It wasn't pretty, but a ball-four call by home plate umpire Su Jien-wen scored the runner from third to give the Macoto Cobras a 2-1 win over the President Lions in Game 3 of the playoffs series at Tianmu on Sunday. The win put the serpents one victory shy of their first Taiwan Series appearance as they took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series heading into tonight's Game 4 action at Tainan.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Lions reliever Tseng Yi-cheng's final pitch of the game went just wide against the Cobras' Cheng Jin-yi, snapping a 1-all tie to hand the first-half champs the narrow win.
Lefty ace Lin Ying-jeh picked up his second win of the series with three innings of shaky relief which included yielding a ninth-inning run that erased a 1-0 Cobras' lead late in the game.
PHOTO: CPBL
Rookie starter Lin "Little Chick" En-yu was magnificent in two-hitting the Lions over six frames of shutout ball. He fanned seven and walked three before handing the ball over to Lin Ying-jeh.
Offensively for the serpents, second baseman Shih Shiang-kai's RBI single off Lions starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen in the bottom of the fourth was the only run scored in the tightly fought match through the first eight innings.
As for the big cats, it took a liner by outfielder Chen Lien-hong off Lin Ying-jeh that dropped for a base hit to knock in the tying run in the ninth before the Cobras answered with the game-winner on the final at-bat.
Tseng was tagged with the loss for surrendering the game-deciding walk as the Lions headed home for the crucial, do-or-die Game 4 tonight.
Cobras 6, Lions 2
The series started on a fast pace with both teams scoring a pair of first-inning runs in Game 1 at Tianmu last Friday. Then things quieted down as Cobras starter Lin Ying-jeh blanked the Lions the rest of the way en route to a 14-strikeout night -- one better than the old post-season mark of 13 set by Tu Hong-ching of the former Mercury Tigers in 1990.
Two key miscues by Lions catcher Kao Cheng-hua, one on the offensive front and the other by the usually dependable catcher on defense, led to four unearned runs for the Cobras and at least one potential run for the Lions in the game-turning second inning.
With a runner on third and one out, the Lions attempted a suicide squeeze with Kao batting, which turned into an inning-ending double play when the second-year catcher popped the ball back to the pitcher who then threw out the runner at third to end the Lions' scoring threat.
Things went from bad to worse for Kao because it was his throwing error to first base in the bottom of the second on a would-be inning-ending out that led to four straight unearned runs for the Cobras, helping them build a 6-2 advantage that would stand until the end of the game.
Neither offense managed to score again, with both starters going the distance.
While Lin earned his first postseason win in a four-hit gem, the Lions' Jose Espinal learned the hard way that pitching alone would not get the job done in this league on a night where his five-hitter could only net him a loss.
Lions 12, Cobras 0
Behind a two-hit, complete-game effort by starter Lin Yueh-ping, the Lions bombarded the Cobras with 12 runs in a 12-0 blowout to even the series at one game apiece in Tianmu on Saturday.
The rookie righty for the big cats held the serpents to a pair of hits over nine innings in what was easily his best game of the year.
After the Lions struck first with two runs in the opening inning against Cobras starter Hsu Chu-jien, the game quickly became a pitching duel, as the score remained 2-0 until the top of the sixth.
Back-to-back defensive errors by the Cobras infield allowed the first two Lions to reach home plate before Chen Lien-hong and Wang Chuan-jia made the Cobras pay with an RBI single and a two-run double in a three-run sixth.
The Lions added to their with seven more runs in the final three innings to create the biggest run differential for a postseason contest in league history.
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