Randy Keisler tossed one-run ball on eight hits over six innings, while Deng Chih-wei drove in three runs on a three-for-four night as the Uni-President Lions roughed up the EDA Rhinos in a 12-2 blowout at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to take the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
The lefty out of Louisiana State University, who spent several seasons in the majors before joining the Lions earlier this month, received plenty of run support from his offense as he was spotted a 6-0 cushion in the first two innings of play en route to a big win on his Taiwan debut.
Even though the eight hits he allowed might have been a tad too many, Keisler was able to escape with minimal damage thanks to a stingy defense that turned three double plays in the first five innings to deny the Rhinos at least three runs in the game.
Offensively for the Cats, Deng joined fellow infielder Liu Yu-chen with three hits each to knock in five combined runs. Other than leadoff man Liu Fu-hao, every Lion hitter had at least one hit and scored a run on the night.
Three uncharacteristic EDA errors that led to five unearned runs for the Lions set starter Lai Hong-cheng six runs back in the first two innings. He also served up a pair of homers to the Lions’ Deng and Liu Yu-cheng that added insult to injury in the seven innings he worked. The loss by Lai marked his fourth of the year as he falls to an even 4-4 record.
ELEPHANTS 1, MONKEYS 0
Huang Shih-hao’s sacrifice fly after Kuo Chien-yu’s leadoff triple scored the lone run in the game as the Brother Elephants blanked the Lamigo Monkeys 1-0 at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night to sweep the weekend set.
Starter Lin Yu-ching turned in his fourth quality start in five chances with seven innings of two-hit ball, while fanning eight and walking three to improve his season mark to 4-3. The second-year hurler has won three in a row after beginning the year with a dismal 1-3 record.
After being held to two hits through the eighth, the Primates made one final serious push for their first run of the game by collecting a pair of singles off Elephants closer Brad Thomas. However, the lefty from the Land Down Under ended the Monkeys’ scoring threat by retiring the final two hitters on a pair of ground outs to strand two and preserve the victory.
Monkeys reliever Hsu Ming-jeh was charged with the loss for serving up Kuo’s triple. He is now 1-2 after being relieved of his closer’s duty a week ago for failing to pick up any saves in five opportunities.
The Rakuten Monkeys on Sunday downed the CTBC Brothers 2-1, handing the hosts their second consecutive loss in the best-of-seven CPBL Taiwan Series at the Taipei Dome. Monkeys’ ace starter Pedro Fernandez of the Dominican Republic dominated on the mound, cruising through six scoreless innings before giving up a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up only three hits and walked two batters in a 93-pitch outing, giving his Taoyuan-based team an edge. Offensively, the Monkeys’ leadoff batter Lin Li hit Brothers starter Brandon Leibrandt’s pitch over the center-field wall in the game’s first at-bat,
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