Continuing to excel in close games, the Macoto Cobras edged the Sinon Bulls by a 4-3 final on Tuesday night in Hsinchuang to kick off the much anticipated series between the top two clubs in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
The victory was especially sweet for game-MVP winner Lee Ming-jing (
(In the interest of protecting hitters, league rules automatically ejects a pitcher from the game if his pitch hits any part of the batting helmet regardless of intent).
Even though the Bulls would strike first with a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single by third baseman Chang Tai-shan (張泰山), the Cobras quickly returned the favor by putting up three unanswered runs in the bottom of the same inning with designated hitter Wu Cheng-han's (吳承翰) three-run dinger off starter Yang Jien-fu (陽建福) to deep right.
After the Cobras added another run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-1, the Bulls managed to cut the deficit down to a run in the top of the eighth on pinch-hitter Kao Jien-long's (
That was as close as the Bulls got as Huang squeezed out the final out of the game by getting Chueh Shu-mu (
Game 2 on Wednesday night was a classic pitching dual between starters Kleber Ojima for the Cobras and Kuo Yung-chih (
Then came the Bulls' seventh that rang up five runs against Cobra relievers Carlos Montane and Tsai Shih-ching (
Chang Tai-shan's two-bagger brought home the fifth and sixth run for the Bulls and put out any hopes that the Cobras might have had in a possible comeback.
In other action around the league, the Brother Elephants and the La New Bears combined for ten runs on 24 hits in a slugfest on Thursday night in Pingtung that went through seven different pitchers between the two squads.
Elephants designated hitter Wang Jin-yung's (
Elephant starter Nakagomi Sin pocketed his third victory of the season in a shaky start by allowing three runs on eight hits in five innings, while his counterpart Robert Marquez suffered his second defeat of the season for allowing four runs on six hits in just three innings of work.
The Chinatrust Whales failed to make it three wins in a row in their series opener against the President Lions in Tainan on Thursday night.
Lions cleanup man Wang Chuan-jia (王傳家) took matter in his own hands in the bottom of the ninth by depositing the 2-1 offering from Whales hurler Wang Guo-jing (王國進) into the right-field bleachers for a solo homer that broke the 2-2 tie in a dramatic win. It was the second time this season that a game ended on a game-winning home run.
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