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CPBL second-half race heats up as Whales top Lions

Sinon Bulls shortstop Lin Tsung-nan, center, throws the ball to first base to complete a double play after he forced out the Macoto Cobras' Kuo Ming-jen, left, in Monday's game in Taichung. The Bulls won 5-4. PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

An already-close race between the top-ranked President Lions and the second-place La New Bears for the second-half title got closer as the Bears defeated the Chinatrust Whales 5-3 in Sinjhuang on Monday night.

What had been a one-game Lions lead heading into Monday's match was cut in half with the Bears victory, adding more drama and suspense to the Lions' title chase, which began after they were swept by the Bears in Game 4 of last year's Taiwan Series.

"Who would have thought it would go down the wire with us trailing by as many as three-and-a-half games a week ago and them winning seven in a row," Bears skipper Hung Yi-chung said after the game.

His team has won five straight, while the Lions have lost three in a row.

The game began with the Bears striking first with a pair of runs off Whales starter Lorenzo Barcelo in the top of the first on an RBI single by Raul Gonzalez and Kit Pellow's sacrifice fly for a quick 2-0 lead.

The Bears would double their lead in the third with Gonzalez belting another single off Barcelo to score the runner all the way from first with the help of an error by the Whales outfielder. Pellow then drove in his second run of the game with his second sacrifice fly off Barcelo to make it 4-0.

Held to a lone hit and a walk by a stellar effort from Bears starter Tsai Ying-fong, the Whales hitters could only watch as Barcelo was battered through the first four innings.

A poor throw by the Bears first baseman to Tsai, who was covering first base, caused the Bears pitcher to stumble and twist his ankle in the bottom of the fifth to cut his night short.

With Tsai's departure, the Whales became a different team and immediately got on the board in the sixth against reliever Lee Fong-hua with two runs on Chen Jia-hong's two-run single.

Kuo Dai-yong's sacrifice fly in the eighth got the Whales within a run of the Bears in a 4-3 game.

But that was as close as they came as the Bears put up an insurance run in the ninth to run away with the win. Picking up his third win of the year in a rare start was Tsai, who finished the minimum five innings to qualify for the win with a two-hit beauty.

Suffering the loss was Barcelo, who fell victim to a struggling defense that committed four errors, making three of the four runs he allowed unearned.

He struck out six in seven innings to up his season total to 137 for a share of the league lead for total strikeouts with Joey Dawley of the Brother Elephants.

Bulls 5, Cobras 4

The Sinon Bulls won their second one-run game in three chances in Taichung on Monday evening with a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Macoto Cobras.

Cheng Jau-hang's two-run home run off Cobras setup man Lee Ming-jin capped a four-run seven for the Bulls as they turned a three-run deficit into a 5-4 lead against the first-half champs all after two quick outs in the inning.

Trailing by three with two outs and their backs against the wall, the home Bulls began their comeback trail with Chen Chih-wei's opposite-field single after Tseng Hua-wei had reached on an error to place runners at the corners against Cobras starter Andy Van Hekken.

Then came a bases-clearing, two-run triple by Yu Hsien-ming, which chased Van Hekken while cutting the Cobras lead to 4-3. Cheng then launched his ninth blast of the season to cap the four-run rally.

The homer by Cheng was initially ruled a double as it bounced back onto the field off the edge of the rightfield wall.

But after an insistent challenge by the Sinon manager and a long discussion by the officiating crew, the call was changed to a home run for Cheng.

Neither club would score again in the contest, making a winner out of Sinon reliever Kuo Yong-chih, while Lee was tagged with the loss.
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