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Bears bounce back to defeat Lions in CPBL opening game

Chen Fong-min set a career-high for RBIs in a single game with four on Saturday to help the La New Bears overcome an early 0-4 deficit in a 5-4 win over the President Lions in Kaohsiung.

This year's season-opener in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) featured a rematch between last year's Taiwan Series teams.

The offensive fireworks began when the visiting Lions jumped all over Bears starter Gary Rath of the US with four quick runs in the second inning in a fast start.

First baseman Kao Guo-ching's towering solo blast off Rath over the wall in center field got the Lions on the board for a 1-0 lead before Wang Tsu-song's RBI-single and Yang Song-hsuen's two-run liner made it 4-0 to the Lions.

After four hitless innings against Lions starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen in which only two Bears hitters managed to reach first on walks, the Bears offense finally got to the Lions staff ace by grinding out three straight singles off him in the bottom of the fifth. Chen Fong-min's liner to short then plated a pair of runs for the home hosts to make it 4-2.

Chen Chin-fong's leadoff solo homer in the sixth would start what ended up being a game-turning, three-run fifth for the Bears. Chen Fong-min's opposite-field double later in the inning was good for two more runs to cap off the valiant comeback.

Neither team was able to score again with the Lions' Pan lasting two outs into the seventh and fellow relievers Cheng Bo-ren and Shen Bo-chang getting two outs each, while the Bears' Liang Rue-hao and closer Huang Jung-chung combined for three-and-a-third frames of scoreless relief to keep the hard-earned lead intact.

Liang was credited with the win for his two-and-two-thirds innings of hitless relief. The veteran, who had not won a game since October 2005, due to various injuries, was delighted.

"It's a great way to start off a year, especially after the limited number of games that I was able to play in all of last year," Liang said after the game.

As for Rath, whose Taiwan debut ended in a no-decision despite allowing four runs (three earned) in five-and-one-third innings of work, it may take a few more games for him to adjust to the hitters in the league.

Offensively for the Bears, the bottom of the order did well with Tseng Hao-jui, batting seventh; Jiang Chih-tsong, batting eighth; and Chen Fong-min, batting ninth, collecting two hits apiece to make up for the lack of success by the other hitters in the lineup.

The Lions also had three multi-hit efforts on the night, with Kao and outfielders Yang and Pan Wu-hsiung amassing two hits each off Rath.
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