The Lamigo Monkeys battled the Brothers Baseball Club in Game 4 of the Taiwan Series, building to a 9-8 lead in the eighth inning as of press time last night.
The visiting Monkeys led with the first volley at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, moving ahead 2-0 in the second frame, but the Brothers returned fire, narrowing the gap to 4-3 in the third inning and making it a close contest all the way.
In Game 3 of the series on Tuesday, Monkeys starting pitcher Wang “Sister” Yi-cheng was the hero, thrashing the Brothers 8-4 in Taichung and giving his team a 2-1 series lead.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Under pressure, Wang gave a stellar performance through 7-1/3 innings, striking out seven batters and scattering seven hits, while giving up four runs on Brothers shortstop Wang Sheng-wei’s two homers.
Despite the four runs, two of them in his last inning, Wang did well to pocket the victory, and he tied the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) record for five consecutive wins in post-season play, leveling with American pitcher Luther Hackman, who excelled for the Uni-President Lions in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Wang outdueled Brothers starting pitcher Mitch Lively, who is in his second year in the league, as the Monkeys’ lineup rattled the California native in the second inning.
During that pivotal rally, the Monkeys batted around, sending 11 batters to the plate and taking advantage of five hits and three walks to pile on seven runs.
Adding one more run in the fifth frame, the Monkeys were headed toward a victory, even as the Brothers scored four runs in the middle and late innings for the 8-4 scoreline.
In yesterday afternoon’s contests in the Asian Baseball Championship, South Korea trounced the Philippines 12-2 at Yunlin County’s Douliu Stadium, while China pummeled Pakistan 11-1 in Taichung.
In the evening games, East Asian powerhouses took no mercy against weaker opponents, as hosts Taiwan shellacked Sir Lanka 17-0 at the Douliu Stadium and Japan hammered Hong Kong 15-0 in Taichung.
The players competing in the tournament mostly play on junior national teams, and many are from amateur and semi-pro leagues for leading Asian sides in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
Taiwan starting pitcher Chen Po-yu tossed three scoreless innings to pick up the win against Sri Lanka, while supported by 14 hits from his teammates.
Three homers in the game by Taiwanese hitters ensured a big-margin win against Sri Lanka, as the visitors also committed five errors that gifted runs to the hosts.
After three days of action, Japan and Taiwan lead Group A’s four teams, which will ensure that they advance to the medal round this weekend, while in Group B, China and South Korea will likely advance to battle for medals.
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