The Brothers Baseball Club yesterday saw off a late rally by the EDA Rhinos to win 8-7 in Game 1 of the CPBL Taiwan Series championship finals at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium.
Playing at their home field in Taichung, the Brothers opened the scoring in the second inning with second baseman Lin Chih-sheng slapping a single to get on base. He later came home on a fielding error.
The Rhinos equalized in the top of the fourth inning to make it 1-1 when left-handed slugger Lin Yi-chuan tagged Brothers pitcher Bryan Woodall for a solo homer over the centerfield wall.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
US right-hander Mike Loree, who started for the Rhinos, kept the opposition in check until he got into trouble in the bottom of fourth.
Lin Chih-sheng spearheaded the attack with a single after one out, and the next batter grounded out to make it two outs.
The next two batters reached base on another single and a walk, setting the table for veteran catcher Cheng Ta-hong with all the bases loaded.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Cheng ripped a double to the left field, cleaning the bases to drive in three runs for the Brothers, putting them up 4-1.
Shortstop Wang Sheng-wei and right fielder Chang Cheng-wei had RBIs to knock in two more runs, taking their lead to 6-1.
EDA coaches then removed Loree in favor of left-handed reliever Lo Hua-wei to end the inning with a fly out.
The Rhinos mounted a rally in the next inning and had a good chance to get back in the game when they loaded the bases on two hits and one walk, facing two outs.
However, power-hitter Kao Kuo-hui, this year’s home run king with 34, failed to deliver as he hit a pop foul and was caught out.
The Brothers added two more in the seventh inning, through two hits, one walk and a sacrifice fly, to grab what seemed like an insurmountable lead at 8-1.
However, the Rhinos fought back in the next inning, with left-handed slugger Lin Yi-chuan blasting a two-run home run to ignite the Rhinos’ late charge.
The Brothers used four pitchers in the eighth-inning rally, but still could not cool off the opposition, as the Rhinos offense managed to score six runs, narrowing the Brothers’ lead to 8-7.
However, the Rhinos could not sustain their effort, with Brothers closer Chen Hung-wei getting the final three outs in the top of the ninth inning to claim victory in front of a capacity crowd of 20,000.
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