Chou Si-chi’s two-out single with runners on second and third, coupled with a throwing error by the Lamigo Monkeys defense scored the go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth as the Chinatrust Brothers topped the Primates 5-3 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to sweep the weekend series.
The lefty slugger who came out of a mid-season slump with an impressive 10-game hitting streak last month, grabbed the spotlight for the men in the golden uniforms by lining an offering from Monkeys closer Miguel Mejia to shallow-right to score the winner.
“It’s wonderful to be able to contribute when I can,” Chou said after being selected as the game’s Most Valuable Player for his clutch hit that bailed out his side.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The Brothers squandered three one-run leads in the game, including a game-tying run by the Primates on a wild pitch by reliever Hsieh Rong-hao in the bottom of the seventh, before finally prevailing in the ninth.
Chang Chih-hao doubled off Monkeys starter Hsu Ming-chieh and scored on Jim Negrych’s single to give the Brothers a quick 1-0 advantage in the top of the first, before Kuo Yen-wen’s RBI single in the third evened things up at 1-1.
The Brothers scored again in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, only to give it straight back in the bottom of the same inning.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth, the Brothers struck again in the top of the seventh when Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min drew a bases-loaded walk off Hsu to give his team a 3-2 lead, before the hosts returned the favor with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for Chou’s game-clincher in the ninth.
The Monkeys had a decent chance to force the game into an extra session when they placed runners on first and second with two outs on the strength of back-to-back infield singles off Brothers closer Brad Thomas, but that was as close as they got as Kuo flied out to center with both runners on the move to end the game.
Picking up his second win of the season was Hsieh, who tossed a scoreless eighth, despite giving up the game-tying run in the seventh inning.
Taking the loss was his counterpart, Chen Yu-hsun, who was responsible for the game-winning runs in his seventh setback this season.
LIONS 12, RHINOS 5
Scoring early and often, the Uni-President Lions bounced back from a tough defeat the night before with a convincing 12-5 triumph over the EDA Rhinos at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday to avoid being swept.
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