Pan Wu-hsiung’s three-run homer off reliever Huang Chin-chih in the top of the seventh rallied the President Lions from two down as they went on to top the La New Bears 5-3 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Saturday night.
It was the second blast that Pan had hit off Huang this year, with the first coming on June 24 in a Lions loss.
“It was a fast-ball that I hit for a homer last time, so I was thinking curve-ball all the way today,” Pan said after the game.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The outcome, however, was the same, as Pan deposited the offering from Huang over the right-field wall for the game-turning shot.
What had been a tight 3-1 Bears lead through sixth, with Bears starter Chang Chih-jia holding the top offense in the league in check, suddenly turned in favor of the visiting Lions during the fatal seventh, as Bears interim skipper Wu Fu-lien sent in a left-handed Huang to take on the three left-handed bats of Yang Song-hsuen, Yang Seng and Pan in the interests of creating of more favorable match-up.
The strategy didn’t pay off, as Huang surrender back-to-back singles to Yang Song-heuen and Yang Seng, before serving up the homer to Pan.
The loss by the Bears ended their three-game winning streak. It was also the Lions who dealt the Bears their last loss, that ended a five-game winning skid at the time.
WHALES 9, ELEPHANTS 5
The Chinatrust Whales fully capitalized on a wild outing by Elephants starter Liao Yu-cheng, who walked six in an eight-run second, to trounce the men in gold at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tienmu on Saturday.
Emergency reliever Chu Wei-ming, who entered the game with minimum warm-up in the top of the first to replace injured starter Tseng Jau-hao, pitched five-and-two-third innings of one-run ball to pocket his first win of the season.
Heading into the contest against a struggling Whales offense on a five-game winning streak, Liao seemed well on his way to his 10th win of the year.
But his bid to clear victory No.10 would come to a sudden halt on the night as his usual pinpoint control suddenly vanished, causing the Elephants’ ace a world of trouble.
“It’s one of those things in pitching that just happens every once in a while. You can’t dwell on it,” Elephants manager Wang Guan-hui said.
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