Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen regained his staff-ace form with eight near-perfect innings of shutout ball to lift the President Lions past the Sinon Bulls by a 4-2 margin in Tainan on Sunday, salvaging a 1-1 split of the two-game series.
The veteran right-hander, who was made the highest-paid pitcher in the league at the start of season, shook off two disappointing starts last month and went on to quietly win three in a row to earn the respect of his teammates and the hitters around the league.
His three victories represent a third of the struggling Lions' total of nine, making the former first-round draft pick an integral part of the Lions rotation.
The much anticipated showdown between Pan and Sinon ace Yang Jien-fu, a long-time friend, did not live up to its billing as Yang was pulled only two outs into the bottom of the first inning after an unspecified injury.
Pan mowed through the Bulls lineup with minimal resistance, pitching shutout ball over eight frames on six hits while fanning five and walking one.
Even though the Bulls were able to break through in the ninth against Lions reliever Tsao Jung-yang for a pair of runs on three straight singles, closer Pan Jung-rong made sure that was the extent of the Sinon comeback as he promptly retired the final two Bulls hitters to secure the win.
Picking up the loss was Lee, who served up Kuo's homer during two innings of four-hit relief. He is now 0-1 for the year in nine relief appearances.
Offensively for the Lions, Kuo Dai-chi's two-run homer off Bulls reliever Lee Guo-cihng put the home hosts on the board in the bottom of the third for a 2-0 lead before fellow hitter Kao Guo-ching made it 4-0 in the seventh on a swing that sent an offering from Yu Wen-pin 10 rows into the leftfield seats.
Bears 12, Whales 3
The La New Bears ended their three-game losing skid with a 12-3 trouncing of the Chinatrust Whales in Kaohsiung on Sunday, thanks to a great showing by starter and game-winner Josmir Romero and a five-RBI night by team captain Pan Chung-wei.
The Venezuelan who joined the Bears two weeks ago was rock-solid in his second start with the Bears, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits over six innings.
Puerto Rican lefty Hector Mercado and Huang Jung-chung then combined for three innings of one-run relief to net a win for the Bears.
Wasting no time against Whales starter Su Tseh-yi, the defending champs plated three runs in the opening frame on a two-run single by Pan and Tseng Hao-jui's run-scoring base hit up the middle.
The Bears tacked on another run in the second on Huang "Easy" Long-yi's lining double that scored Chen Fong-min all the way from first before the Whales answered with a run in the fourth and fifth innings to trail the Bears 4-2.
That was as close as the Whales got as the Bears erupted for eight unanswered runs over the next four innings, highlighted by Pan's two-run double down the third-base line in a three-run fifth, to put the game away long before the final out of the game.
All but two of the Bears starters had at least one hit in the game with Pan and Huang leading the pack with three hits apiece. Four other Bears had two hits each in the 15-hit slugfest.
Suffering the lopsided loss was Su, who never made it past the second inning in just his fourth start of the year. Su wasn't the only Whales pitcher to get hit hard, as the potent Bears lineup pounded every one of the five Whales hurlers that took part in the game.
The loss by the Whales put them in a tie for second place with the Bears in the latest standings.
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