Hsu Guo-long's two-run double with two outs scored the game-winning run for the Sinon Bulls as they racked up four base hits and two walks in a four-run seventh to rally past the La New Bears in a 6-5 victory on the road in Kaohsiung on Friday night.
The third-year first baseman out of the Chinese Culture University has quietly built an impressive .429 batting average with seven multi-hit games in eleven chances to lead his team with 13 RBIs.
Trailing 5-2 against the defending champs after six innings of play, the Bulls led off the seventh with a walk and a single off Bears reliever Liang Rue-hao to chase the veteran right-hander.
In came closer Ramon Morel, who issued another walk to load up the bases before getting two quick outs without giving up a run.
But the Bulls were not to be denied on the night as Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan promptly lined a single to left for two runs to make it 5-4 before Hus's game-turning, two-run double put his club ahead 6-5.
Four steady runs by the Bears offense against Bulls starter Tsai Chung-nan over the first four frames -- highlighted by Chen Chin-fong's two-run double to deep-left in the bottom of the third -- quickly put the Bears on top 4-0 before the Bulls answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2.
The Bears would add on another run in the bottom of the fifth to make 5-2, but that would be the last run they would score in the game as the Bulls bullpen strung together four scoreless innings of tough relief to preserve the win.
Picking up his first win of the year was Bulls reliever Shibakusa Hiroshi from Japan, who allowed a run on four hits in two-and-two-thirds innings of relief to beat his counterpart Morel.
Failure to come up with the clutch hit was the culprit for the Bears as they came up empty in two bases-loaded situations.
In the bottom of the seventh with two outs, the Bears whiffed on an inning-ending strikeout by the Bulls Yang Jien-fu and in the bottom of the ninth, closer Kuo Yong-chih got the Bears' Jiang Chih-tsong to ground into a game-ending double play.
Elephants 5, Lions 1
Nick Bierbrodt pitched seven innings of one-run ball and Chen Rei-cheng batted a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to propel the Brother Elephants past the President Lions in a 5-1 win at Chiayi on Friday evening.
Unlike their dramatic 11-10 come-from-behind win in Tainan on Thursday night, the Elephants played like they were on a mission to win from the get-go.
Chen Rei-chen started the fireworks by delivering a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first after Huang Cheng-wei led off the game with a clean double.
Their efforts led to a quick 1-0 lead.
The score was 2-0 in favor of the Elephants after two innings of play with Chen Jiang-heh's one-run single off Lions starter Jeriome Robertson.
After neither team scored during the third and fourth innings, the Elephants mustered another offensive outburst with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, capped off by a double steal that was executed to perfection for a commanding 5-0 advantage.
A dazed and confused Lions pack finally made it onto the scoreboard to avoid a shutout in the seventh on Kao Cheng-hua's sacrifice fly off Bierbrodt for their lone score of the game.
Chen Huai-shan's single in the seventh inning was his 800th in an illustrious career that began 12 years ago.
The long-time Elephants utility man and switch-hitter will now set his eyes on the millennium mark, which has been attained by only seven players in the history of the league.
Earning his first win of the season in an Elephants uniform was Bierbrodt, who scattered five singles and struck out eight in seven innings.
Bierbrodt topped the Lions Robertson, who surrendered all five of the Elephants' runs in the game on as many hits to remain winless for the year at 0-2.
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