Kuo Dai-yong's three-run homer over the leftfield wall capped a four-run first for the Chinatrust Whales as they toppled the Macoto Cobras in a rain-shortened 5-2 final in Sinjhuang on Saturday night for their third straight win this week.
The victory not only moved the Whales up to a second-place tie with the La New Bears in the latest standings, but also kept their playoff hopes alive with the regular season winding down in the final two weeks of play.
Whales starter Shen Yu-jeh also bounced back nicely from a disheartening one-run loss on Thursday that nipped a career-high six-game winning streak for the emerging lefty ace with five solid innings of two-run ball to get back on the winning track.
"It was a big result for us because it showed that we can still win it [the second half title] if we keep trying our best" Shen said after the game.
His team now trails the top-ranked President Lions by three-and-a-half games with 10 games remaining in the season.
The contest began with the Whales taking advantage of a struggling Chang Hsien-chih who had not won a start for the Cobras since Sept. 1 with four quick runs in the opening frame on a single, a double, a pair of walks and Kuo's towering blast.
Even though the Cobras answered with two runs off Shen in the top of the second on back-to-back RBI singles by Chen Yuan-jia and Wong Tsai-sheng, that turned out to be the only runs they scored before a downpour forced the home plate umpire to call the game at the end of the fifth.
Offensively for the Whales, Kao Jung-chiang also connected for a single and a double with an RBI to help complement Kuo's three-RBI performance.
As for the Cobras, who are guaranteed a spot in the upcoming postseason for winning the first half, despite having lost eight of their last ten, the outlook may be bleak if manager Wu Fu-lien cannot come up with a winning formula soon.
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