The Chinatrust Brothers on Wednesday evening clinched the second-half title with a convincing 10-5 win over the Lamigo Monkeys in Hsinchu, earning a rematch — the Taiwan Series between the two title holders.
The series is to be a rematch of last year’s annual Fall Classic, in which the Primates topped the men in the golden uniforms 4-1 to take home the Holy Grail.
“It is an unbelievable feeling to be able to get our club into the finals given the trouble we had in the first half,” Brothers manager Wu Fu-lien said after the crowning of his troops in Hsinchu.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
The well-traveled journeyman, who left the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 1997 after spending six seasons with the team then known as the Brother Elephants in the Taiwan Major League before returning after the two leagues merged in 2003, has come a long way in his return to the center stage.
Many have attributed Wu’s second-half success — after he took over the top job from previous manager Hsieh Chang-hen in May — to his decision emphasize pitching by replacing foreign hitters who have been with the team since the start of the season with foreign pitchers.
The move proved effective as the Brothers foreign pitching trio of Mike McClendon, Bryan Woodall and Victor Garate, who joined the team in June, August and last month respectively, have amassed a combined record of 18-5 in 34 starts to provide Wu some consistency on the mound.
The offensive surge of sluggers Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min, Lin Wei-chu and Chou Si-chi has added some needed spark to a lineup who look set to put up some serious runs to support the solid pitching.
Even though the Brothers’ numbers do not match up well against the Primates — Chen Chun-hsiu, Lin Chih-sheng and Lin “Chubby Kid” Hung-yu with 117, 116, and 100 RBIs respectively as of Wednesday are three of the league’s top five run producers — the Brothers pitching could hold off the Monkeys’ scoring machine just enough to pull off a series victory.
“We have shown in the second half that we can play with anyone in the league, so they will not be any different for us,” Wu said.
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