Cheng Jau-han's double with the bases loaded scored the go-ahead run for the Sinon Bulls as they topped the Macoto Cobras 6-2 in Sinjhuang on Tuesday evening.
The versatile infielder for the Bulls, who can play three of the four infield positions, lined a 2-2 pitch from Cobras reliever Travis Minix to deep-left, sparking what turned out to be a four-run eighth, to regain the momentum for his team after the Cobras had scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up at 2-all.
"It was a big win for us, especially after the long break that we've had," said Cheng, who over the past 10 games has been one of the Bulls' most consistent hitters.
Solid efforts by both starters, newcomer Andy Van Hekken of the US for the Cobras and Dominican right-hander Alfredo Gonzalez for the Bulls, produced four scoreless innings until Chen Chih-wei connected for a rare triple off Van Hekken and scored on a sacrifice fly one batter later to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
The Bulls doubled their lead in the sixth on a miscue by the Cobras centerfielder that allowed the runner to score all the way from first on a single by Yu Hsien-ming to make it 2-0. The Cobras rallied for a pair of runs in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk issued by Bulls reliever Kurita Yusuke and Hsieh "The Ugly" Jia-shien's RBI chopper to first to set the table for Cheng's eighth-inning heroics.
The Cobras made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth against Kuo Yong-chih with back-to-back singles off the Sinon closer to put runners on first and second. But with the tying run on deck and the Cobras order looking to do some damage, Kuo was able to pitch out of trouble by getting the next hitter to pop up for the second out of the inning before inducing a groundout to short against Hsieh to end the scoring threat.
Picking up the win for the Bulls was Kurita, who threw one-and-a-third innings of one-hit relief to improve to 4-3 for the year. His counterpart Jeremy Hill was tagged with the loss for allowing two runs in the decisive eighth to drop to 6-8 mark for the season.
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