courts, and during it the electronic line-calling system partly failed and an alarm sounded Jannik Sinner on Monday ignored technical issues interruptions and a blaring alarm to defeat Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) on a day of distractions at the Cincinnati Open. The top-seeded defending champion got down to business against the 35th-ranked Canadian, who was plagued by eight first-set double faults and 49 unforced errors in the match as he faced the best in the world. Sinner recovered smoothly from an early break down and had his hands full on his way into the fourth round, sending over an ace on match point after saving a set point in the tiebreaker. Play was stopped briefly with
RSS