Led by slugger Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's 4-for-5 night with three RBIs, the Sinon Bulls trounced the Macoto Cobras by a final score of 9-1 to win the 2005 Taiwan Series in Chiayi on Wednesday night.
The Bulls' clean, 4-0 sweep of the serpents gave the defending champs their first back-to-back titles in franchise history, putting a fairytale ending to their remarkable season while jumpstarting what appears to be a new baseball dynasty.
"If you believe in miracles, miracles will happen to you," Sinon Bulls catcher and series-MVP Yeh Jung-chang said after receiving a brand new Ford Focus for his outstanding contribution to the Bulls' success in this year's competition.
The nine-year veteran playing in his seventh championship series, who is normally known for his defensive presence behind the plate, went a combined 6-for-17 (2-for-5 with two RBIs in the game) in this year's Fall Classic, and more importantly scored both winning runs in the Bulls' first two wins.
Yeh and Chang were not alone in having a great night from the plate as fellow hitters Hsu Guo-long and Huang Chung-yi also went a combined 6-for-8 for the night in what turned out to be the Bulls' second 16-hit slugfest in as many games.
The nine runs from the Bulls' offense was more than enough for starter Lenin Picota, whose six innings of five-hit ball, allowing the lone Cobras run on a solo home run to outfielder Chiou Chang-rong in the fourth inning, not only earned him the win, but also the honor of being named the series' most outstanding player.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CPBL
"I would like to thank the fans for their support throughout the season, I love you all and I love Taiwan!" the pitcher with the most wins in the regular season (16 wins), who hails from from Panama, told the crowd in Mandarin after the game.
Similar to Game 3 action on Monday, where the Bulls had jumped to a 9-0 lead after the first four innings of play, the game was all Bulls from the get go.
After a four-run second, highlighted by Yeh's two-run double to deep-left off Cobras starter Lin Ying-jeh, the Bulls would double their lead in the fourth on consecutive scoring drives by Chang, Hsu, and Huang for a commanding 8-0 advantage.
Chiou's solo blast off Picota was the only Cobras hit that came with a run (six total hits in the game), further exposing Macoto's inability to produce on offense, especially with men in scoring position.
Lin was named the Cobras' most outstanding player in the series for his selfless role in playing three of the four games (two starts and a relief appearance), despite bearing three of the four Macoto losses.
"He [Lin] really had it tough this year with a pitching staff that is at least two starters short," renowned baseball commentator Chung Tsung-tsai said after the game, referring to a washed-up Lin, who had pitched in three of the four first-round games (12 total innings) three days before taking part in the Taiwan Series.
What's Next
The Bulls' four-game sweep in this year's Taiwan Series marked the first time in modern professional baseball history where the winning clubs in the US Major League, the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB, Japan), the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (Taiwan), all won their respective titles in sweeping style.
The Sinon Bulls will have a few days to rest before heading to Tokyo next week for the Konami Cup competition, Asia's first-ever professional baseball championship attended by the NPB's Lotte Marines, the KBO's Samsung Lions, China's Chinese Baseball Association (CBA) all-stars, and Taiwan's very own Bulls.
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