Miscues on the part of the defense led to a pair of unearned runs as the Sinon Bulls dropped Game 2 of the Taiwan Series by a 3-1 margin at Douliou Baseball Stadium last night to trail the Brother Elephants 0-2 in the best-of-seven annual Fall Classic.
Chang Jien-ming’s drop on a routine fly to right for what would have been an inning-ending out in the sixth led to the Elephants’ first run of the game, before Chang Tai-shan’s fielding error in the eighth on what could have been an inning-ending double-play attempt with the bases loaded, put the Elephants ahead 2-0.
While the Bulls defense struggled, the Elephants defense was very much on top of its game as it turned three double-plays for the second straight night to hold the Bulls scoreless through to the eighth, not to mention a spectacular grab over the wall by right-fielder Chang Chih-hao that took away a homer from the Bulls.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
The Elephants did commit a base-running mistake when Chang Cheng-wei overran second and was called out at third in the opening inning, costing them a run. However, it proved inconsequential as starter Carlos Castillo tossed nine innings of one-run ball on six hits to pick up the complete-game victory.
Other than a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the second which he managed to escape unharmed, he was well in control by pitching three-hit ball the rest of the way on a solid performance that earned him the game’s MVP honor.
“I changed my tempo a little bit after the second inning and things got better after that,” Castillo said in a post-game interview.
He declined to comment on how many games the series would last when asked by reporters, saying: “I’m not a psychic, so I won’t predict how many games this series will go; we are just gonna keep on playing hard.”
Trailing 0-2, the Bulls finally broke through in the eighth inning when Yu Hsien-ming reached safety on a fielding error and scored two batters later on Cheng Hong-da’s sacrifice fly to right. That was as close as they got to Castillo as the Elephants starter retired the next two hitters to strand the runner at first.
Offensively for the Elephants, the top of the order came through for skipper Chen Rei-chen once again, as Chang Cheng-wei and Chen Chiang-ho combined for five of the nine hits they pounded off the Sinon pitching, highlighted by Chen Chiang-ho’s RBI-double in the ninth that put his team ahead 3-1.
As for the Bulls, heavy favorites at the start of the series, failure to come up with the big plays ultimately cost them both games. They wasted an outstanding performance by starter Yang Jien-fu, who allowed an unearned run on six hits over six-and-two-third innings.
Game 3 will begin at 6:30pm tomorrow evening at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium with the Bulls expected to send Lin Ying-jeh to the mound to face the Elephants’ Orlando Roman.
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