Lin Yi-chuan’s walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth broke a 2-2 deadlock as the EDA Rhinos scored two unanswered runs to edge past the Lamigo Monkeys 3-2 at home at the Chengcing Lake Baseball Field in Kaohsiung last night to clinch the three-game set.
The line drive shot over the right-center wall brought the crowd to its feet, capping an otherwise frustrating night for the EDA offense, which managed to plate only a pair of runs on the dozen hits it dialed up off a Lamigo pitching staff that pitched into and out of trouble on more than one occasion to keep it a 2-2 game through the top of the ninth.
“I’d like to thank the fans for sticking with us over the years. This [home run] is for you,” Lin said after being unanimously voted as MVP of the game for his series-clinching blast.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
Prior to his late-game heroics, the Rhinos had squandered two golden scoring opportunities by stranding two in the seventh and eighth after placing runners in scoring position in both innings.
The hosts drew first blood in the bottom of the second, when Lin Tsung-nan singled off Lamigo starter Wang Yi-cheng and scored two batters later on Chen Kai-lun’s single to left. The Rhinos loaded up the bases in the same inning, before Wang struck out Kao Kuo-hui to keep the Rhinos from doing further damage.
After three scoreless frames against the stellar pitching of Rhinos starter Ni Fu-teh, the visitors finally got on the board in the top of the fourth with Lin Chih-sheng’s two-out double that scored the runner all the way from first to even things up at 1-1.
The Primates took their first lead of the game in the top of the sixth, when Lan Ying-lun led off the inning with a blooper single to left, reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Yu The-lung and scored on Lin Chih-ping’s RBI single.
The 2-1 Lamigo lead lasted less than an inning as the home squad promptly returned the favor by producing the equalizer in similar fashion, courtesy of Lin Cuen-sheng’s run-scoring single off Ni that made it 2-2 a score that stood until the bottom of the ninth before Lin Yi-chuan’s game-winning homer.
Picking up the win was Rhinos closer Luo Chia-ren, who tossed a scoreless ninth, despite giving up one hit to beat his counterpart, Lin Po-yo, who served up the game-winning shot for his second loss of the year.
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