Kao Cheng-hua's single with a runner on third base scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the 12th to salvage a 9-9 draw against the Chinatrust Whales for the President Lions in Tainan on Sunday, ending the longest match in league history -- 5 hours and 31 minutes -- in a draw.
For the second straight day, the contest between the two clubs went to extra innings as the trailing team mustered just enough runs to force the game into extra innings.
It was the Lions who scored six runs in Saturday night's game to force it into extra innings before the Whales returned the favor a day later with six runs in the ninth to erase an 8-2 deficit.
Sunday's game saw the visiting Whales break an 8-all tie after the 11 long innings of play on Carlos Villalobos' RBI single to make the score 9-8 before the Lions managed to squeeze out a run in the bottom of the inning to avoid the loss.
The game began with the home Lions scoring five quick runs against Whales starter Lorenzo Barcelo over the first two innings, highlighted by Tilson Brito's league-leading 18th homer of the season, a two-run shot over the leftfield wall in the top of the first.
The Lions would make it 7-0 with a run in both the fourth and sixth before the feisty Whales finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the eighth, courtesy of Chen Jien-wei's sacrifice fly and a one-run single by Villalobos.
Another run for the Lions in the bottom of the eighth gave them a seemingly commanding 8-2 advantage, setting the stage for what turned out to be a six-run ninth that sent the game into extra innings.
Ten men made it to the plate in the inning against Lions hurlers for the Whales with Gee Jung-lin, Wang Yi-min and Kao Jung-chiang driving in a run each to cut the Lions lead to 8-5 before Villalobos went deep for a game-tying three-run blast.
The newcomer from Colombia made a big splash in his second game in Taiwan by going 4-for-5 with five RBIs. The Lions bullpen cost starter Brian Reith the win as the Lions right-hander pitched six-and-one-third innings of shutout ball on seven hits before handing a 7-0 lead to his bullpen.
Cobras 9, Bulls 2
The Macoto Cobras salvaged a one-game split in their two-game series against the Sinon Bulls in Taichung on Sunday with a 9-2 trouncing of the home Bulls.
Pat Ahearne tossed seven solid innings of two-run ball on six hits and Lin "Wild Hog" Hong-yuan batted 3-for-4 with three RBIs to get the serpents back on the winning track.
A two-run double down the third base line by the Wild Hog capped a three-run first for the Cobras as they jumped to a 3-0 lead before Bulls answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the second when Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan led off the inning with a stand-up double and scored on Lin Tsung-nan's opposite-field single two outs later.
Macoto would tack on another run in the third before ringing up three more in the fifth, this time on Kao Wei's one-run single and Chen Yuan-jia's two-run double off Bulls starter Yorkin Ferreras, to blow the game wide open at 7-1.
The Bulls managed to put up their second run of the game in the seventh and that was all as the Cobras came up with two more runs in the ninth en route to a 9-2 victory.
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