Alfredo Gonzalez pitched eight solid innings of three-run ball and Chang "Red Monkey" Jia-hao went 4-for-5 with three RBIs as the Sinon Bulls baffled the Brother Elephants in a 7-3 win at Kaohsiung on Saturday.
After allowing two early runs to the Elephants on a double and a pair of singles in the first two innings, Gonzalez quickly regained his composure and retired 18 of the next 22 batters en route to his first victory in Taiwan.
The heart of the Bulls batting order -- Huang Chung-yi, Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan, and Hsu Guo-long -- erupted on a combined 7-for-12 night with four RBIs, as the defending champs finally broke through for a season-high of seven runs on 16 hits, letting out some of the frustration that they had experienced in what most would consider a poor start (3-6) this season.
And as for the Elephants, the 2-0 lead that his offense had spotted him did not seem enough for starter Liu Jung-nan, who lasted only 3-1/3 innings for yielding five runs on 11 hits (including a solo homer to Chang Tai-shan) in his first loss of the season.
Cobras 6, Lions 1
The Macoto Cobras avenged their heart-breaking 5-4 loss in extra innings on Friday with a 6-1 trouncing of the President Lions in Tainan Saturday night.
Cobras catcher Wu Jau-hui capped off the four-game series against his former club by going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to win the game-MVP honor in unanimous manner, further proving the Lions' decision to waive the nine-year veteran in 2004 a poor one.
The big cats struck first in the opening frame with a run-scoring single by red-hot outfielder Yang Song-hsuen (batting 7-for-13 in the four-game series) off Cobras starter Hsu Chu-jien for a quick 1-0 lead.
Then it was all Cobras, as they scored six unanswered runs against six different Lions pitchers.
Wu knocked in the equalizer for the Cobras in the top of the second with a two-out double off Lions starter Tim Kester before an infield single by leadoff man Yang Rei-chih put the serpents up 2-1 for their first lead of the game.
After a scoreless third, the Cobras added a run in each of the next four innings to make it 6-1, highlighted again by Wu's RBI single to the opposite field off Kester in the top of the fourth.
Collecting the win was Hsu, who allowed an unearned run on six scattered hits in as many innings for his second victory of the year, while his counterpart, Kester, suffered his first setback of the season for allowing four runs on seven hits.
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