Wang Hsin-min’s two-run double highlighted a four-run sixth inning for the Sinon Bulls as they overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Brother Elephants 5-4 at Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei last night, taking the weekend series with a pair of sound victories.
It was the second time in a week the veteran slugger was the hero of the game following his walk-off single in the ninth that lifted the Bulls past the top-ranked Lamigo Monkeys a week ago in a dramatic 9-8 triumph.
His recent surge is the main reason the Bulls have won four of their last five to climb out of the cellar in the standings.
Also starring for the Bulls was Wu Tsung-jung, whose 3-for-5 hitting with an RBI in the sixth jumpstarted the Sinon rally.
The game was all-Elephants in the early going as they took advantage of a failed pickoff attempt by Sinon starter Lo Cheng-long in the third to score a runner all the way from second and added two more in the fourth inning, courtesy of Chang Chih-hao’s bases-loaded single to take a 3-0 lead through the fifth.
After the four-run sixth gave the Bulls a 4-3 lead, they put up an insurance run in the seventh that made it 5-3, which proved critical as the Elephants managed to rally for one more run in the bottom of the seventh, making it a one-run game.
Reliever Yang Jien-fu was credited with his seventh win of the season after putting in three solid innings of one-run relief.
The loss was charged to Brother Elephants starter Tyler Lumsden despite pitching eight effective innings of four-run ball — only two earned — after he fell victim to a fatal error that led to two unearned runs in a losing cause.
MONKEYS 11, LIONS 9
Lin Hong-yu’s Grand Slam off Lions reliever Kao Jien-san in the top of the eighth inning broke a 7-all deadlock wide open and the Lamigo Monkeys held on to defeat the Uni-President Lions at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night for their fourth consecutive win.
Homers also accounted for a good portion of the scoring on the night, with Lamigo’s Kuo Yen-wen registering a rare inside-the-park home run in the top of the second and Chung Cheng-yo connecting for his 15th round-tripper of the year, while the Lions’ Kao Guo-ching went deep twice for his league-best 19th and 20th blasts of the year.
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