A pair of errors by the La New Bear's defense that led to four unearned runs for the President Lions cost the Bears the game as they dropped a tough match by an 8-5 margin in Hsinchu on Saturday evening.
The errors not only cost the Bears the game, but also a chance to catch the top-ranked Macoto Cobras in the race between the two clubs for the first-half title.
Trailing the Cobras by 1-1/2 games with two games remaining in the first half, the Bears needed a win against the Lions to keep their hopes alive in the title hunt.
For the first five innings with staff ace Gary Rath on the mound, it looked as they were ready to do just that, leading the Lions 2-0 with Rath throwing a two-hit shutout.
Then came the fateful sixth in which the Lions capitalized on miscues to ring up four game-turning runs that made it 4-2 in their favor.
The Lions feasted off the Bears pitching in the seventh on three straight base hits off Rath that chased the American lefty and eventually scored another four runs to lead 8-2.
Even though the Bears would roared with three runs off the Lions bullpen in the final two frames, it was too little too late as their opponents managed to hold on for the win.
Huang "Easy" Long-yi homered twice for the first time in his career with a couple of two-run blasts on the night to account for four of the Bears' five runs in the game, while former major-leaguer Chen Chin-fong also went a perfect 3-for-3 to raise his average back to .355, the fourth-best in the league.
Picking up his first win of the year was Lions starter Lin Fong-cheng, who allowed two runs on four hits and six walks over five innings to beat his counterpart Rath, who saw his bid for a league-best ninth win squandered due to the three devastating errors by his defense.
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