The long awaited first victory for new First Securities Agan skipper Tsai Rong-tsung (
Agan starter Liang Rue-hao (
Reliever Lee Fong-hua (
Tsai Chung-nan's (
The most anticipated matchup of the week was the three-game series between the second-placed Chinatrust Whales and the third-placed President Lions, with the series ending 1-1-1.
A whale of a time
The series began with the favored Whales taking the first game in Hsinchuang in a 4-1 win on Thursday. Four costly Lions errors led to three unearned runs against Lions starter Joe Davenport, denying the pitcher a chance to win his ninth game of the season.
Game two of the series on Saturday in Tienmu was a 2-2 affair until Whales first baseman Hung Chi-fong (
Led by second baseman Yoshimi Hiroaki's bases-loaded two-run single, the Lions came back by scoring three runs of their own in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
With the bases loaded, Yoshimi told reporters after the game that all he wanted to do was hit the ball to deep right to bring in at least one run.
"I am glad though, it turned out to be a two-run hit," he said.
The 5-5 tie got Lions starter Pan Wei-luen (
Similar to game two of the series, the Whales lost the lead late in the game, giving up just one run too many.
Whales starter Nakayama Hiroaki cruised through seven scoreless innings with a 4-0 lead before giving up five runs eighth inning, ending Nakayama's 23-1/3 innings of scoreless play. Lions closer Tsao Chun-yang (
Although the series ended in a 1-1-1, it was a moral victory for the slumping Lions.
The Brother Elephants fell to the Makoto Gida 5-3 in Tienmu on Sunday, preventing and Elephants sweep in the series. The last time the Elephants lost a series was in mid-April against the Gida.
Elephants starter Nakagomi Sin fell victim to some poor fielding as two of the five runs were unearned. Along with three Elephants errors, an unsuccessful attempt to tag out a runner at second and a wild pitch during a suicide squeeze sealed the Elephants fate.
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