Lin Wang-wei’s two-out double with a runner on first scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth as the EDA Rhinos went on to defeat the Chinatrust Brothers 7-5 at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung yesterday to clinch the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
The clutch swing not only gave the Rhinos’ rookie outfielder the game-winning hit for the hosts, but also landed him the first MVP honor of his career as the league-leaders closed out a five-game week on a high note after splitting the first four games against their opponents with two wins apiece.
“It is an unbelievable feeling to be able to come through like this to help our club win. I will be trying my best to make a few more plays like this,” Lin said after the game.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
Seven combined runs between the two teams in the opening frame that resulted in a 4-3 Rhinos lead set the pace right away, highlighted by Jaime Pedroza’s lead-off homer for the Brothers and Huang Chih-pei’s two-run double for the Rhinos.
The Rhinos added to their lead by a run in the bottom of the second, when Lin Yi-chuan delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Lin Wang-wei from third, who took first on a single and reached third two batters later on a single by Chang Chien-ming and a walk drawn by Luo Kuo-lung.
The 5-3 Rhinos lead would last just an innings as the visitors promptly answered with two runs in the top of the fourth on the merit of a double-steal that worked to perfection and a run-scoring error by Huang on a would-be innings-ending play to first base to tie the game at 5-5.
Fortunately for Huang, his error did not have any bearing on the outcome of the game, as the Rhinos plated the go-ahead run in the sixth and resorted to a shaky bullpen that finally equaled their task by holding off the Brothers to just two hits over four scoreless innings to preserve the win.
Huang Po-yang was credited with his first win of the season despite allowing two hits over 1-1/3 innings of play, thanks to his bullpen mates Lin Yi-hao and Luo Chia-jen, who retired all five of the Brothers hitters they faced to deny Chinatrust any chance of a comeback.
Tagged with the loss was Brothers starter Hsieh Jong-hao, who remained winless at 0-4 with seven allowed runs on eight hits over 5-2/3 innings.
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