The Macoto Cobras have definitely made the most of their brand new look this season by taking sole control of the top spot in the league standings.
The former Gida, who went 30-64-6 to finish second-to-last place last season, seem to have transformed themselves into a solid contender under first-year manager Kuo Tai-yuen (³¢®õ·½) and his well seasoned group of assistants.
The Cobras have won close games this year.
Ace closer Huang Chin-chih (¶À´Ü´¼) has been the main factor in the team's early success as he converted all three of his save opportunities.
Huang hasn't given up an earned run in over six innings.
"His change of speed is what's throwing hitters' timing off," one teammate said under the condition of anonymity. "And his breaking stuff is also catching the corners of the plate."
Huang moved from starter to closer following a shoulder injury. It will be interesting to see whether manager Kuo will reassign Huang to his starting rotation or turn him into the "John Smoltz" of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Round Up
The President Lions took care of business against the lowly Chinatrust Whales in Tuesday's makeup game at Hsinchuang with a final score of 6-0.
The shutout victory breathed new life into the Lions as they climbed out of the cellar for the first time this season.
Pinch hitter Tseng Yang-chih (´¿´§Ó) broke through for the Lions with a run-scoring single off Whales starter Liu Yu-chang (¬h¸Î®i) in the bottom of the fourth before stricking again in the seventh to make it 2-0.
A four-run eighth, capped by Lions shortstop Yang Seng's (¶§´Ë) two-run single, would put the game out of reach as the Whales suffered another devastating defeat.
Reliever Chen Yang-kai (³¯´³Í) pocketed his first win of the season with three solid innings of relief, after starter Todd Rizzo was injured by a loose bat in the first inning, while Whale starter Liu registered his first loss of the year.
Cobras 9, La New Bears 4
The showdown between the Cobras and the La New Bears in Kaohsiung on Tuesday night never lived up to the pre-game hype as the two former TML squads squared off for the first time this season.
The Cobras' offense went to work on Bears starter Phillip Bailey with a pair of first-inning runs and quickly made it 5-2 after just five innings of play.
Bears slugger Pan Chung-wei's (¼ï©¾³) bat finally cooled off as the home-run threat collected only one harmless single for the game, after having gone 8-for-15 with three homers in the previous four games.
Even though the final score read 9-4, the Bears never had the timely hits necessary to pile on the runs in any single inning, with their 12 hits producing only four runs.
Cobras 5, Bears 2
Game 2 of the four-game series on Wednesday night featured the league's first leadoff home run of the season, as Bears centerfielder Huang Long-yi (¶ÀÀs¸q) drove a slider from Cobras starter Lin Ying-jeh (ªL^³Ç) over the left field fence.
The 1-0 Bear lead was short-lived as the Cobras offense rung up four straight in the top of the second against Bears lefty Hsu Yu-wei (®}§E°¶).
Poor run production once again hurt the Bears in the 5-2 final.
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