Three straight Sinon Bull losses, coupled with two impressive President Lion victories over the Brother Elephants, have turned a once three-way tie among the three squads on top of the league standings into a two-game lead for the Lions heading into this weekend's play.
Just when the Bulls began to show some signs of life by taking four of the first five contests since regular season play resumed earlier this month, the club has lost three in a row, two of which to the then-last-placed Chinatrust Whales.
Second-year starter Yang Jien-fu's trouble with his control led to an embarrassing 7-0 loss to the Whales last Saturday before Tuesday's 4-3 heartbreaker to the Macoto Cobras set the Bulls further back.
The 4-3 loss to the serpents was especially hard to take for the Bulls not only because it ended starter Osvaldo Martinez's cross-season, eight-game winning streak against the Cobras, it also dampened the impact of slugger Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's league-leading 16th homer of the year. Down 0-1 after just an inning of play, the Bulls managed to go up 3-1 in the third on captain Huang "Big Brother Tung" Chung-yi's run-scoring double and Chang Tai-shan's two-run blast, both off Cobra starter Lin Ying-jeh.
The lead lasted less than a frame as Cobra cleanup man Hsieh Jia-shien and rookie catcher Chen Keh-fang connected for back-to-back scoring singles off Martinez to tie the game up at 3-3. Chen then broke the tie in the fifth with his second RBI of the night; this time, on a grounder to short that brought home the runner from third on a fielder's choice.
The 4-3 Cobra lead would stand until the end of the game as neither team was able to produce another run the rest of the way. Cobra starter Lin Ying-jeh allowed three runs on seven hits in as many innings en route to his 11th win of the season, while Martinez fell to 7-4 for the year with the tough loss. Making the most out of the Bulls' losing skid were the Lions, which have won three straight to quietly take a two-game lead over the second-place Elephants.
The big cats opened their three-game home stand against the Elephants in Tainan last Thursday with an impressive 5-0 shutout win, thanks to a brilliant performance by American veteran pitcher Don Lemon. The former Major Leaguer silenced the Elephant bats by taking a two-hitter into the eighth, before two consecutive Elephant singles ended his bid for a complete game. In came fellow American closer Michael Garcia, who retired the next five batters for his record-setting 23rd save in a row this year.
Lions centerfielder Huang "Sugarcane" Kang-lin's 3-for-5 night with a pair of RBI's led the attack against an Elephant staff that surrendered an uncharacteristic 12 hits for the game.
Jonathan Hurst's run for his 15th win fell short on Sunday as an aggravated strain on his right hamstring kept him in the game for less than two innings. This made the young Elephant bullpen prey to a tenacious feline attack in the 9-1 rout.
Shortstop Yang Seng's bases-clearing double in the second was more than ample for Lion starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen to cruise to his ninth win of the season.
The Rookie of the Year winner from last season bounced back from a tough loss in his last outing against the Bulls to snap up the victory, leaving him one win shy of the ten-win plateau.
The Lions' red-hot winning streak continued into this week with an 11-7 win over the La New Bears in Tainan on Tuesday night.
After taking an early 5-0 lead in the second inning, the big cats actually found themselves down 6-5 in the top of the fifth on Bear third baseman Eduardo Rios' two-run shot off Lion starter Jose Alberro.
The Bear lead would only last momentarily as the Lions fought back with four runs of their own to take the lead for good.
The win marked Lion manager Hsieh Chang-hen's 99th career victory, leaving the second-year skipper one win away from the 100-win milestone.
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