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Lions growl in tale of two innings to dominate Bears

Teammates congratulate the Uni-President Lions' Nelson Figueroa after a stellar performance in Game 4 of the Taiwan Series in Tainan last night. PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES

The Uni-President Lions stamped their authority all over the La New Bears in Tainan last night, winning Game 4 and now needing only one more victory to claim the best-of-seven 2007 Taiwan Series baseball finals.

Big hitter Kao Kuo-ching was the hero for the night, smashing a homer that put the Lions in the lead at the bottom of the 1st, while Nelson Figueroa's calm and collected pitching prevented the Bears from competing.

The Bears started well in the 1st, with Chen Chin-feng's drive forcing a fielding error in leftfield and a wild, wide throw to the right of third base. Lin Chih-sheng made it home from first base to put the Bears up 1-0.

The Lions' response was an explosion. After hits by Kao Chih-kang and Pan Wu-hsiung, Tilson Brito was walked, giving Kao Kuo-ching a chance for some big runs with bases loaded.

He grabbed the chance, smashing a massive homer beyond left field, the ball punching a hole in a piece of canvas appropriately decked out like a baseball.

Ecstatic teammates presented Kao Kuo-ching with cuddly toys after crossing home plate.

The next innings saw the Bears get runners on bases, but in each case the crucial hit that would get runs on the board escaped them; the batters instead holed out deep in the outfield.

It was the bottom of the 5th that proved disastrous for the Bears. Pan Wu-hsiung made a single on a Kit Pellow misfield, then stole second, and Brito was walked a second time. Pitcher Hsu Wen-hsiung then seemed to deliberately walk Kao Kuo-ching -- perhaps remembering the massive hit that hurt him in the 1st inning.

But the move resulted in his replacement, and from there the Bears were floundering as they changed pitchers three more times before the end of the inning.

With bases loaded, Pan stole home on a wide, low pitch from Tsai Ying-feng. Then the Lions' Liu Fu-hao was walked, before Chen Lien-hung hit a single to send Brito and Kao Kuo-ching home. Huang Kan-lin did the same, allowing Liu to score. Then, incredibly, another Lions batter was walked to load the bases, allowing Chen to dash home off a hit by Yang Po-chao, ending the inning at 9-1.

The Lions followed this up with two innings of good fielding, killing the Bears attack with two double plays. But in the top of the 8th, with impressive pitcher Nelson Figueroa replaced, Pellow gave the Bears hope, hitting a towering homer to send Lin Chih-sheng and Chen Chin-feng home for a 9-4 scoreline.

But it was nowhere near enough, with the Lions' Pan and Kao Chih-kang scoring two more runs on a hit by Liu.

The Bears finished a miserable night with a painful leg injury to Yu Chin-te as he attempted to catch a ball in the outfield.

Game 5 will be played tonight, the last game to be hosted by Tainan.
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