Kenny Rayborn tossed seven innings of two-run ball and Liu Yu-cheng drove in a pair of runs on a 2-for-4 night as the Uni-President Lions scored six unanswered runs to beat the Sinon Bulls 8-2 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Sunday to win the weekend series 2-1.
The showdown between the Bulls’ rookie sensation Lin Keh-chien and the Lions’ Rayborn saw the veteran American righty outpitch his counterpart through the sixth as Rayborn took a 2-0 shutout into the seventh before giving up a pair of runs to allow the visiting Bulls back into the game.
Fortunately for Rayborn, the Lions offense broke the tie with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of Liu’s two-run double down the third-base line. This put Rayborn in position for the win before blowing the game wide open in the eighth with a four-run spurt to clinch the series finale for the hosts.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Failure to maintain his intensity cost Lin the game. The rookie hurler was unable to keep his team in the game after the offense had rallied from two down to tie the game in the seventh by surrendering the go-ahead runs after picking up two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“A couple of bad pitches is all it took to lose the game against a good team like them,” Lin said after the game.
The Lions hitters jumped all over a pair of sliders he mislocated for back-to-back doubles that scored the go-ahead runs.
Poor hitting with runners in scoring position also made it difficult for the Bulls to win in a game in which they actually outhit the Lions 9-to-7 as they batted a futile 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Elephants 1 Bears 2
RBI singles by Tsai Jien-wei and Chen Chin-fong gave the La New Bears a 2-0 lead in the fourth as they held off a late rally by the Brother Elephants at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Sunday.
The win not only avenged the Bears’ tough loss to the Elephants the night before, but also gave them a 2-1 edge in the three-game set between the two clubs.
Bears starter Huang Hong-ren won for the first time in nearly two months, allowing no runs on four hits while fanning four over 5-1/3 innings of work. His bullpen nearly squandered the two-run lead when Lee Fong-hua was charged with a run in the eighth that made it 2-1 before closer Hsu Ming-jeh saved the day by retiring the final four Elephants batters he faced to seal the win.
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