A pair of big innings by the Uni-President Lions lifted them past the La New Bears in a 9-1 trouncing at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium last night, avenging an embarrassing 7-0 shutout loss to the Bears the night before for the defending champs.
Hsu Sheng-jeh’s bases-clearing three-run double capped a five-run spurt for the Lions as they broke a scoreless tie wide open in the fourth before tacking on four more runs in the fifth to enjoy a comfortable 9-0 lead.
SOLO HR
Lin Chih-sheng’s solo blast off Lions starter Wang Jing-ming in the sixth gave Bears fans something to cheer about. That was the lone spotlight that Bears hitters enjoyed against the rookie right-hander, however, as Wang held them to three sparse singles over seven strong innings en route to his second win of the season with reliever Lin Cheng-fong tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth to close out the deal.
FIRST LOSS
Suffering his first loss of the season was Bears starter Luis Villarreal of the US who cruised through the first three innings unharmed before surrendering a double and four walks to spark what ended up being a five-run fourth. He would leave the game before finishing the inning with all five of the runs charged to him.
Offensively for the victorious Cats, Chuang Jing-heh also had a big day at the plate in addition to Hsu as he drove in three runs on 1-for-3 hitting, highlighted by a two-run single in the fifth.
The two teams will meet once more in the series-finale this afternoon with each team having won one game apiece. The winners will claim the series by a narrow 2-1 margin.
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