The Uni-President Lions came back from two runs down in Game 2 of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Taiwan Series to score four answered runs against the Lamigo Monkeys and win 4-2 last night at Taoyuan International Stadium.
Each side had an American pitcher start off the contest — for the second consecutive game — with the Monkeys’ Michael Nix and the Lions’ Josh Roenicke engaging in a pitching duel.
The game remained scoreless until Lamigo outfielder Chu Yu-hsien pushed a run home on an RBI double in the fourth inning.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In the fifth, lead-off batter Lan Yin-lun slammed a solo homer off Roenicke to bring the Monkeys out ahead 2-0.
The Lions got some momentum after the Monkey’s pulled Nix off the mound, with outfielder Su Chih-chieh hitting a solo homer in the seventh that halved the gap.
The Lions had bases loaded in the eighth on one hit and two walks when pinch-hitter Mai Chia-yi bagged a single, driving in two runs for the visitors to go ahead 3-2.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In the ninth inning, the Lions got three consecutive hits and racked up another run, increasing their lead to 4-2.
In Saturday’s Taiwan Series opener, the Lamigo Monkeys blasted 20 hits — four of them home runs — to crush the Uni-President Lions 15-6 at Taoyuan International Stadium.
It was a record-breaking night for the home side, as the Monkeys set off an offensive explosion in the second inning, sending 16 players to the plate and scoring 10 runs in as many hits.
Catcher Liu Shih-hao did the most damage when, with bases loaded, he sent a fastball from Lions starting pitcher Ryan Verdugo into the bleachers of right field for a grand slam homer.
Outfielder Lan Yin-lun, the next batter, also launched a pitch over the right field wall for back-to-back homers.
That opened the floodgate for the Monkeys, as they got five more hits and two walks against four opposition pitchers to lead 10-1 by the end of the second inning.
In the third frame, Monkeys slugger Wang Po-jung continued the assault, blasting a two-run homer, and designated hitter Lin Hong-yu added a solo homer to end the inning 13-1.
The Lions did not surrender, chalking up three runs in the fifth inning and two more in the ninth and final inning, but the Monkeys sailed on to a comfortable 15-6 outcome.
The Monkeys’ second-inning totals — 16 at-bats, 10 hits and 10 runs — set a new record for highest totals for one inning by one team in a Taiwan Series game.
“It was a good performance tonight,” Monkeys manager Hong Yi-chung said after the game.
“When Liu smashed that grand slam homer in the second inning, our batters got fired up, and they rode the momentum to crank out more hits,” he added.
“The players’ morale remains high,” Lions manager Huang Kan-lin said. “They have the confidence to return and win the next few games.”
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