Hsieh "The Ugly" Jia-shien's walk-off single with men on first and second scored the game-winner for the Macoto Cobras as they overcame a one-run deficit late in the game to top the President Lions 3-2 in Sinjhuang on Sunday evening.
The lefty slugger got a hold of a hanging slider from Lions reliever Yen Chuen-hao and drilled it over centerfield for a two-out single, giving his club a much-needed win.
The win not only ended the Cobras' six-game slide, that had seen them fall from first to fourth in the standings, but also ended the Lions' nine-game winning streak.
The high-flying Lions wasted little time getting on the board, Yang Seng's firing a two-run homer off Cobras starter Che Jia-hong in the top of the second.
But those were the only runs the Lions scored in the game, as Chen quickly settled in and one-hit the Lions through the fifth inning. His bullpen then took over with four combined innings of shutout relief to deal the Lions their first loss since July 5.
Trailing 0-2 against the Lions' Pete Munro, the Cobras hitters finally came through in the bottom of the third when Kuo Ming-ren slapped a two-out single. Yang Rei-chih followed with a timely double to halve the Lions' lead.
Neither team scored again until the Cobras strung together three base hits off the Lions bullpen, highlighted by Chiou Chang-rong's pinch-hit RBI single off Tseng Yi-cheng, to tie things up at 2-all in the bottom of the eighth. That set the stage for Hsieh's game-winning swing.
Jeremy Hill was credited with his sixth win of the season in a rare relief appearance, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth to end a recent four-game losing streak.
Taking the loss for the Lions was Tseng, who served up Chiou's game-tying run in a blown save situation for his first setback of the year. The late-game collapse by the Lions bullpen cost starter Munro his tenth win of the year despite the American lefty's seven strong innings of one-run ball.
Bears 10, Elephants 2
Scoring early and often, the La New Bears roughed up the Brother Elephants 10-2 in Tienmu on Sunday to avenge a one-run loss to the Elephants the night before.
Lin Chih-sheng's towering three-run homer off Elephants starter Wu Jung-yi in the top of the first set the tone early in the game as the Bears' long-ball threat let off his frustration from a waived-off homer in Saturday's game. Lin's eleventh blast of the season gave his team a 3-0 lead.
The Elephants answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first on three straight singles off Bears starter Hsu Wen-hsiung, but the defending champs piled on seven more runs to put the game away long before the final out was called.
Four different Bears hitters had multi-hit games on the night, with Lin leading the way on a two-for-three effort with three RBIs. Shih Chih-wei also had a huge game with three hits and a pair of RBIs.
Picking up the win for the Bears was reliever Jiang Bo-ching, who pitched two-and-two-third innings of hitless ball for his fourth win of the year.
RSS