Overcoming a two-run deficit midway through the game, the Lamigo Monkeys scored four unanswered runs to defeat the Uni-President Lions 4-2 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to sweep their three-game series.
It was the third straight game that the Primates had rallied from behind to deny the first-half champions a much-needed victory, dealing the Lions their fourth loss of the week to open a 2-1/2 game cushion at the top of the table.
Chou Guang-sheng’s RBI single following a lead-off double by Tu Chuang-hsun got the Lions on the board in the top of the third, before Chang Tai-shan and Kao Guo-ching followed suit with back-to-back singles to give their team a 2-0 lead.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
The Lions’ two-run advantage lasted through the fifth, with starter Dan Reichert scattering just two singles and a double over the same span in another effective start.
However, one swing by the Monkeys’ Lin Chih-sheng in the sixth changed things in a hurry as the slugger went deep after the American issued a walk for a two-run blast that evened the score at 2-2.
Chang Jia-hao’s timely single with a runner on second made it 3-2 as the Monkeys struck for two more runs in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead that stood the rest of the way, with starter Shane Youman retiring the side on three strikeouts in the eighth and Lin Jia-wei tossing a perfect ninth to preserve the win for Youman on his debut.
Taking the loss was Reichert, who went the distance for the Cats with eight solid innings of four-run ball on 10 hits. Other than the homer he served up to Lin, he was in control for most of the game as his bid for win No. 12 fell short by a pair.
ELEPHANTS 1, BULLS 5
The Sinon Bulls made it two wins in a row by topping the Brother Elephants at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night to take the weekend series 2-1.
Wu Tsong-jung’s three-run homer off Elephants starter Ricardo Gomez of the Dominican Republic put the Bulls ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the first, a lead they would not relinquish as starter Lin Keh-chien held the Elephants bats at bay in a four-hit gem over seven frames en route to his third win of the season.
Hampered by an anemic offense that mustered only run in the game, Gomez’s debut was less than ideal as he lasted through the sixth in a seven-hitter to lose the game long before the final out in the ninth.
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