Homers lit up the Tainan sky on Thursday night in a game dominated by the hitters. By the time all was said and done, it was the Uni-President Lions who had the last laugh as they outslugged the Lamigo Monkeys 10-6 in Game 5 of the Taiwan Series at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium to clinch the annual Fall Classic by a 4-1 margin.
Chang “OEO” Tai-shan led a pack of Cats that teed off against the Lamigo pitching on a 16-hit night with a first-inning Grand Slam off Lamigo starter Ken Ray to put his team ahead 4-0, before Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung followed with a solo blast in the sixth that gave the hosts an 8-6 lead.
“I am so glad that what I missed last year I can claim this year,” Chang said after the game.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
He lost four straight in last year’s Taiwan Series to the Brother Elephants with his former club the Sinon Bulls. His decision to leave the Bulls for the Lions this year proved a wise one.
On the brink of elimination, the Monkeys also resorted to the long ball for the bulk of their scoring, with Tseng Hao-jui and Lin Chih-sheng going deep against the Lions pitchers with a solo homer and a two-run blast respectively to keep their club in the game through the seventh.
However, with the game on the line, it was the Lions’ mid-inning relief that came through in a big way for skipper Lu Wen-sheng, with Wang Jing-ming tossing 3-1/3 innings of one-run ball on two hits to cool off a resilient Monkeys lineup that three times came within a run of the Lions after falling behind by up to four.
The second-year right-hander out of Kai Nan University also won Game 2 and Game 4, both out of the bullpen, with a juiced-up fastball that clocked in at 153kph to baffle the Primate hitters virtually the entire series.
“I never thought I would do as well as I did,” Wang said.
His unprecedented three wins out of the bullpen led a Lions relieving corps that more than picked up the slack for an injury-plagued rotation that did not have the services of ace Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen and hired gun Ryan Glynn, and lasted an average of 4-1/3 innings per start during the series.
Wang was the unanimous choice for the MVP honor.
The win gave the Lions their eighth title, surpassing the Elephants for most titles by a team in the league’s 22-year history.
“It’s a thrill to be able to beat a team as great as the Monkeys; they are really a worthy opponent,” Lu said after the game.
He is a perfect four-for-four in the title series since taking over as the Lions’ manager five years ago.
As for the Monkeys, who dropped their other three games by a single run, slugger Lin Hong-yu was named the Most Outstanding Player in the series, as his nine-for-18 batting with three RBIs in four games was by far the Monkeys’ best offensive performance.
Starter Ken Ray was not at his best on the night, allowing six runs on nine hits over two innings of work in a losing effort, despite having pitched a solid Game 1 after recording four quality starts in the month of September. He was tagged with two losses in the series.
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