Striking early and often, the Brother Elephants easily swept the First Securities Agan in last week's three-game series.
The heart of the Elephants order was unstoppable as each player collected a game-MVP honor for their outstanding display of offensive power. The Elephants averaged nearly nine runs per game.
In the Elephants' 14-5 win on Thursday, Peng Cheng-ming (
It was the second time this season that Peng had cleared the bases with one swing and the fifth in only three seasons with the CPBL.
Nakagomi Sin to register his seventh victory of the season, as he fanned 10 Agan hitters over seven innings.
Game 2 of the series on Friday featured a batting clinic by Elephants All-Star centerfielder Chen Chih-yuan (
In a classic pitching duel between two Latin American right-handers -- Panamanian Miguel Martinez for the Elephants and Dominican Republic native Gabriel Ozura for the Agan, the Elephants drew first blood on first baseman Tsai Fong-an's (
The Agan fought back and cutting a 2-0 lead by half in the top of the eighth with four straight singles. A tough base-running mistake by right-fielder Lu Jung-hsiung (
The series finale in Tienmu on Sunday turned into the "Chen Huai-shan (
Elephants starting pitcher Jonathan Hurst yielded only one run on seven hits in as many innings for his 10th win of the season.
Huang Kwei-yu's (
Huang earned back-to-back game-MVP honors on Thursday and Saturday.
The series began with a 5-4 Whales victory in Hsinchuang, where Whales hitters tied the league record for most doubles in an inning with four. Ace starter Nakayama Hiroaki got his ninth win of the season after closer Maximo Rosa nearly blew the 5-3 lead in the ninth, yielding a run on a single and a double.
The Whales took Game 2 of the series in Tienmu 7-3 behind starter Kuo Lee Chien-fu's (
Closer Rosa earned his second straight save of the week.
On Sunday's finale in Hsinchu, the Gida scored nine runs against a Whales staff that sent four different hurlers to the mound in a losing cause.
In Taichung on Friday, Jeff Andra of the Sinon Bulls became the first 11-game winner of the season as he outpitched Lions rookie sensation Pan Wei-luen (
Reliever Ramon Morel got three outs in the ninth for his league-high 21st save of the season.
The Lions finally rallied on Saturday as they beat the Bulls 7-3.
The Lions struck first against Bulls strikeout artist Osvaldo Martinez in the top of second on right fielder Chen Cheng-shian's (
After taking a 3-1 lead in the fourth, the Lions offense came alive and pounded Martinez for four more runs in the fifth, sparked by catcher Tseng Chih-cheng's (
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