The Uni-President Lions lead the best-of-five Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) first-round playoff series 2-1 after defeating the Fubon Guardians 4-2 at Sinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday evening.
Although the Lions managed to sidle in front with a run in the second inning, they struggled to earn each next run, finally squeezing out one in each of the fifth, sixth and eighth innings for a total of three runs on 11 hits.
The Guardians pushed two runs across on four hits in the fourth inning, but could not muster their offense throughout the rest of the contest.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Lions’ American left-hander Ryan Verdugo limited the Guardians to only two runs on seven hits by the end of the sixth inning, and was credited with the win.
Lions closing pitcher Chen Yun-wen entered in the ninth inning to mop up.
He allowed one hit, and ended the game with a strikeout to preserve the victory.
GAME 2
In Game 2 on Saturday, the Fubon Guardians broke open the contest with seven runs in the fifth inning on their way to hammering the home side Uni-President Lions 11-2 in Tainan.
Guardians pitcher Jordan Taylor, a Florida native, had a quality start, yielding two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts through the end of the sixth inning and pocketing the win.
Lions slugger Kuo Fu-lin tagged Taylor for a solo home run in the fourth frame, for one of the team’s two runs.
Although the game was close early on, the Guardians sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth frame and racked up seven runs against three Lions pitchers to go in front 10-2.
Guardians first baseman Lin “One Punch” Yi-chuan hit a two-run homer in that rally, while catcher Fang Ke-wei and second baseman Wang Cheng-tang each drove in two runners.
The Guardians added one more run in the sixth inning to complete the scoring with 10 runs on 16 hits, while the Lions had two runs on eight hits.
“Our players seized their opportunities when there were runners in scoring positions,” Guardians head coach Chen Lien-hong said after the game. “This boosted the confidence of our pitching staff tonight.”
Lions head coach Huang Kan-lin said that injuries had affected several of his starters, and that this had an impact on the team’s hitting and defense.
GAME 4
The Lions could clinch the series in Game 4, which is at 6:30pm today at Sinjhuang Stadium.
If necessary, Game 5 is scheduled for 6:30pm tomorrow at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium, the home park of the Lions.
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