The Wei Chuan Dragons last night overpowered the Rakuten Monkeys 6-3 in Game 7 to clinch their first Taiwan Series title since 1999.
The win, secured in front of a raucous home crowd at Tianmu Baseball Stadium, was the Dragons’ first since rejoining the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 2020, and the franchise’s fifth overall.
The Dragons won the inaugural Taiwan Series in 1990 and three titles from 1997 to 1999.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Dragons manager Yeh Chun-chang (葉君璋), who played for the team during its first stint in the CPBL, said the victory had left him “speechless,” and he thanked the team’s fans for their support.
Most Valuable Player of the game went to Dragons starter Drew Gagnon, who cruised through six innings, giving three runs (two earned) on five hits, while striking out five with no walks in an 88-pitch outing.
The Taiwan Series Most Valuable Player award went to Dragons Game 6 starter Hsu Jo-hsi (徐若熙), who ensured a key victory that saw the teams tied at 3-3.
In yesterday’s do-or-die Game 7, the Monkeys had a great start in the opening frame with an RBI single from designated hitter Liao Chieh-fu (廖健富) giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Their early one-run margin did not last long after the Dragons batters took advantage of Monkeys starter Jake Dahlberg’s poor control.
The US import threw just 30 pitches, only eight of which were strikes, and was taken out of the game after retiring just two Dragons batters while giving up three runs on five walks and two hits in the bottom of the first.
Reliever Tseng Jen-ho (曾仁和) gave up another two runs, giving the home team a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Monkeys managed to mount a comeback and added two more runs in the second frame to close the gap to 5-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Dragons catcher Chiang Shao-hung’s (蔣少宏) RBI single widened the gap to 6-3.
Closer Jake Brigham was then called to the mound in the top of the ninth to seal the historic victory for the home squad before a full house at Tianmu Baseball Stadium tossed red ribbons to celebrate the long-awaited Taiwan Series title.
The Dragons left the CPBL in 1999 immediately after their last Taiwan Series win amid a series of league-wide match-fixing scandals.
In 2019, negotiations regarding the franchise’s return to the CPBL took place. The team played one season of CPBL minor league baseball in 2020 and rejoined the CPBL major league in 2021.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one