Macoto Cobras pull off pair of wins

CPBL

Strong pitching by a pair of young stars in Chang Hsien-chih (張賢智) and Lin "Little Chick" En-yu (林恩宇) made up for the lack of offense from the Macoto Cobras, as they pulled off a pair of 2-1 wins over the President Lions in Sinjhuang on Saturday to sweep the day-night double-header.

Australian slugger Thomas Brice gave the serpents a quick 1-0 in the bottom of the first with a two-out, RBI single to right off Lions starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen (潘威倫), a lead that the Cobras carried into the bottom of the eighth before Brice's run-scoring single, again with two outs and off Pan, to put Macoto ahead 2-0.

On the board

Trailing 2-0 and down to their final out of the game, the visiting Lions finally got on the board to avoid the shutout in the top of the ninth when first baseman Kao Guo-ching (高國慶) slapped a single off Cobras closer James Lira of the US to score teammate Luis Ugueto and cut the Cobras lead to 2-1.

But that was as close as the Lions would get, as catcher Kao Chih-kang (高志綱) bounced to short on the ensuing play for the final out of the game, handing the Cobras the narrow 2-1 victory.

Chang entered the game in the third in relief of Cobras starter Chen Jia-hong (陳家鴻), who experienced a sudden discomfort in his throwing arm during the second inning, and tossed three scoreless innings of three-hit balls for the win, improving his season record to an even 5-5 mark.

Using five different hurlers in the game, the Macoto bullpen held together for five shutout frames before yielding the lone run of the game in the ninth to truly make this one a team-effort win.

Pan was dealt his third loss of the season despite holding the opposition to just two runs on eight hits while going the distance for the Lions.? The complete-game loss was the third of his career, as the staff ace (8-3) fell victim to a lack of run support from an offense that consistently ranked in the bottom half of the league over the past six seasons.

Lions 1, Cobras 2

Lin En-yu made it look easy against the Lions in the nightcap of the double-header on Saturday with a four-hit gem in seven magnificent innings before fellow setup man Lee Ming-jin (李明進) and closer Lira chimed in with a an inning of perfect relief each to protect and eventually preserve the 2-1 win for the Cobras.

The serpents drew first blood again in this game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, thanks to back-to-back singles by cleanup man Hsieh "The Ugly" Jia-shien (謝佳賢) and Brice that put two runners in scoring position against Lions starter Tsao Jung-yang (曹竣揚) with only one out to set up outfielders Chou Si-chi's (周思齊) sacrifice-fly and a defensive error by Lions shortstop Ugueto on a routine grounder that scored the runner from third.

The second Cobras run proved to be the difference in the game as the Lions pitching allowed just three more runners to reach the rest of the way in the classic pitchers' duel that went the Cobras' way, as neither team was able to produce much offense in the game.

Breakthrough

Down by a pair, the Lions were able to break through against Lin's stellar pitching in the top of the seventh when Kao's liner to the left-center gap dropped for a two-out double to score the runner all the way from first to cut the Cobras' lead to 2-1.

That was all the Lions attack could muster as Lee and Lira retired the side in order during the eighth and ninth to secure the eleventh win of the season for Lin, tying him with La New greats Kenny Rayborn and Wu Si-yo (吳思佑) for the league's lead in total wins.