Elephants stomp closer to second place with sweep

The amazing Brother Elephants continued their mastery against the Chinatrust Whales on Sunday in front of nearly 5,000 screaming fans in Tienmu to complete a three-game sweep of the series with a 5-4 thriller.

The victory not only extended the Elephants' non-losing streak to nine games, but also put the third-placed Elephants within a-half game of the second-place Whales.

The game began with the Whales striking first on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Hung Chi-fong (洪啟峰) in the top of the first.

The Whales added to their lead in the second inning with four singles off Elephants starter Wang Ching-li (王勁力) to make it 3-0. Wang gave up two runs thanks to a 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning.

Elephants batters then connected for three straight homers off Whales starter Hsieh Chen-hsun (謝承勳) to the Elephants four runs.

The Elephants added another run in the top of the fifth to make the score 5-3 as the result of an error committed by Whales second baseman Lin Yueh-liang (林岳亮) that turned what would have been an inning-ending double play into the eventual game-winner.

Elephants starter Wang shook off the less-than-perfect first two innings and held the Whales scoreless through the sixth inning for the win.

Bullishness

After splitting the first two games against the Makoto Gida, the Sinon Bulls came on strong and finished off the series in Taichung on Saturday by seeping a doubleheader.

The day game began with the Gida taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth on star first baseman Hsieh Jia-shian's (謝佳賢) RBI double off of Bulls starter Osvaldo Martinez. Martinez and ace closer Ramon Morel managed to seal the 5-1 Bull win. Martinez allowed one run on three hits.

He finished the game with a season-high 10 strikeouts, earning him the game-MVP honor.

The Bulls' pounded 10 runs off three helpless Gida pitchers in the 10-3 blowout in the night game.

The Bulls scored one run against Gida starter Lee Ming-jin (李明進) through the first four innings of play. Then, trailing 3-1, the Bulls hitters drove in seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, led by veteran first baseman Chueh Shu-mu's (闕樹木) two-run double that sent Gida starter Lee Ming-jin to the showers.

The Bulls lineup batted around the order for the sixth time in the season.

Bulls starter Tsai Chung-nan (蔡仲南) held the Gida to three runs on six hits over seven innings en route to his ninth win of the season, tying him with fellow teammate Jeff Andra for the most victories in the league.

The win marked the Bulls' 34th of the first half of the season, tying them with the 1996 Elephants and the 1998 President Lions for most wins in a half.

Lion hearts

In Kaohsiung, the Lions salvaged a winning record for the first half of the season by beating the First Securities Agan on Sunday by a score of 11-1.

The series started off on Thursday with a complete-game effort by ace starter Joe Davenport. The Lions managed to load the bases with one out in the top of the 10th and appeared well on their way to scoring the first run of the game when a downpour forced the game to be called.

Game two of the series was a slugfest that showcased a rare Agan offensive surge that ended in a 13-4 win.

The Agan lineup had 13 runs on 17 hits against six different Lion pitchers. It was the first time that the Agan offense broke the double-digit mark in runs scored this season.