Behind a strong outing by Tsao Chin-hui, the Brother Elephants beat the Sinon Bulls 7-5 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu on Saturday evening.
The win not only nipped a nine-game losing skid for the Elephants, but also gave them their elusive win No. 900.
It was Tsao’s first game back in Taiwan since he decided to end an injury-filled six-year career with three different teams in the Majors. And the sellout crowd of more than 10,000 who expected to see his high heat got just that as Tsao kept his velocity at just above 150kph, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits, while fanning four and walking one.
Offensively for the Elephants, Chu Hong-seng and Chen Chih-hong each drove in a pair of runs against Sinon starter Lin Keh-chien to deal the rookie sensation his first defeat of the year.
■LIONS 6, BEARS 4
Yang Seng’s two-run blast off Bears starter Tsai Ying-fong broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the sixth and the Uni-President Lions went on to beat the La New Bears 6-4 on the road in Kaohsiung on Saturday for their fifth straight win.
The seesaw affair that featured five lead changes saw the visiting Cats get on top in the top of the opening inning on Chen Lien-hong’s sacrifice fly, before the home Bears answered with three runs of their own two innings later to claim a 3-1 lead.
Huang Kan-lin’s bases-loaded single off Tsai sparked a three-run fourth that gave the Lions a 4-3 lead. The hosts countered with their fourth run of the game to even things up, setting the stage for Yang’s go-ahead blast in the sixth.
Yesterday’s CPBL results:
• Elephants 4, Bulls 3
• Lions v Bears was abandoned and will be played on June 27
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