The Lamigo Monkeys yesterday beat the Uni-President Lions by 5-2 at Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium, dropping the Lions into third place behind the resurgent Brothers Baseball Club after three straight losses.
Left-handed pitcher Darin Downs picked up his fourth win this season, scattering six hits and eight strikeouts to give Lamigo a 4-1 lead before he was taken out to rest in the seventh inning.
Second basemen Kuo Yen-wen and DH Lin Hung-yu smashed solo homers to help the Monkeys to victory for a three-game series sweep over the Lions, taking firm grip on first place.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Time
Closer Chen Yu-hsun slammed the Lions in the ninth frame, by striking out the side.
Free-spirited Chen has been outstanding through the campaign, with the league’s best nine saves.
In earlier contests, the Monkeys pounded the Lions into submission with a 13-4 thrashing on Friday, and 8-3 on Saturday.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Lions began the series in second place, but have fallen to third place, behind the Elephants.
Yesterday’s other matches saw the Elephants beat the Fubon Guardians 8-0 at Chengching Lake Baseball Field in Kaohsiung.
Starter Cheng Chi-hung gave up only two hits and no runs in six innings to chalk up his second win of the season and was supported with big hits from teammates, especially a three-run homer by first baseman Su Wei-ta.
The Elephants enjoyed a good week, seizing their fourth straight win, as they split a midweek two-game series with the Lamigo Monkeys, but stormed back to dust off the Guardians in three consecutive victories.
Outfielder Tseng Tao-jung set a CPBL record during when he hit five home runs in two straight games.
Tseng slammed a solo homer, then added a three-run shot late in Friday’s game, to bring his tally to five dingers, after his three homer performance on Thursday.
Yesterday’s results gave the Guardians their fifth-straight defeat, as the team continues to be plagued by pitching and fielding errors.
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