Lin Chih-hsiang’s bases-loaded grounder to short scored the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th after it was mishandled by EDA Rhinos shortstop Lin Wei-en to see the Uni-President Lions edge the Rhinos 6-5 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night and close out their regular-season home stand on a high.
“I am glad I was able to help our club win the game and I’d like to thank the fans for their support,” Lin Chih-hsiang said after he was unanimously voted game MVP.
His timely hit not only put a welcome exclamation mark at the end of an otherwise disappointing season for the Lions, who will miss out on the post-season, but also bailed the side out after they squandered a ninth-inning lead to force the game into an extra session.
Also starring for the Lions was Liu Fu-hao, who homered for the 11th time this season with a towering shot over the left-center wall to score three runs in the bottom of the first.
Even though the Cats came out ahead in the end, the diehard Rhinos did not submit quietly, but put up a big fight by plating a run in the eighth and ninth against the Lions bullpen to deny starter Liao Wen-yang the chance to net an 11th win that would have seen him share the top spot for total wins with the Rhinos’ Freddy Garcia and Chinatrust Brothers standout Cheng Kai-wen.
Hu Chin-lung’s two-run blast off Liao following Chang Chien-ming’s leadoff single gave the visitors a quick 2-0 lead before Rhinos starter Huang Sheng-hsiung even took the mound.
Yet the lead lasted less than an inning as the Cats repaid the favor with interest by ringing off three runs against Huang on one thunderous by Liu that made it 3-2 in a hurry. The Lions padded their lead by two in the third on an RBI single by Liu, before drawing a bases-loaded walk off Rhinos reliever Yang Chien-fu.
Trailing by three, the Rhinos fought back with a run in the fifth off Liao before plating a run off his successors, Lin Yueh-ping and Fu Yu-kang, in the eighth and ninth respectively to tie the game at five-all and set the stage for Lin Chih-hsiang’s game-winning swing.
Picking up the win was Lions reliever Chiou Tzu-kai, who tossed 2-1/3 innings of no-hit ball to beat Rommie Lewis.
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