The EDA Rhinos and the Brothers Baseball Club are to meet in Game 1 of the Taiwan Series championship finals at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium today.
EDA head coach Yeh Chun-chang has named American right-hander Mike Loree to start on the mound. Loree was outstanding through the regular season, notching a league-best 13 wins and a 3.98 ERA.
The Brothers will counter with Bryan Woodall, also from the US, who finished the season with a 6-2 record and a 3.93 ERA.
Both sides are hoping to notch a win in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
In the past 23 CPBL championship finals, the team who won the first game went on to win the series 20 out of 23 times, with the only exceptions being the Uni-President Lions in 1991 and 2008, and also the Weichuan Dragons in 1997.
Fans can expect plenty of big hits, with this year’s home run king, Kao Kuo-hui, in the middle of the Rhinos’ lineup, while the Brothers are fielding Lin Chih-sheng and Chiang Chi-hsien, the runners-up in this year’s home run race.
Kao will have support from his teammates, including former LA Dodgers player Hu Chin-lung and left-handed slugger Lin Yi-chuan, who has been a fearsome hitter since his rookie season and has won the league’s MVP award three times.
Overall, the Brothers have the offensive edge with the league’s most homers and runs scored this year. They also came out on top in most of the other hitting categories.
On the other hand, the Rhinos have a consistent pitching rotation to shut down the opposition, with the team pitching an ERA of 5.33, the only club in the league this season to remain below an ERA of 6.
Brothers head coach Wu Fu-lien said players can feel intense pressure during the championship series and make easy mistakes.
“If our team can perform as they have done in the regular season, with high-power offense to score runs and not allowing errors to affect them, then we have a good chance to win this series,” he said.
Yeh said his team have been training hard in preparation for the series.
“We won the second-half title, and have good momentum going into the finals,” he said. “The players have strong team spirit and will give their best efforts to capture the championship trophy as a gift for our fans and the EDA corporation for their support this past season.”
Games 3 and 4 will be hosted by EDA at the Taoyuan International Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
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