Steve Hammond tossed seven innings of one-run ball, despite giving up nine hits, while Lin Chih-sheng drove a pair of runs on a three-for-five effort as the Lamigo Monkeys went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls 4-1 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to clinch the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
It was a big win for Hammond as he bounced back from a disappointing loss in his previous start (on Sunday last week), in which he served up seven runs to improve to 2-1 for the season.
As for Lin, the three hits on the day represented his ninth multi-hit game in the 15 games played thus far, upping his league-best hit total to 30 and counting.
“I guess I have been seeing the ball quite well as of late,” Lin said after the game.
His terrific start to the season has more than silenced his critics, who challenged his contribution to the team after he signed a five-year blockbuster deal with the Monkeys for more than NT$24 million (US$828,000) during the offseason.
The Monkeys trailed the Bulls during the first two innings as Hammond allowed a run in the opening frame on three hits before the Lamigo offense got to Sinon starter Lin Keh-chien with two runs in the third to claim a 2-1 lead.
They would double the lead to 4-1 with a run each in the fifth and sixth, courtesy of run-scoring singles by Kuo Sho-wei and Lin Chih-ping.
This lead stood the rest of the way, with Hammond holding his ground through the seventh before the Lamigo bullpen took over with two scoreless innings of relief to secure the win.
Taking the loss for the Bulls was Lin Keh-chien, who allowed two runs on six hits in four innings of play with minimal run support as he suffered his first defeat of the season.
ELEPHANTS 6, LIONS 2
The Brother Elephants avenged Saturday night’s tough loss to the Uni-President Lions with a 6-2 triumph over the Cats at the Pingtung County Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to take the three-game weekend set by an identical 2-1 margin.
Chang Cheng-wei’s tie--breaking liner to the left off Lion starter Dan Reichert put the Elephants ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second and they never looked back en route to a convincing 6-2 win.
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