Back-to-back losses earlier this week to the Chinatrust Whales have cut the Sinon Bulls' once comfortable lead over the President Lions for the second-best record in the league to just a half-game, threatening the Bulls' chances for the sought after home-field advantage in the postseason's first-round action.
Wednesday night's contest against the Whales in Taichung had the defending champs overcoming a two-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth on Huang Chung-yi's two-run homer off Whales starter Du Chang-wei to tie things up at 4-4 before an ill-advised walk by closer Kuo Yong-chih with the bases loaded forced in the game-winning run in the top of the 10th for a 5-4 Whales victory.
The game began with the Bulls jumping to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening inning on an RBI single by Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan and Tseng Yang-chih's groundout to second that scored the Bulls' second run.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The 2-0 Bulls' lead lasted less than an inning as the Whales answered with a three-run second, highlighted by designated hitter Tseng Han-chou's two-run single, to take a 3-2 lead before adding another run in the seventh to make it 4-2.
After Huang's two-run blast tied the game at 4-4, the Whales posed a threat again in the top of the 10th by legging out two infield singles off Kuo and loading up the bases against the league's No. 1 closer on an intentional walk to Mike Lockwood before Brian Becker forced home the game-winning run by drawing a walk off Kuo.
Shen Yu-jeh got the final two outs in the 10th for his seventh save of the year, wrapping up win number five for reliever Chu Wei-ming, who threw two innings of scoreless relief for the Whales.
The win by the Whales was their fifth straight, topping their previous season-high of four wins in a row while making them the only team after the La New Bears (29-10-3) with a winning record (21-19-4) in the second half.
Whales 6, Bulls 1
Su Tseh-yi pitched effectively over nine solid innings in the Whales' 6-1 win over the Bulls on Tuesday night to improve to 5-2 for the year.
The rookie right-hander went the distance in a game for the first time this year, giving up an early run in the third before settling down and keeping the Bulls hitters at bay the rest of the way.
After four scoreless innings against Bulls starter Alfredo Gonzalez of the Dominican Republic, the Whales offense awoke for six unanswered runs, spearheaded by a three-run sixth, to claim a convincing win.
Tseng Han-chou's three-RBI night led a Whales attack that went deep against Gonzalez twice, a solo blast by Tseng leading off the fifth and Lockwood's towering shot over the right-field wall to start the three-run sixth.
Picking the loss was Gonzalez, who lasted into the sixth in the interest of giving the overworked Sinon Bulls a much-needed rest. The most consistent starter for the Bulls suffered his 10th loss of the year to fall to an 11-10 record.
Cobras 7, Lions 4
The Macoto Cobras batted around the order in the four-run sixth that broke a 3-2 game wide open as they went on to beat the President Lions by a 7-4 final in Sinjhuang on Wednesday evening.
After allowing a run to the Lions in the first and fourth to trail by a deuce, Cobras rookie starter Chang Hsien-chih managed to hold the Lions bats silent over the fifth and sixth to give his offense the chance to get even. And the offense promptly delivered with a blooper single to right by Hsieh "the Ugly" Jia-shien and a sacrifice fly by Thomas Brice that knotted the game up at two-all after four innings of play.
A hit batsman by Lions starter Hansel Izquierdo with the bases loaded scored the go-ahead run for the Cobras in the fifth that made it 3-2 before the four-run sixth that sealed the win.
Lions 9, Cobras 4
A late-game collapse by the bullpen that resulted in nine Lions runs over the final two innings wasted an outstanding effort by Macoto ace Lin "Little Chick" En-yu in a bid for his 17th win of the season.
Lin took a one-hit shutout two outs into the sixth before experiencing some pain in his right elbow that ended his night prematurely. That was all it took for the Lions hitters to erupt for nine runs over the final two frames to turn a 0-1 deficit into an eventual 9-4 win.
The serpents scored three in the eighth to make it somewhat respectable, but that did not stop the Lions from claiming an important win that kept them in the race for a postseason bid.
Ted Lilly pitched six strong innings and the Toronto Blue Jays hit four home runs in a 7-4 victory over Detroit on Wednesday, but the Tigers held on to their one-game lead over Minnesota in the American League Central.
The Twins lost 6-4 to Kansas City on Wednesday, dropping Detroit's magic number for clinching the division to three. If the teams finished tied for first, Detroit would get the division title by winning the season series 11-8.
The Tigers (95-63) fell one game behind the New York Yankees, who beat Baltimore 16-5, for the AL's best record.
Toronto's victory, its 10th in 15 games, moved them ahead of Boston, which lost 11-0 to Tampa Bay, and into second place in the AL East. The Blue Jays haven't finished as high as second since 1993.
Lilly (15-13) allowed three runs -- one earned -- and five hits in seven innings. He struck out nine. B.J. Ryan, the fifth Toronto reliever, pitched the ninth for his 36th save.
Nate Robertson (13-13) allowed six runs and 10 hits -- including four homers -- in 4-2/3 innings.
Bengie Molina hit a three-run homer, his 19th, in the first. The Blue Jays made it 6-0 with solo homers by Gregg Zaun, Troy Glaus and Aaron Hill.
Yankees 16, Orioles 5
At New York, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano all homered for the New York Yankees over Baltimore.
Wang Chien-ming (
Giambi and Posada each had four RBIs as the Yankees romped to a 13-2 lead by the fourth inning. Gary Sheffield had two hits, including his first extra-base hit since May.
Kris Benson gave up eight runs and eight hits in 2-2/3 innings as the Orioles lost their fourth straight.
Albert Pujols' go-ahead three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning led St. Louis to a 4-2 victory over San Diego on Wednesday, snapping a seven-game losing streak during which the Cardinals' National League Central lead shriveled to 1.5 games.
Pujols hit a 1-0 pitch from Cla Meredith into the third of four decks over the left-field wall to erase a one-run deficit.
St. Louis won two of its last 10, five of the losses by one run. Second-place Houston won its eighth straight, 7-6 over Pittsburgh in 15 innings, to stay 1.5 back. St. Louis reduced its magic number for clinching a third straight division title to four after the number was stuck at five for six games.
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