Makeup week continued in the Chinese Professional Baseball League last night with the Uni-President Lions topping the Sinon Bulls in a 6-4 final at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium to clinch the first-half title.
Multi-homer games by Chang “OEO” Tai-shan and Kao Guo-ching paved the way for the Lions, who plated three runs over the final two frames to break an otherwise close 3-all tie en route to victory.
With orange ribbons covering both sides of the infield seats and fireworks lighting up the Greater Taichung sky after the contest, skipper Lu Wen-sheng led his Lions pack in a slow trot around the field to celebrate the first-half title.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to win, given the level of competition that we are in,” Lu said after being tossed in the air several times by his troops during the postgame celebration.
Also getting plenty of attention were Chang and Kao, whose respective homers broke the tie in the eighth and won it in the ninth to help the Lions win in dramatic fashion.
“This is why I came over to the Lions,” Chang said after the game, referring to his decision to join the Lions at the start of this season after spending 11 seasons with the Bulls.
Injured Lions slugger Chen Yung-chi, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month, also took to the field on his crutches to show his spirit and support for his club.
Lin Chih-shiang’s RBI single in the top of the second inning put the Lions on the board for a quick 1-0 advantage, before Chang’s solo blast in the fourth inning doubled the lead at 2-0.
The two-run lead lasted less than an inning as the Bulls answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of a two-run shot by Lin Yi-chuan off Lions starter Ryan Glynn, to knot the game at 2-all.
Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung’s two-out double with a man on first finally broke the 2-all tie in the seventh inning only to see the Bulls counter with a run in the bottom of the inning as a result of a defensive error by the Lions, setting the stage for the late-game drama.
Trailing 6-3, the Bulls managed to get a run back against Lions closer Lin Yueh-ping in the bottom of the ninth inning, but that was as close as they would get as Lin calmly recorded the final three outs to preserve the win.
Picking up his eighth win of the year was Dan Reichert, who took the mound in a rare relief appearance with two innings of one-run ball (unearned), while the loss went to the Bulls’ Shen Yu-jeh for serving up a pair of late-game homers.
ELEPHANTS 7, MONKEYS 1
The Brother Elephants took care of business in their makeup contest against the Lamigo Monkeys by downing the Monkeys 7-1 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night for their sixth straight win.
Tyler Lumsden won his third game in a row to improve his season mark to 4-3, tossing one-run ball over five innings, before fellow American Orlando Roman and Lee Fong-hua combined for four innings of shutout relief to silence the Lamigo offense.
At the plate, the night belonged to the Elephants’ Chang Chih-hao, who drove in three of his team’s seven runs on a 3 for 5 outing.
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