The Lamigo Monkeys on Monday set a Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) record when they edged the Fubon Guardians 3-2 to chalk up 72 wins this season, consolidating the team’s top position among the four clubs.
Lamigo pinch hitter Chang Min-hsun drove a runner home with a single late in the game to prevail over Fubon at Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City, pocketing starter Zack Segovia his 14th victory this year.
Lamigo closer Chen Yu-hsu came into the ninth frame to get the last three outs, nailing down his league-leading 34th save this season.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Lamigo this month have won nine of 12 games and achieved a CPBL milestone.
The team has another 12 games in the regular season, meaning they could push their winning streak higher in the coming weeks.
The previous CPBL 120-game season record was set in 2012 by the Uni-President Lions with 71 wins.
After Chen got the final Fubon batter on a groundout, he presented the match ball to Lamigo manager Hung Yi-chung as a souvenir.
“My job is take charge of the team, but it is the players who toiled in every game. They have done that this season with outstanding effort. Without these players, we would not have these 72 wins,” Hung said.
“We knew we would set a record if we won, so we made sure we got the match ball to give to our manager, because this is a very difficult record to achieve,” Chen said.
“We took first place in the first
half of the season, giving us a place in the championship final,” Chen said. “But we have not relaxed in the second half of the season; we continue to give our best to win every game.”
Chen could set a pitching record this season, as his 34 saves is just one short of former Lamigo teammate Miguel Mejia’s record set in 2014.
Lamigo have dominated both halves of the season to consolidate first place with a 72-35 win-loss record, while Brothers Baseball Club are in second place, 21.5 games behind.
The Uni-President Lions are third at 22 games behind and the Fubon Guardians are 30.5 games off the pace.
By seizing first place for both half-season titles, Lamigo will go into the year-end finals with a one-win advantage in the best-of-seven final.
In yesterday’s game, the Brothers led 4-0 over the Uni-President Lions in the sixth inning at Chiayi City Municipal Baseball Stadium as of press time last night.
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