Lin Ming-shien’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh turned a 2-3 deficit into a 4-3 lead and the Brother Elephants held on to beat the La New Bears by the same score in Game 2 of the Playoff Series in Kaohsiung to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five postseason series.
The veteran outfielder — whose playing time has been reduced dramatically over the past two seasons because of various injuries and the emergence of second-year man Huang Cheng-wei — came off the Elephants bench in place of an injured Huang in the bottom of the third and disappointed none by going 1-for-3, including the game-turning two-run blast in the seventh to get the job done.
“It’s been a while since we last made it into the playoffs, so we’d better make the most of it,” Lin said after the game, referring to the Elephants’ absence in postseason play since winning three straight titles from 2001 to 2003.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
His team is now a win shy of making it into the Taiwan Series to take on the defending champs — the Uni-President Lions, who had earned a first-round bye with the best overall record during the regular season.
The near sellout crowd of more than 13,000 saw the visiting Elephants open the game with three base hits in a row off Bears starter Hsu Wen-hsiung to score their first run before Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min grounded into a double play, but still managed to score the Elephants’ second run of the game to lead it 2-0.
Hsu would buckle down and retire the next dozen hitters he faced while the Bears offense fought back and quickly tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second.
With the game tied at 2-2 through the fifth, the Bears skidded ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth for their first lead of the series when Chen Chin-fong came through with a clutch single off Elephants starter Kobayashi Ryokan to score a runner from second.
The lead would be short-lived as the Elephants came right back in the top of the seventh on the strength of Lin’s two-run homer with two outs to take the lead for good.
Down by a run, the Bears would place at least one runner in scoring position in the seventh and the eighth.
But failure to come up with the clutch hit necessary to score the tying run ultimately cost them the game as they stranded all four runners over the final three frames to lose the match by a run.
Picking up a win was Elephants reliever Yeh Yong-jeh, who entered the game in relief of Kobayashi in the sixth and recovered a two-on with one-out jam by inducing an inning-ending double play for his first career postseason victory.
Suffering the tough loss on behalf of the home Bears was Hsu, who nearly pulled off a win with eight solid innings of work, but the pitch that got away was mercilessly crushed by Lin for the go-ahead homer.
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