Chen Chin-fong’s solo blast off reliever Lin Yueh-ping in the top of the 12th put the La New Bears ahead as they held on to defeat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Thursday evening, nipping a three-game slide.
It was the third time the Bears took the lead on Thursday. Having allowed the Lions back in twice — the first time in a two-run ninth inning to force the contest into extra innings, and the second in a one-run 11th that sent the game into the 12th inning — the Bears bullpen converted its third straight save opportunity to preserve the win.
“It would have been tough to take if we had tied or lost the game in the bottom of the 12th,” said former major leaguer Chen, who has quietly extended his hitting streak to seven games.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The classic pitchers’ duel between the Bears’ Hsu Wen-hsiung and Lions newcomer Kenny Rayborn lived up to its billing as the Bears picked up a run in the second and the sixth courtesy of RBI singles by Jacob Cruz and Liu Jia-hao to take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The game took a drastic turn south for the Bears as closer Hsu Ming-jeh allowed a runner in the bottom of the ninth before serving up a two-run shot to the Lions’ Liu Fu-hao to send the game into extra innings.
La New had another chance to win it in the 11th, when Chung Cheng-yo went deep against Lions reliever Kao Jien-san to give his team a 3-2 lead, only to see the Lions answer in the bottom of the same inning on Liu Yu-cheng’s RBI single with the bases loaded.
The Lions would have won the game if it had not been for a great throw by Bears outfielder Chan Chih-yao that gunned down the runner from second at home for the third out of the inning.
Earning his third win of the year was Tseng Jau-hao, who entered with two outs in the 11th and got the final four outs for skipper Hung Yi-chung to end the Bears’ tough three-game losing streak.
As for the diehard Lions, whose luck finally ran out in the end, the loss went to reliever Lin, who allowed the homer to Chen as he fell to 2-5 for the year.
ELEPHANTS 4, BULLS 1
The Brother Elephants ran their recent winning streak to four straight by downing the Sinon Bulls in Taichung on Thursday night to maintain their eight-game lead over the second-place Bears.
Chou Si-chi’s two-run single, followed by Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s RBI single in the top of the third, gave the visitors a 3-0 lead.
That was more than ample for starter Mike Smith, who tossed 7-2/3 innings of one-run ball to improve to 6-4 for the season.
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