Luther Hackman pitched six innings of three-run ball and four different hitters knocked in a pair of runs each as the Uni-President Lions roughed up the Sinon Bulls 11-3 at the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium on Friday night to begin the three-game weekend with a big win.
Every one of the first seven Lions batters reached safety against Sinon starter Ricardo Rodriguez via four singles, a pair of walks and an error to chase the Dominican right-hander before he could record an out.
Reliever Shen Fu-ren fared no better as he served up a walk and a two-run double to find his team 0-8 down after the top of the first.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Even though the Bulls’ offense got two of the runs back over the first two innings to regain some confidence, the outcome was never in doubt as Hackman held his ground through the sixth on 98 pitches before the Lions bullpen took over with three innings of scoreless relief.
“It’s one of those games where if you take away the one bad inning, it isn’t so bad,” Sinon skipper Hsu Sheng-ming said after the game.
Offensively for the Cats, Cheng Nai-wen’s 3-for-5 hitting with two RBIs led an efficient lineup that plated 11 runs on as many hits to end a two-game slide.
Hackman picked up his first win of the year since rejoining the Lions this month, allowing three runs on a half-dozen hits with five strikeouts and two walks to beat Rodriguez in his fourth setback of the season.
Bears 17, Elephants 0
Tsai Jien-wei’s two-run single capped a six-run sixth to help the La New Bears blank the Brother Elephants 17-0 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday night.
Aaron Rakers dodged a couple bullets with some clutch outs and great defensive play behind him to keep the shutout intact even though he allowed at least one runner to reach scoring position in each of the first four innings. He lasted through the seventh on a five-hit effort for his 11th win to tie the Bulls’ Shoda Itsuki for most wins in the league.
As for the potent Bears offense, former major leaguer Chen Chin-fong’s 2-for-3 hitting with four RBIs highlighted a night where it belted 15 hits off four different Elephants hurlers on top of a season-high 14 walks it drew to show tremendous patience at the plate.
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