Rallying from multi-run deficits on both occasions, the top-ranked Uni-President Lions swept the Sinon Bulls in a day-night doubleheader at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday to pick up victories No. 39 and No. 40.
Lin Yueh-ping made baseball history by becoming the first ever Taiwanese to record 100 saves in the league when he retired the last three Sinon hitters in order to preserve the 6-4 win for teammate Wang Jing-ming.
“It is a tremendous honor to be able to accomplish this feat, I’d like to thank the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to do the closer’s role, which is where I feel most comfortable,” Lin said after the game.
Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung’s two-out single scored the runner all the way from first to cap a two-run sixth that tied the game at 4-4, before Yang Song-hsuan’s clutch single with runners at the corners scored the go-ahead run an inning later.
In the day game, the Lions doubled up on the visiting Bulls in an 8-4 decision, thanks to five unanswered runs by the Cats that turned a 3-4 deficit into the 8-4 win.
Liao Wen-yang bailed out Yuya Kamada by pitching four scoreless innings of three-hit relief to give the slow-warming Lions offense the necessary time to turn the game around.
That was great news for Kamada, as the Japanese starting pitcher avoided a potential loss after giving up four early runs, before exiting the game after the fourth inning with the Lions trailing the Bulls 3-4.
The no-decision for Kamada kept his league-best record at a perfect 11-0, even though the three earned runs by the righty raised his ERA from 1.42 to 1.67 in the process.
Offensively for the Cats, Lin Chih-shiang’s four-for-five hitting with an RBI led an efficient attack that plated eight on the 13 hits they mustered off the Sinon pitching.
Kao Guo-ching also hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first for his league-leading ninth round-tripper of the season.
Elephants 8, Monkeys 4
The Brother Elephants tripped up the Lamigo Monkeys 8-4 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to extend their winning streak to three.
The Elephant hitters set a new high for total hits in a game with 20 as seven different players racked up multi-hit nights against generous Monkeys pitching, with Chang Cheng-wei connecting on five occasions to account for a quarter of the hits.
Starter Jim Magrane was credited with his fifth win of the year after seven innings of three-run ball (only one earned) on six hits.
The loss went to his Lamigo Monkeys counterpart Cheng Cheng-hao, who lasted only one inning after he served up four quick runs in the first inning to dig a hole from which the Monkeys never recovered.
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