Two early homers yesterday drove in six runs to power the CTBC Brothers to an 8-3 victory over the Uni-President Lions in Game 2 of the Taiwan Series championship in Taichung.
CTBC outfielder Chou Ssu-chi belted a three-run homer against the Lions’ right-handed starter Lisalverto Bonilla, to give the Brothers an early 3-0 lead just as some fans were still finding their seats at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, which was near capacity with a crowd of 18,888.
After two outs, Bonilla issued two walks, before facing the left-handed 16-year veteran. Chou unloaded on an inside curve ball, sending it just inside the foul pole at right field.
Photo: CNA
In the second inning, a pair of singles put two CTBC players on base before first baseman Hsu Chi-hung took the plate. Hsu drilled a fastball off Bonilla, sending it sailing over the right-field seats for another three-run homer.
The Lions pulled Bonilla after the Chou-Hsu one-two punch, replacing him with Shih Tzu-chien.
The Lions tried to stage a comeback, notching a run in the fourth inning and two more in the eighth, but were unable to score against CTBC’s relief pitchers.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Hsu with a hot bat smashed another homer in the seventh inning, followed by a solo shot by Tsan Tzu-hsien in the eighth to finish the game 8-3.
Over five innings, CTBC starting pitcher Lu Yen-ching managed to hold the Lions to just eight hits, with only one yielding a run.
Chou, nicknamed “Chairman Chou,” solidified his position as a Brothers fan favorite with the early homer. He premiered in the league with the now-defunct Macoto Cobras in 2005, before joining the Brother Elephants in 2009, which CTBC purchased and renamed in 2014.
His dinger broke the franchise record for the oldest player to hit a home run in a Taiwan Series, a record previously held by then-38-year-old Brothers slugger Peng Cheng-min in Game 2 of the 2016 series.
The oldest player to knock it out of the park during the championship finals was Mercuries Tigers legend Lin “Brother Chiu” Chung-chiu, who at age 42 homered in Game 5 of the 2000 series.
Lin, who spent 10 seasons with the Tigers before joining the Sinon Bulls, won four CPBL home run king titles over his career.
The Brothers and Lions have today off for travel as the series moves to southern Taiwan, where the Lions will seek to reverse their fortunes over three home games.
Game 3 is to start tomorrow at 6:30pm at Kaohsiung’s Chengching Lake Stadium, which, with a capacity of 20,000, is the largest ballpark in southern Taiwan. The league anticipates a sold-out game.
Game 4, and Game 5 if necessary, would be at the Lions’ home ballpark, Tainan Municipal Stadium.
If still undecided, the series would return to Taichung with Game 6 on Saturday and 7 on Sunday
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