John Frascatore of the President Lions may consider asking for some divine assistance before his next scheduled start, because it seemed like he was pitching against more than just the Brother Elephants squad in Wednesday night's 8-7 thriller at Hsinchuang.
In a game that was his to win, the American right-hander matched the league-leading Elephants pitch for pitch throughout the entire contest, only to find himself on the losing end of a heated battle.
Frascatore allowed eight runs (three earned) on 10 hits over eight solid innings in a complete-game losing effort. Had it not been for the five costly errors that led to five unearned runs for the Elephants, Frascatore would be celebrating his sixth straight victory of the season. Instead, he took the heart-breaking loss for the Lions, the first time in 15 games.
Frascatore was not alone in the "deep frustration" department. Lions 14-year veteran slugger Chen Cheng-shian (陳政賢) was robbed of a potential game-winning RBI after a series of miscues. Chen's three-run blast off reliever Wang Ching-li (王勁力) to deep left in the seventh to put the Lions up 7-5 had "game-winner" written all over it. A pair of two-out errors, however, by the shortstop Hsu Sheng-jeh (許聖杰) and third baseman Wu Jia-rong (吳佳榮) allowed the tying and winning runs to score in the bottom of the eighth.
The opportunistic Elephant hitters made sure that all the Lions mistakes turned into Elephants runs as center fielder Chen Chih-yuan (
"The Elephants definitely make you pay for every little mistake you make," local baseball commentator Tseng Wen-cheng (曾文誠) said after the game. "That's how they beat you."
On Tuesday night the Lions were ahead 1-0 and one out from shutting out the Elephants 1-0 on Tuesday night. But it ended in a one-all draw after 10 innings.
Lions starting pitcher Jose Parra kept the Elephants off the board all night long when Elephants right fielder Peng Cheng-ming (
Lions slugger Chen Cheng-shian was robbed of the game-winning RBI, because it was his run-scoring double that gave the Lions the 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh.
While the victory was sweet and important for the Elephants (boosting their lead in the league standings to 1 1/2 games), it did expose the Elephants' vulnerability in relief pitching.
"Sound relief pitching is almost as important as having strong starters when you are in a title hunt, because games are won and lost late in the game in many cases," Elephants reliever Hsiao Ren-wen (
With less than 15 games left in the regular season and the Lions will need to find a way to change their luck if they want to overcome the Elephants.
Upcoming Games
Game 3 of the Lions-Elephants showdown was in Hsinchuang today, ahead of tomorrow's series finale in Tienmu.
Friday night's matchup will feature red-hot pitcher Nakogomi Sin for the Elephants against Dai Lung-shuei of the Lions. Tomorrow's contest will pit Elephants ace Yokota Hisanori's bid for his 15th win of the season.
The Sinon Bulls face the Chinatrust Whales in Hsingchuang, Hsinchu, and Tienmu yesterday, today and Sunday, respectively.
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