Winning both contests in their day-night doubleheader against the dmedia T-Rex at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium in convincing fashion on Saturday, the La New Bears reclaimed sole possession of the lead in the standings in search of the second-half title.
Mike Johnson started off the day with a terrific 8-0 complete-game shutout win for his league-leading 18th victory of the season, allowing only three runners on over the course of the game via a lone single to dmedia’s Jose Leon and a pair of harmless walks. The Canadian native became the first 18-game winner in the league since John Burgos of the Uni-President Lions did it in 2001 and could be in line to finish with 20 “W’s” for the year with two more starts scheduled before the end of the regular season.
Leading the attack with three RBIs on the night was Bears slugger Shih Chih-wei who picked up his 200th career RBI in the process.
Game two of the doubleheader on Saturday night also saw the home hosts striking first with a quick run off T-Rex starter Chiang Bo-ching in the opening inning en route to a 7-4 triumph.
Rather than a one-man show by Johnson in game one, skipper Hong Yi-chung of the Bears needed six different hurlers to the mound in a group effort to hold the dmedia offense to four runs on seven hits.
LIONS 6, BULLS 2
The Uni-President Lions also won their respective home game in Tainan by topping the Sinon Bulls 6-2 to trail the Bears by a half-game in the standings as the race for the second-half title heats up.
Newcomer Aaron Fultz bounced back from a disappointing loss in his Taiwan debut a week ago with seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball.
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