Cheng Jau-han’s walk-off single with a runner on second scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Sinon Bulls broke a scoreless tie with the only run in the contest to win it by a 1-0 margin against the La New Bears at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night.
It was the second time that the veteran infielder has won a game in such dramatic fashion for the Bulls this year as he lined an offering from reliever Geng Bo-hsuan to shallow-right with the game on the line to knock home the game-winner.
“This is the kind of game that will make us tougher with the season winding down,” Cheng said after the game, nearly stealing the show from fellow slugger Chang Tai-shan, who belted a single to left-center in the bottom of the seventh off La New starter Ken Ray for his record-breaking 1,583rd career bases hit.
Chang was properly honored after the game for his tremendous achievement as he received a sign with a large “1,583” on it from the holder of the previous record, former Sinon great and current third-base coach Huang Chung-yi.
It was only fitting that the Bulls celebrated Chang’s career milestone with a dramatic triumph.
Both starters held their ground against an anxious opposing lineup that looked to break the ice early in the game with the Bears’ Ray and Sinon’s Lin Ying-jeh pitching seven innings of shutout ball on four and six hits.
Neither wound up with a decision as the game was not decided until long after both hurlers had left.
Picking up his sixth win of the year was reliever Shen Yu-jeh, who pitched two innings of scoreless relief despite allowing a pair of singles to beat his counterpart Geng, who gave up a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth to set up Cheng’s game-winner.
ELEPHANTS 7, LIONS 3
The Brother Elephants made it two in a row with a convincing 7-3 victory over the Uni-President Lions at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang last night to clinch the weekend series in northern Taiwan against the defending champs by a 2-1 margin.
Jim Magrane received plenty of run support to back up his seven-and-two-third innings of solid play, allowing three runs on five hits in his 11th quality start to beat Lions starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen for his ninth win of the year.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s RBI single in the bottom of the opening frame got things moving in the right direction for the Elephants before they added to their 1-0 lead by two three innings later, courtesy of Wang Sheng-wei’s one-run single and a fielding error by the Lions third baseman.
The Elephants put up another run each in the fifth and the sixth that made it 5-0 before the Lions finally got on the board in the top of the seventh with a run off Magrane.
They managed to score two more in the eighth with Liu Fu-hao’s two-run double, but the Elephants sent closer Ryan Cullen to record the last four outs of the game for his league-leading 23rd save of the season.
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