Lin Hong-yu’s (Uni-President Lions) two-out RBI single off Ryan Cullen (Brother Elephants) capped a three-run eighth as Team White turned a 2-3 deficit into a 5-3 lead and went on to defeat Team Red 6-4 in the All-Star Game at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night.
Kao Guo-ching (Lions) got the rally going for Team White in the decisive eighth by slapping a one-out single off Team Red’s Yeh Yong-jeh (Elephants) before his Lions teammate Kuo Dai-chi drew a walk one out later that prompted Team White to send in Cullen in an attempt to stop the threat.
Instead, the normally sure-handed closer for the Elephants served up back-to-back scoring singles to Chung Cheng-yo (La New Bears) and Liu Fu-hao (Lions) that made it 4-3 to Team White, before Lin’s sharp grounder made it 5-3.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
After Team White plated their sixth and final run of the game in the ninth to lead it 6-3, Team Red rallied for a run off Team White closer Hsu Ming-jeh (Bears) on an RBI single by Cheng Hong-da (Sinon Bulls) that made it 6-4.
Hsu then calmly retired Team Red’s Chen Jiang-ho (Elephants) on a called third strike for the second out of the inning, before getting Wang Sheng-wei (Elephants) to chase an outside slider for the game-ending strikeout, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position.
A near-capacity crowd with President Ma Ying-jeou in attendance saw Team Red, consisting of the best and brightest from the Elephants and the Bulls, jump to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min (Elephants) led off the inning with a double off Team White’s Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen (Lions), scoring two batters later on Cheng Jau-han’s (Bulls) sacrifice fly.
The lead proved short-lived, as Team White came back to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth with a one-run single by Chen Chin-fong (Bears), before skidding ahead 2-1 in the sixth on Kao’s solo home run off reliever Shen Yu-jeh (Bulls).
Hsu Guo-long’s (Bulls) two-run single in the bottom of the sixth helped Team Red regain a 3-2 lead, setting the stage for Team White’s three-run eighth.
Picking up the win with one inning of perfect relief was Lin Cheng-fong (Lions), while the loss went to Team Red’s Yeh, who allowed the winning runs on a single and a walk in the eighth.
The Most Valuable Player honor went to Kao, who was two-for-two with a home run and an RBI.
“It was a big weekend for our team [Lions],” Kao said after the game, referring to his teammate Kuo Jung-yo’s big win in the Home Run Derby the night before.
BASE-RUNNING CONTEST
Team White also won the annual base-running contest earlier yesterday by 4.11 seconds for their second straight win as their 10 speedsters left their opponents in dust.
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