Lin Hong-yu’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the sixth drove in a pair of runs that turned a 1-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Lamigo Monkeys and they went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls by the same score in the night game of the day-night doubleheader at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to clinch the rain-shortened weekend series.
It was the fourth multi-hit game that the sophomore catcher has had in his last six outings, raising his batting average past fellow slugger Lin Chih-sheng (.367) to .378 to lead all hitters in the league.
“We really needed this win,” Lamigo manager Hong Yi-chung said after the game.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
His troops had lost three straight and tied a game they should have won in the day game of yesterday’s doubleheader during what many would call a small slump that cost them the lead in the standings. Hong said he hoped the win would steer the Monkeys back in the right direction as they trail the top-ranked Uni-President Lions by a game in the standings.
Lin Yi-chuan’s RBI single in the top of the third gave the Bulls a quick 1-0 lead, only for the Monkeys to respond in the bottom of the same inning when Kuo Yen-wen lined a double to the right-center gap to even things up at 1-1.
The bulls took their second lead of the game in the fifth on the strength of a rare triple by Chang Jien-ming that scored Lin Yi-chuan, to set the scene for the Monkeys’ game-turning rally in the sixth.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Picking up the win was starter Adrian Burnside, who allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings to improve to 6-3, while the loss went to the Bulls’ Lin Ying-jeh, who failed to protect a 2-1 lead after entering in the fifth in relief of starter Yu Wen-pin. It was his eighth loss of the year.
MONKEYS 4, BULLS 4
The two teams played out a 4-4 draw in a day game that the Monkeys should have won and nearly lost.
The game was the Monkeys to win when they led 4-1 through the seventh, before they served up three runs to the Bulls in the eighth and they had to settle for a draw.
They nearly lost it when the Bulls’ Lin Yi-chuan was called out for having made contact with third base coach Chang Wen-tsong while rounding third, a questionable call that negated a run in the eighth which would have given the Bulls the lead at that point.
Even though both Lin Yi-chuan and Chang denied having made contact with each other, the call nonetheless stood, as did the 4-4 scoreline.
LIONS 9, ELEPHANTS 5
The Uni-President Lions avenged an embarrassing shutout loss to the Brother Elephants in Kaohsiung on Saturday with a 9-5 victory at the Pingtung County Baseball Stadium last night to win the series 2-1.
Dan Reichert improved to 6-1 for the year, allowing five runs on eight hits over 5-2/3 frames to beat his counterpart Lee Jin-mu, who lasted only 2-1/3 innings with three allowed runs (one earned) on five hits.
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