Close plays dominated the first half of this week as the Uni-President Lions edged past the Sinon Bulls on Tuesday and the Brother Elephants sneaked by the La New Bears on Wednesday in a pair of 5-4 decisions.
The Lions found themselves trailing 0-3 through the top of the fourth in Tainan and needed a two-run homer from newcomer Jose Castillo in the bottom of the same inning and a three-run blast from Liu Fu-hao in the sixth to lead it 5-3 before giving up a run in the ninth and holding on for dear life to win it 5-4.
Ace closer Lin Yueh-ping had a 5-3 lead to start the top of the ninth but quickly gave up a double and an RBI-single that made it 5-4 before inducing a sharp grounder to third for a timely game-ending double play.
Picking up his second win of the year out of the Lions bullpen was reliever Chang Chih-chiang, who faced only one batter but was able to get the big out that stranded runners at the corners to end the Bulls’ scoring threat in the top of the sixth.
Sinon starter Shoda Itsuki was tagged with the loss for serving up the two homers that accounted for all of the Lions runs. He is now 5-2 with a 3.81 ERA.
ELEPHANTS 5, BEARS 4
Overcoming an early 0-3 deficit, the Brother Elephants erupted for five runs in a big fifth before the bullpen held its ground with a scoreless eighth and ninth to preserve their win over the La New Bears in Kaohsiung on Wednesday night.
Sluggers Lin Chih-sheng and Chen Chin-fong got the hosts on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI-double and a two-run home run respectively off Brother starter Liu Yu-chang for a quick 3-0 lead.
But the lead proved insufficient for starter Hsu Wen-hsiung, who cruised through the first four innings unscathed before stumbling into trouble in the fifth by issuing a walk and a pair of wild pitches on top of two infield singles and two doubles to fall behind 3-5.
The Bears offense finally broke through in the seventh with a run on a solo shot by Yu Chin-deh after being held to two scattered singles from the second through the sixth. But that was as close as they got as the Elephants bullpen held its ground with a scoreless eighth and ninth to preserve the win for Liu.
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