Chang Cheng-wei’s RBI double capped a two-run seventh inning that gave the Brother Elephants a 3-0 lead and they held on to defeat the Sinon Bulls 3-2 at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung last night to take Game 1 of this year’s Taiwan Series.
It was the third hit of the night for the rookie outfielder, who also came up big on a couple of defensive plays to keep the potent Bulls lineup from scoring over the first seven innings, giving the underdogs the advantage in the all-important series opener.
Taking the mound for the Elephants in his first post-season start in Taiwan was righty Jim Magrane of the US, who took a 3-0 shutout two outs into the eighth, before giving up a run on a solid eight-hit effort to earn the victory. He was also the beneficiary of an outstanding Elephants defense that turned three double-plays to keep the Bulls at bay most of the night.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
“I am very proud of the way we played today. My job is to put the ball in play and let the defense do its job,” Magrane said after the game.
Two of the three double-plays came after he had allowed the lead-off man to reach, bailing him out of harm’s way.
“Well, the first two double-plays did not hurt us as much since it was early in the game, but the last one was probably the difference in the game,” Sinon skipper Hsu Sheng-ming said in the post-game interview, referring to the double-play turned by the Elephants in the bottom of the ninth that negated at least one run for the Bulls in a game in which his troops actually outhit the Elephants 11 to seven.
Chen Guan-ren’s two-out single off Bulls starter Shoda Itsuki in the top of the third put the Elephants ahead 1-0, a score that would remain through to the sixth, with neither offense able to plate another run against Magrane and Shoda.
After the Elephants added to their lead with a pair in the seventh that made it 3-0, the Bulls finally broke through in the eighth, with three singles off Magrane that chased the American, but the damage was held to a minimum as fellow countryman Orlando Roman came in with two on and two outs in the inning and got Lin Yi-chuan to hit a lazy flyball to center for the inning-ending out that kept it 3-1.
The Bulls would muster one final offensive in the ninth after the double-play by scoring their second run of the game off Roman on a two-out single by Yu Hsien-ming.
That was as close as the Bulls got, as Roman calmly induced a fly to left with runners on first and second to pick up his first post-season save.
Tagged with the loss was Shoda, who allowed three runs on six hits over six-and-two-third innings of work in a quality start, only to lose by a run in the end.
Game 2 is scheduled to begin at 5:05pm this afternoon at the Douliou Baseball Stadium, with the Elephants sending Carlos Castillo to the mound to take on Yang Jien-fu of the Bulls.
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