Homers lit up the Pingtung sky in the CPBL yesterday afternoon as the Uni-President Lions pounded the Brother Elephants in a 9-0 final to win their season-opener.
The Lion’s top order consisted of Yang Song-hsuen, Pan Wu-hsiung and the newly acquired bashing tandem of Chen Yong-chi (formerly with the Oakland Athletics’ minors) and Chang Tai-shan (formerly with the Sinon Bulls), who took turns in taking the Elephant pitchers deep with one blast apiece in a home-run hitting clinic.
The result was a commanding 8-0 lead through the fourth for the Lions, as they dominated the defending champs from the get-go.
It was an especially meaningful day for Chen and Chang as they greeted the new season with combined 7-for-9 hitting and four RBIs to account for nearly half of the Cats’ total run production. That silenced any doubts that had being circulating around the league over their ability to adapt to their new team.
Chang had opted to join the Lions as a player instead of taking on a player-coach role with the Bulls, at the Bulls’ request, while Chen had decided to end a six-year stint in the US minor league.
Spotted with a big lead, Lion starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen scattered five hits over seven scoreless innings, before his bullpen came up with two hitless frames to keep the shutout win intact for the staff ace.
As for the Elephants, things did not look very positive after their opening day win over the Sinon Bulls as starter Carlos Castillo lasted only three innings after serving up three homers over the same span to lose for the first time this season.
MONKEYS 11, BULLS 4
The Lamigo Monkeys kicked off the new season on a high note with a convincing 11-4 trouncing of the Sinon Bulls at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung yesterday afternoon.
Ken Ray hurled six strong innings to pick up his first win of the season, while the loss went to his counterpart, Lin Ying-jeh, who gave up five runs on nine hits in a disappointing outing.
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