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Lions down Bears again to go two up in Taiwan Series

Kuo Dai-chi homered for the second straight game and Pan Wu-hsiung went deep twice off the La New Bears pitching staff to help the President Lions win Game 2 of the 2007 Taiwan Series by a 7-3 margin in Kaohsiung last night.

The win gave the Lions a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven annual Fall Classic, a pair of victories shy of taking the series.

"He [Kuo] wouldn't even have been playing if it hadn't been for the assistant coaches' insistence on how hot his bat had been of late. I'm glad we made the change," Lions manager Lu Wen-sheng said after the game.

It was Kuo's solo blast in the series opener that cracked a scoreless tie during the fourth in a game that he batted 2-for-3.

With their backs against the wall after the two home losses, the Bears travel to Tainan tomorrow to take on the Lions.

In Game 1 on Saturday Nelson Figueroa pitched seven effective innings and Yang Song-hsuen drove in three runs with a base-clearing double in the sixth as the Lions trounced the Bears 10-2.

The Lions continued their postseason dominance over opposition pitchers with 14 combined hits off six different Bears hurlers.

While the Lions hitters had another field day, their stingy pitching which allowed only six total runs over the three-game sweep against the Macoto Cobras in the Playoff Series, also held its grounds against the defending champs' big bats, thanks to the solid outing by Figueroa, who also won the series opener versus the Cobras to jumpstart the Lions in the right direction.

The right-hander allowed a pair of runs on seven hits while fanning eight and walking five to remain unbeaten at 6-0 for the Lions.

"It was a big win for us, especially after what happened last year," Lions skipper Lu Wen-sheng said after the game, referring to his clubs' four straight losses that gave the Bears their first-ever title.

The game began with both starters keeping it close over the first three innings in a scoreless tie with Figueroa and counterpart Huang Jung-chung allowing at least one opposing hitter on and managing to stay out of trouble with some clutch outs and help from their respective defense.

The Lions offense finally came through in the top of the fourth when Kuo Dai-chi led off the inning with a solo blast off Huang to get his team on the board before they batted around the order in a five-run sixth, highlighted by Yang's bases-clearing three-run double to take a commanding 6-0 lead.

Even though the Bears answered with two runs of their own off Figueroa, courtesy of a two-run homer by Kit Pellow in the bottom of the sixth, the Lions erupted for four more in the top of the ninth.
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