Tsan Chih-yao’s high chopper to third, which Wilton Veras did not have a chance to field cleanly, scored the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th for the La New Bears as they beat the Sinon Bulls 9-8 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.
The speedy rookie outfielder, whose trademark smile has won the hearts of many young female fans, rose to the occasion with a two-out single to help his club win for the first time in a week, nipping a dreadful four-game slide.
The home Bears jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the opening frame when Lin Chih-sheng and Chen Chin-fong drove in a pair of runs off Sinon starter Shoda Itsuki.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
The lead last less than an inning as the Bulls came back and struck for three runs on run-scoring doubles by Cheng Jau-han and Chang Jien-ming to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the second.
After Shih Chih-wei’s opposite-field single in the bottom of the second tied the game at 3-all, the home Bears doubled their lead in the fourth when Lin went deep against Shoda for a three-run homer, his league-leading 30th of the season.
Sinon managed to get two of the runs back to keep the La New lead at a run, but the Bears claimed an 8-5 lead in the sixth on consecutive RBI singles from Jacob Cruz and Pan Chung-wei for a seemingly comfortable cushion.
Failure to keep the Bulls hitters in check on the part of the La New bullpen allowed the Bulls back in the game with a pair of seventh-inning runs, courtesy of Cheng’s two-run single off Bears reliever Keng Bo-hsuen.
The Bulls eventually tied the game up in the eighth when Hsieh “the Ugly” Jia-shien came through with a clutch two-out single off Hsu Ming-jeh with runners on first and second to send the game into extra innings.
Picking up the win for the Bears was Lee Fong-hua, who tossed a scoreless 11th for his first “W” of the year to beat his counterpart Ricardo Rodriguez, who gave up the game-winning run in the end.
LIONS 5, ELEPHANTS 3
Luther Hackman tossed seven strong innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts to lead the Uni-President Lions past the Brother Elephants at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Tuesday night, extending the Cats’ winning streak to four in a row.
The win cut the Elephants’ lead over the second-place Lions to 4.5 games in the second-half standings as the latter looked to finish out the second half strong in order to gain a first-round bye in the upcoming postseason.
Hsu Fong-bin’s RBI groundout broke a 2-all tie in the bottom of the second for the Lions, who went on to lead it 5-2 before holding off a late-game rally by the Elephants to win by a 5-3 margin.
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