An explosive six-run fourth turned a 0-1 deficit into a 6-1 lead as the Uni-President Lions went on defeat the Brother Elephants 8-2 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium last night to win their eighth in their past 10 games.
Lin Chih-shiang’s leadoff walk off Elephants starter Lin Yu-ching, followed by an error by the Elephants second baseman set up Kao Guo-ching’s RBI single that scored the first of six runs in the decisive fourth, as the Lions sent eleven batters to the plate to rough up the Elephants’ pitching.
The six-run cushion was more than ample for Lions starter Yuya Kamada, who overcame a one-run second with a strong second effort over seven frames to win his league-best seventh of the season. The Japanese standout allowed two runs on nine hits, while fanning seven and walking two to improve to a perfect 7-0 mark.
Leading the way at the plate for the Cats was Chang Tai-shan, who went a perfect four-for-four and scored a run for his team to up his average to .343.
Taking the loss was Lin, who looked sharp through the third before running into a world of trouble against an unforgiving Lions lineup that teed off against him with six straight hits to chase the rookie right-hander. Even though two of the six runs he allowed were unearned, his impressive 1.69 ERA heading into last night’s contest took a nasty turn north as it climbed to 2.28.
BULLS 7, MONKEYS 5
Wu Tsong-jung’s two-run double blew a 4-2 game wide open in the top of the ninth as the Sinon Bulls held off a late-game rally by the Lamigo Monkeys to preserve a 7-5 road win at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only ups the Bulls’ current win streak to a -season-high three straight, but also brought them to within a game of the third-place Elephants in the standings as they looked to climb out of the cellar.
Trailing by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Monkeys scored three runs off the Sinon bullpen to give the home fans something to cheer about.
However, with the bases loaded and the tying run on second, Chen Chin-fong took a hack at the first pitch he saw off Lamigo reliever Lin Yen-fong that bounced to second for the game-ending out that cut the rally short.
Starter Lin Chen-hua was credited with his first career win, while the loss went to the Monkeys’ Lin Jia-wei, who remains winless at 0-3 for the year.
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