Brother Elephants skipper Lin Yi-tseng's (林易增) decision to retain the services of Japanese veteran pitcher Sin Nakagomi and waive Panamanian Miguel Martinez at the end of August is looking more and more brilliant as Nakagomi's victory total continues to build.
The former star for the Hanshin Tigers that ruled the Nippon Professional Baseball League during the mid-1990s, has won both of his starts since the Aug. 31 deadline for teams to name their three foreign players. He also registered a save in a relief appearance. Opposing hitters averaged only .190 against Nakagomi, who posted an ERA of .551 since the end of August.
Nakagomi's recent performance has complimented starters Yokota Hisanori and Jonathan Hurst, making them the most feared starting trio in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Contrary to predictions that Lin was going to pick mid-season addition Martinez over Nakagomi, who was only 8-8 at the time, the manager went with experience and familiarity with the CPBL in his decision to stick with Nakagomi.
It was not an easy decision for Lin to let go of Martinez, who put up an impressive 1.69 ERA.
"I wish the rules would allow four foreign guys per team, because Martinez gives you so much more flexibility in a four-game series," Lin said in a recent interview. "He can be a third starter, come in for mid-innings relief, or even close out games for us."
Round Up
A 14-1 The Elephants opened the four-game series with a rout of the Chinatrust Whales in Hsinchu on Tuesday night, where Nakagomi cruised to his 11th win of the season. He allowed no runs on six hits in seven innings while fanning six.
Offensively for the Elephants, the game belonged to game-MVP Peng Cheng-ming (彭政閔), who led all hitters with a 3-for-4 and 3 RBI night.
In addition, the Elephants have not committed an error in eight consecutive games, tying a league record set by the former Chinatimes Eagles in 1995.
In Hsinchuang on Wednesday, it was a different story. The game went down the wire as the Elephants managed to break a 3-all tie in the ninth inning with Peng's inside-the-park homer for a dramatic win.
Peng's 17th home run of the season made American starting pitcher Jonathan Hurst the game winner, who went the distance in a valiant effort to give his team its eighth successive victory.
Stuck with the tough loss was Whales reliever Kao Chien-san (高建三), who was tagged for Peng's game-winning hit that was followed up by outfielder Chi Jung-lin's (紀俊麟) error, allowing the winning run to score.
The Sinon Bulls and the Makoto Gida played in Taichung on Wednesday night, where a six-run eighth inning gave the Gida the edge in the 8-4 triumph.
Bulls reliever Ho Chi-shien (何紀賢) served up three straight homers to Gida hitters Wu Cheng-han (吳承翰), Chiou Chang-rong (丘昌榮), and Hsieh Jia-shien (謝佳賢) over an eight-pitch span in the bottom of the eighth en route to his eighth loss of the year.
Home-run leader Chang Tai-shan's (張泰山) 26th blast of the season was overshadowed by the four long bombs that the Gida hitters mustered against a tired Bulls pitching staff.
Upcoming Games
The Elephants will look to wrap up their post-season birth this weekend in Games 3 and 4 against the Whales in Hsinchuang today and in Tienmu tomorrow. Virtually out of the playoff hunt, the Whales will send ace right-hander Nakayama to the mound in search of his 13th victory of the season tomorrow.
The President Lions take on the First Securities Agan in Kaohsiung in a three-game series which began yesterday, and continues today and tomorrow.
The second-placed Lions are looking to reduce the 6-1/2 game gap between them and the Elephants. In addition to sweeping the series, the Lions need the Whales to beat the Elephants in both games if they wish to remain in the hunt for the second-half title.
The Bulls faced the Gida in Hsinchuang last night and Sunday, with a game in Hsinchu today.
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