American starter Bruce Kern yesterday led the Lamigo Monkeys to a 5-2 victory over the Fubon Guardians, while the Uni-President Lions blasted three home runs to subdue the Brothers 9-4.
The Monkeys needed the stellar performance from Kern — who yielded two runs on six hits through seven innings — to snap the team’s four-game losing streak.
Despite the slump, the Monkeys still top the table with 21 wins and 10 losses, three games ahead of the second-placed Lions, who have four games on the Guardians.
Meanwhile, the Brothers last week picked up three wins, two of which were against the Lions.
The Lions on Tuesday gave their home fans in Tainan something to celebrate when they snapped their nine-game home losing streak against the Monkeys with a 6-5 victory.
Still behind 5-3 going into the bottom of eighth, shortstop Chen Hsien-chang hit a two-run homer, and one more run in the inning lifted the Lions into the lead.
On Thursday, American lefty pitcher Ryan Verdugo combined with two relievers to pocket his third win for the Lions: a 2-0 shutout against the Monkeys.
Verdugo allowed only six hits through seven innings, struck out eight and issued one walk, while reliever Chen Yun-wen entered in the ninth to earn his third save of the season.
However, the tables were turned against the Lions over the next two days, when they faced the Brothers in Taichung.
In a thrilling contest on Friday, the Brothers edged the Lions 5-4, Chang Chih-hao’s homer in the bottom of the ninth providing the decisive final point.
Brothers head coach Cory Snyder decided to use a false-start pitcher, sending Taiwanese lefty Hung Cheng-yu to toss for only two innings.
After Hung’s departure, it was American pitcher and former Monkey Zack Segovia’s turn to complete the game. He yielded only two runs and four hits to earn his second win of the season.
On Saturday, the 10-4 final score confirmed that the Brothers’ false-start strategy works well on the Lions, as Snyder sent second-year pitcher Yang Chih-lung onto the mound for the first two frames, only to give the main workload to American lefty Nick Addington.
Addington sailed through five scoreless innings to pick up his second win of the year.
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