Skipper Hung Yi-chung (洪一中) started his managerial career with a bang as the La New Bears dominated the President Lions by a 9-3 final in the second-half opener at Kaohsiung last Saturday.? The former Elephant catcher who defected from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 1997 to join the then Taiwan Major League (TML) and had been banned for life from the CPBL upon his defection, was reinstated earlier this season in a grand-scale resolution between the two leagues.
Hung named the new manager for the Bears shortly after his predecessor Ohda Takushi stepped down for personal health reasons less than two weeks ago.? He will continue to guide the young club that finished last in the first half but showed promise with a strong finish at the end.
The Bear offense went to work early against Lion starter Joe Davenport by scoring nine runs in the first two frames for a commanding 9-0 lead. Davenport had been strong throughout the entire first half, posting a 1.62 ERA that was second best in the league.
American Phillip Bailey was nearly untouchable as he scattered three hits in seven scoreless innings before being relieved.
Sunday's matinee matchup between the two squads had a completely different outcome as the Lions roared back for a 3-0 shutout.
The same Bear offense that knocked home nine runs the night before simply could not solve Lion righty Jose Alberro as the Puerto Rican sensation mesmerized opposing hitters in a two-hit gem. Ace closer Michael Garcia got the last six outs for his league-leading 15th save of the season. He remained a perfect 15-for-15 in save opportunities converted.
Right Chen Lien-hung's (陳連宏) RBI double off Bear starter Iriki Satoshi was more than ample for the Lions as they salvaged a tie in the two-game series.
In the game between the Macoto Cobras and the Chinatrust Whales, the Cobras found out in a hurry just how good Francisco Morales was. The Dominican native made a strong impression in his first game in Taiwan by going 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI's on offense and gunning down a runner at third to stop a scoring threat on defense.
The serpents took a slim 3-2 lead into the seventh before open-firing on the hapless Whales for five straight runs, capped by designated hitter Chiou Chang-rong's (丘昌榮) two-run liner up the middle. Seven Cobra hitters reached base during the dreadful seventh, as they batted around the order at the expense of a shaky Whale bullpen.
Cobra Kleber Ojima earned his sixth victory of the season in the 8-2 decision by allowing two runs on six hits in as many innings, while his counterpart Danny Harriger of the US suffered his first loss to even his record at 1-1 for the year.
Leftfielder Luo Song-yung's (羅松永) sharp single off Brother Elephant reliever Hsiao Ren-wen (蕭任汶) with the bases loaded in the tenth gave the Sinon Bulls a 3-2 victory on Sunday night. The game-winning hit credited Bulls' lefty Jeff Andra with the win, despite Andra's failure to preserve a 2-1 lead in the ninth by allowing the game-tying run to score.
It was the second time that the Bulls came back in a hard-fought game. After trailing the defending champs 0-1, the Bulls took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on cleanup man Chang Tai-shan's (張泰山) blooper single to center off Elephant reliever Chuang Pei-chuan (莊培全).
