Lin Yi-chuan’s three-run blast to deep-right off Lin Jia-wei capped a four-run eighth to help the Sinon Bulls turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead as they held on to defeat the Lamigo Monkeys 4-2 at the Greater Kaohsiung Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the eighth time that the third-year slugger has gone deep for the Bulls, adding to his team-leading seven home runs, while improving his RBI total to 48 for the year, second to teammate Cheng Hong-da’s team-high 58.
“I know he [Lin Jia-wei] had to come with something over the plate because there were already two runners on, so I was sitting on a fastball all the way,” Lin said after the game.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
His game-turning homer spoiled what would have been a great win for Monkeys’ starter Cheng Cheng-hao, who had pitched a shutout through seven innings, before being relieved by Lin Jia-wei after he issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth.
The win not only clinched the weekend series for the Bulls against the top club in the league, but also brought them out of the cellar in the standings as they traded places with the Brother Elephants, who lost yesterday on the road to the Uni-President Lions in Tainan.
Chung Cheng-yo’s two-out double off Bulls starter Luo Cheng-long with two runners on base scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first for the Primates, in what looked to be a high-scoring affair.
However, that was not the case as Luo quickly settled in and allowed just one more run during the next six innings in a classic pitchers duel that saw the Monkeys take a 2-0 lead.
Other than a solo shot to the Monkeys’ Lin Hong-yu in the third that he wished he had not thrown, the rookie left-hander was on top of his game as he kept the Primates’ offense at bay long enough for the Bulls bats to come alive just in time to back him up for his fourth win of the year.
As for the Monkeys, their failure to come up with the timely hits ultimately cost them the win in a game where they actually outhit the Bulls by a sizable 8 to 5 margin.
Taking the loss was Lin Jia-wei, who managed to record only one out against the four batters he faced as he fell to an even 2-2 mark for the season.
Lions 6, Elephants 2
Homers played a big part in the Uni-President Lions’ win over the Brother Elephants at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night, accounting for five of the Big Cats’ six runs in the contest.
Kao Kuo-ching’s two-run shot off Elephants starter Tyler Lumsden got things moving in the right direction for the Lions, as they took a 3-0 lead in the fourth after three scoreless frames.
The 3-0 lead stood through the sixth with Lions starter Hsu Yu-wei pitching two-hit ball over the same span, before the Elephants spoiled his shutout bid with a run in the top of the seventh, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Huang Shih-hao following a leadoff double by Shih Yen-wei.
That was when the Lions’ Chen Lien-hong decided to take matters into his own hands as the veteran slugger got a hold of an offering from Elephants reliever Yeh Yong-jeh and deposited into the left field bleachers to blow the game wide open en route to a convincing 6-2 triumph.
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