Foreign pitching trio brings Bulls record of success

One the biggest surprises of the season so far is the tremendous success the Sinon Bulls have enjoyed through the first dozen games.

The Bulls' streak has broken the five-year-old record previously set by the China Times Eagles in 1977 for attaining 10 wins the fastest, with the Eagles taking 13 games and the 10-2 Bulls doing it in 12 games.

No-one argue that the main reason the Bulls are leading the charge is their incredible pitching trio from abroad: starters Osvaldo Martinez and Jeffery Andra, and closer Ramon Morel.

Veteran and Dominican, Osvaldo Martinez joined the Sinon Bulls in 1997 and over the past six seasons has compiled a record of 72 wins, 62 losses, 2 ties and 18 saves. His ERA so far this season is 0.84.

"I have been around for some time now and if I hadn't figured out the hitters around the league by now, I probably will never figure them out," Martinez explained.

"I have benefited from many great defensive plays by my teammates. Without their help, my ERA could easily be 2.5 or more."

Fresh talent

Newcomer Jeffery Andra from the US spent a few years in the minor league system with the San Francisco Giants. His current ERA of 0.72 puts him ahead of fellow teammate Martinez, as well as the rest of the league.

Andra he had not anticipated doing so well so soon in his new career in Taiwan.

"I am a little surprised by what has happened up to this point, [referring to his league-leading strikeout figure of 29).

"The guys who have been around longer have fed me nice info on most of the hitters I face, I guess that helped me tremendously," the Kansas native said.

Family connections

Ramon Morel of the Dominican Republic was introduced to the CPBL this season by fellow pitcher, and cousin Osvaldo Martinez.

In his role as closer, Morel is still a perfect 5-for-5 in saves converted.

It may be too early to tell if the Bulls can sustain their level of success throughout the long and arduous season, but skipper Chen Wei-chen (陳威成) is concerned that the weight of expectation is falling squarely on foreign shoulders.

"I am really pleased that our foreign players have come through for us," Chen said. "Andra has been quite a pleasant surprise for us. However, I would be even more pleased if I saw our Taiwanese pitcher starting to come around."

Starter Tsai Chung-nan (蔡仲南) and Ho Chi-shian (何紀賢) accounted for the two lone losses suffered by the Bulls.

Tsai bounced back from his season-opening loss, however, with two impressive victories and lowered his ERA to a respectable 1.80, the fifth-best in the league.

Ho, on the other hand, is still struggling with his control and has his work cut out to reduce an ERA of 12.79.

Round-up

The biggest news from last week was the three-homer game by the President Lions' power hitter Wang Chuan-jia (王傳家), when Wang became the first player in league history to record three consecutive home runs in a single game.

The Lions swept the series against the Gida 3-0, with a lopsided combined scoring of 41 to 13 and desperately need to keep up if they want to keep pace with the raging Bulls.

The China Trust Whales gained some ground in the league standings with two come-from-behind victories against First Securities Agan on their visit to Kaohsiung.

Leading way for the Whales in those two wins were second baseman Lin Yue-liang (林岳亮) whose first career homer won Game 1 and center fielder Yang Song-hsuen (楊松弦) whose game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth won game two for the Whales.

Upcoming Games

CPBL action returns to the central and northern cities on the island this weekend with the Bulls hosting the Lions in the fight between the top two teams in the league.

Down only one-and-a-half games, a four-game sweep by the Lions will put them ahead of the Bulls atop the league standings.

Games and four between the Gida and Whales will move to Hsinchuang tonight and Tienmu tomorrow night with each team fighting for third place in the league standings.

The last-placed Brother Elephants play host to the second-to-last-placed Agan in a four-game series at Hsinchuang (games one and two on Thursday and tonight), Tienmu (tomorrow), and Hsiunchu (Sunday). With last season's 16-game winner Jonathan Hurst back, this is the chance for the defending champions to make a move against the error-prone Agan.