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Angry Bulls force Elephants to Game 6

Sinon Bulls manager Chen Wei-cheng, second left, scuffles with umpires during the fifth game of the 2003 Taiwan Series in Kaohsiung on Thursday. PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES

On the brink of elimination, the Sinon Bulls made sure that there would be at least one more game in the 2003 Taiwan Series with a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Brother Elephants in Kaohsiung on Thursday night.

It was the second game in a row that the Bulls would stage a late-game rally, only this time, the Bulls had the last laugh.

The game began with the Elephants taking a three-run lead. Center fielder Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) belted his fifth double of the series before cleanup man Peng Cheng-ming's (彭政閔) two-run blast to right-center off Bulls starter Jeff Andra brought both players home.

Elephants first baseman Tsai Fong-an (蔡豐安) then added another towering shot to deep left to end the night for Andra.

Laying all his cards on the table in what could be the final game of the season, Bulls skipper Chen Wei-cheng (陳威成) immediately went reliever Ramon Morel, his normal closer, to put out the early fire.

The 3-0 Elephants lead would remain until the bottom of the fourth, when Bulls third baseman Chang Tai-shan (張泰山) knocked in leadoff man Tseng Hua-wei (曾華偉) all the way from first with a standup double off Elephant starter Nakagomi Sin to make it 3-1.

With Chang on second, the next batter, Cheng Jau-han (鄭兆行), lined a clean single to left for what appeared to be the Bulls' second run of the game with Cheng advancing to second on the throw.

A controversial call by first base umpire Su Chien-wen (蘇建文) claiming that Cheng never touched first base promptly ruled Cheng out at first, thus nullified the run scored. The call sent a livid Chen Wei-cheng out to the field, arguing that his player had properly touched the base and the run should stand.

The tense exchange between Chen and Su led to Chen's ejection, after he threw his cap, and then a punch, at Su.

Chen's ejection seemed to fire up his troops, with the Elephants scoring only once more, in the fifth, setting the stage for the dramatic comeback.

After back-to-back singles by Tseng Hua-wei and designated hitter Chen Tsung-fu (陳宗甫), Chang Tai-shan struck again in the bottom of the sixth with another one-out single off Sin to make it 4-2.

The Bulls' rally continued in the eighth, as the heart of the order came through again with two more runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Chang Tai-shan drew a walk off Elephant reliever Yokota Hisanori, after Yokota had started the inning with two quick outs.

Not rattled by his base-running error earlier, Cheng Jau-han slapped a breaking ball from Yokota to shallow-left for a one-run triple and was brought home by first baseman Chueh Shu-mu's (闕樹木) game-tying single on the next play.

Instead of collecting his first strikeout of the game, Yokota's third-strike splitter skipped past catcher Chen Rei-chang (陳瑞昌) to allow leadoff hitter Yeh Jung-chang (葉君璋) to reach first. Pinch runner Chang Jia-hao (張家浩) was safe at second on a sacrifice bunt by right fielder Kao Chien-lung (高建龍) to set up Tseng's game-winner.

With Chang Jia-hao on second, Tseng's liner was just a hair higher than the fully-extended reach of shortstop Chen Rei-cheng (陳瑞振) to score the game-winner and send the series back to Tienmu on Saturday.

"I am sure people will be talking about this one for a long time," renowned baseball analyst Tseng Wen-cheng (曾文誠) said after the game.
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