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Averaging six runs per game in their three-game series against the Macoto Cobras last week, the Sinon Bulls took two of three (with a tie) from the serpents to close out the week undefeated, reclaiming the lead in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League standings that they had lost to the Cobras two weeks ago.

The defending champs opened the week with a 4-4 tie at Hsinchu on Friday, where rookie first baseman Hsu Guo-long's two-run home run off Cobras starter Hsu Chu-jien in the bottom of the sixth erased a 4-2 deficit that the Cobras had built on the strength of a three-run third.

Although neither club ended up with the win in the game, it was definitely a moral victory for the Bulls as they rallied from being down by a pair of runs to snap the Cobras' three-game winning streak.

Bulls 11, Cobras 4

The Sinon bats opened fire on the Cobras staff in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Tienmu on Sunday when the Bulls rang up 11 runs on as many hits against three different Cobras pitchers in an easy 11-4 decision.

Lefty ace Lin Ying-jeh was not his usual self in yielding a season-high seven runs (five earned) on four-plus innings for the serpents.

The ERA king from a year ago fell to 5-5 for the year with the loss.

Bulls starter Osvaldo Martinez was pulled in the fourth after suffering an unspecified injury. He did not pitch the minimum five innings for a starter to qualify for the apparent easy win, leaving the honor to fellow reliever Geraldo Padua for Padua's first victory of the season.

Offensively for the Bulls, cleanup man Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan led the way with a 2-for-4 night and three RBIs. Both of Chang's hits were clean doubles that he simply ripped into the sweet spots in the Tienmu outfield.

Bulls 3, Cobras 2

Following the high-scoring affair in the afternoon contest, the Bulls rounded out the night with a nail-biting 3-2 win when centerfielder Tseng Hua-wei's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth broke a 2-all deadlock to deliver the Bulls win.

Both starters, Lenin Picota of the Bulls and rookie sensation Lin En-yu for the Cobras, allowed six hits apiece to the opposing team in two otherwise solid complete-game efforts, with Picota benefiting from Tseng's clutch hitting in the final at-bat for the win.

Elephants 2, Bears 4

The Brother Elephants cooled off a red-hot La New Bears squad with back-to-back wins in Kaohsiung over the weekend to take the three-game set by a 2-1 margin.

Game 1 of the series on Saturday's day-night doubleheader had the Elephants striking first in the top of the first when slugger Tsai "A-Bian" Fong-an's RBI single knocked in Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan to give the Elephants a quick 1-0 advantage.

The home Bears would answer with a run of their own in the third on designated hitter Lin Chih-sheng's sacrifice fly and eventually go ahead 3-2 in the sixth on outfielder Chang Ming-yen's two-run, stand-up double.

Bears starter Dai Long-shui won for the first time in over two years as the regular set-up man for the Bears rewarded manager Hung Yi-chung's decision to start him with a solid performance off the mound.

Elephants righty Jonathan Hurst pitched seven-hit ball over 6-1/3 frames in another quality start, but fell short by a couple of runs in the 4-2 final as his offense failed to provide much run support in a losing cause.

Elephants 4, Bears 3

Chen Chih-yuan's 10th-inning sacrifice fly off Bears reliever Lee Fong-hua scored teammate Chu Hung-seng, who led off the inning with a walk-off double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, to give the Elephants a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

The win ended the Bears' team-high, six-game winning streak and pushed the Elephants into a second-place tie with the Cobras in the standings.

Elephants 6, Bears 0

Sunday's series finale had the Elephants cruising to a 6-0 shutout win as they blanked the Bears for only the second time this season.

The middle of the Elephants order did all the damage by going a combined 10-for-19 with five RBIs, highlighted by cleanup man Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-ming's 10th home run of the season.
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