The EDA Rhinos last night clinched the CPBL Taiwan Series in dramatic fashion, coming from behind to score three runs in the ninth inning of Game 6 against the Brothers Baseball Club to win 4-3 and seal their first championship title in the team’s four-year history.
The Rhinos were trailing for most of the game and were still behind 3-1 at the start of the ninth inning, but their hitters put together a late rally of four hits and one walk, and took advantage of an opposition fielding error to push three runs home, reversing the deficit and taking the 4-3 lead.
It was a bittersweet series victory for the Rhinos, since this is their first CPBL title, and will be their only one. E United Group, the club’s parent company, put the team up for sale earlier this year. Fubon Financial Holdings last month announced it would purchase the club for NT$300 million (US$9.48 million at current exchange rates.)
Photo: CNA
The new owners and EDA executives celebrated the hard-earned championship trophy with the players. Fubon will officially take over the franchise on Tuesday.
For the Brothers, it was another disappointing end to a post-season, after they also lost the Taiwan Series finals in 2014 and last year.
The Brothers got on the board first in the opening frame, when with two men on base, Chiang Chih-hsien drilled a shot off EDA starter Jared Lansford over the outfield wall for a three-run homer.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The Rhinos battled back to get one run in the fourth inning against the Brothers’ left-handed pitcher Nick Additon to make it 3-1, and it remained that way until the ninth inning.
The Brothers’ fans were on the edge of their seats throughout the late innings as they anticipated a win, which would have forced the series to a Game 7 decider.
However, at the top of the ninth frame the Rhinos pummeled Brothers’ closer Chen Hung-wen for consecutive hits by outfielder Lin Che-hsuan and pinch-hitter Chang Chien-ming.
One out later, hits by Kao Hsiao-yi and Lin Wei-ting tied up the game, then catcher Lin Kun-sheng slapped a bouncer that was mishandled by Brothers first baseman Peng Cheng-min for EDA to get three runs and go in front.
In the bottom of the ninth frame, EDA had left-handed closer Huang Sheng-hsiung took the mound to shut the door, and he got two outs before Brothers outfielder Chang Cheng-wei stroked a fly ball. EDA outfielder Lin Che-hsuan made a fantastic diving catch, and everyone thought it was end of the game, with the Rhinos players rushing out on to the field to celebrate.
However, the umpire reviewed video footage and ruled that the ball bounced, calling everyone back to their dugouts. Huang then got the third out on a grounder for a force-out at second to clinch the championship title.
“Our players were outstanding through this series, they had lots of pressure on, but always found a way to win,” EDA head coach Yeh Chun-chang said after the game. “Although we were behind in several games, I firmly believed we could come back. They did it today once again, so I gave them all the credit.”
Outfielder Lin Che-hsuan, who was selected as the MVP for the series and was overcome by emotion, said: “We did it. Most people had written us off this season, but we had confidence in ourselves and we won the title.”
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS