The second-placed Uni-President Lions evened their three-game series against the Lamigo Monkeys at one win apiece with a 5-3 triumph on the road over their archrivals at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The victory also brought the Cats to within 2-1/2 games of the top-ranked Chinatrust Brothers, who lost their contest against the EDA Rhinos to miss an opportunity to add to their lead.
Liu Fu-hao’s two-run blast off Lamigo starter Cesar Valdez jumpstarted a sluggish Lion offense that was held scoreless after four innings to turn a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 advantage in the top of the fifth.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
That set up Chang “OEO” Tai-shan’s two-run single off Valdez in what ended up being a four-run frame for the Cats, who cashed in on an error by the Monkeys defense to give them an extra out in the inning.
Liu capped off his three-RBI performance with a clutch single in the ninth that scored the insurance run for the visitors.
Trailing by two, the Monkeys managed to place two runners on with no outs against Lions closer Warner Madrigal, who pitched into and out of trouble by retiring three straight without allowing either runner to advance to preserve the victory.
Picking up the win was starter Liao Wen-yang who allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 6-1/3 innings in only his third “W” of the season.
Tagged with the loss was Valdez, who pitched well enough for the win as three of the five runs charged against him were scored unearned.
BROTHERS 6, RHINOS 8
The EDA Rhinos made it two wins in a row by taking an 8-2 lead through the sixth and holding off a late-game comeback attempt by the Chinatrust Brothers to secure an 8-6 victory at Kaohsiung’s Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium.
Starter Ni Fu-te tossed seven effective innings of four-run ball on nine hits to beat his counterpart Lin Ying-chieh for his first win of the season.
The former major leaguer, who signed with the Rhinos midway through the season, finally got the win in his fourth start after going winless in his three previous outings.
Offensively for the home Rhinos, Lin Yi-chuan’s two-for-five hitting on a three-RBI effort led an EDA lineup that belted a dozen hits off the Brothers pitching to garner a much-needed win.
Taking the loss was Brothers starter Lin Ying-chieh, who allowed six runs on ten hits over five innings to fall to a 4-6 mark for the year.
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