Yang Jien-fu tossed eight strong innings of one-run ball, Lin Yi-chuan homered on a 2-for-4 night, and the Sinon Bulls defeated the Brother Elephants in a 5-2 final at the Kaohsiung Cheng-ching Lake Baseball Stadium last night to win their second straight game.
With their chance for a postseason play virtually eliminated and only their pride to play for, the Bulls came out firing against the Elephants by connecting for three quick runs off starter Jim Magrane in the opening frame, on the strength of a run-scoring single by Lin and a two-run single by Cheng Jau-han.
After a scoreless second, the visitors would strike again in the top of the third when Lin got hold of an offering from Magrane and deposited into the right-center field seats that made it 4-0.
Neither offense would score again through the top of the eighth, with Yang holding his ground and the Elephants bullpen keeping the Sinon hitters off-balance until the men in their golden uniforms finally broke through on an RBI double by Wang Sheng-wei to plate their first run of the game.
Sinon scored once more in the top of the ninth that made it 5-1 to give themselves enough of a cushion to not sweat over Brother’s second and final run of the game in the bottom of the inning.
Picking up his fourth win of the season was Yang, who lasted well into the game for a season-high eight innings to beat Magrane in the Elephants eighty’s tenth loss of the season.
Monkeys 12, Lions 6
The Lamigo Monkeys doubled up on the Uni-President Lions in a 12-6 affair at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night to clinch the three-game set over the weekend.
Red-hot slugger Lin Chih-sheng came up with his second multi-hit outing of the week by going 2-for-4 with a grand slam off Lions reliever Huang Chih-long to pour in four RBIs on the night.
Unlike the final score would suggest, the home Cats actually struck first with a run in each of the first three innings to claim a quick 3-0 lead over the Primates.
However, the roadsters would change the game with a four-run fourth, highlighted by a two-run blast by Yeh Chu-hsuan off starter Yuya Kamada.
Even though the Cats were able to tie the game at 4-all in the bottom of the same inning with Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung’s solo homer off reliever Lin Jing-min, the Monkeys would answer with two runs in the top of the fifth to grab the lead for good.
Pan’s two-out single with runners at the corners made it 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth, only to see the Monkeys blow it wide open in the eighth, with Lin Chih-sheng’s slam that capped a six-run scoring spree to put the game away.
Lin Jing-min was credited with the win for his three innings of one-run relief, while Kamada suffered the loss. The once-unhittable Japanese righty, who won 11 of his first dozen starts, has lost two straight and three of his last four.
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