The Lamigo Monkeys secured their second league title in three years by topping the Chinatrust Brothers 8-3 in Game 5 of the Taiwan Series at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on Thursday night to win the best-of-seven annual Fall Classic over their archrivals by a 4-1 margin.
Heading into the contest with a commanding 3-1 lead on the road, the Primates made sure there would be no Game 6 in Taoyuan tonight by rallying from three down to pocket the well-deserved title.
“The second time is even sweeter,” Monkeys skipper Hung Yi-chung said after the game.
Photo: Liao Hui-tung, Taipei Times
His troops showed exceptional resilience by overcoming deficits of three runs or more in two of their four victories to get the job done.
“There is definitely no lack of character on this team,” Hung added during the post-game celebration on Thursday night.
The team are to host a championship celebration parade in Taoyuan this afternoon to thank their fans for their support.
Aside from the usual drama that fills the autumn air in every Taiwan Series, the clincher saw game-winner Tseng Chao-hao came from the bullpen unexpectedly to relieve injured starter Mitch Talbot, who served up three unearned runs just two outs into the bottom of the first to put his team in a jam.
Tseng shut down the Chinatrust attack by scattering two singles through the fifth in an effort that netted the veteran righty the game-MVP honor.
“The opportunity came to me and I am just glad I was able to make the most of it,” Tseng said after the game.
It has been a bumpy road for the hurler who began his career with the former Chinatrust Whales in 2004, worked his way into the starting rotation and survived the termination of the Whales, before blossoming into a star for the Monkeys and their predecessor, the La New Bears.
Leading the way for the Monkeys rally that featured a pair of four-run innings were Lin Chih-ping and Kuo Yen-wen, whose run-scoring doubles in the fifth and RBI singles in the ninth turned a 0-3 deficit into a 4-3 lead and blew the game wide open in the ninth.
“It’s such an unbelievable feeling to win it all,” said after the game.
He ended with a game-high three RBIs and scored twice on a 2-for-4 night to end the long and arduous season on a high note.
Also starring for Lamigo was closer Miguel Mejia, who picked up three saves against his former club over three gutsy outings to show the men in the golden uniforms what they were missing.
As for the Brothers, who avoided elimination on Wednesday night with a 3-1 win, there were moments in the game in which they could have turned the tide, but they simply fell short.
The most notable moment was the gun-down of Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min at third by a perfectly thrown ball from Lamigo outfielder Chan Chih-yao for the inning-ending out in the eighth where the Brothers could have tied the game at 4-all.
“We just committed too many mistakes for us to overcome,” Brothers manager Hsieh Chang-hen said after the game.
His team could have won two of the four losses they suffered to stretch the series into at least six games.
Taiwan Series MVP
Unsung hero Yu Teh-lung was named the Series MVP for his outstanding play on both sides of the ball.
The regular left-fielder for the Primates was able to rise to the occasion by batting a solid .389 over the five games, while committing no errors at shortstop to earn the season-ender honor.
“Playing shortstop was amazing and winning the title is even better,” Yu told the Taipei Times after he was named the series MVP.
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