Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen struck out six over seven shutout innings of four-hit ball and Yang Song-hsuen batted a perfect four-for-four with a pair of RBIs as the President Lions blanked the Chinatrust Whales 5-0 in Tainan on Friday evening for their fifth win in six.
Pan, who had not lost a game since last March in the midst of an incredible 18-game winning streak, and Yang, who found a new life with the Lions two years ago after being released by the Whales in 2003, were the main reasons why the defending champions have reclaimed their “Rulers of the South” reputation of late.
Friday’s contest began with the Lions hitting Whales starter Chu Wei-ming for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on Chen Lien-hong’s two-run double to the right-center gap. The home Cats would have scored even more runs in the innings if it had not been for a double play turned by the Whales defense.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Stellar defense unfortunately did not translate into any offensive success for the Whales as Pan had the upper hand against them by retiring the first 10 Whales batters he faced, before giving up back-to-back singles in the fourth to lose his no-hit bid.
Not rattled at all by the two base hits, Pan would work himself out of the jam by getting two quick outs without advancing the runners on first and second to strand two and keep the shutout intact.
Leading 3-0 after four innings of play, the Lions offense would tack on another run in the fifth when Liu Fu-hao led off the inning with a triple and scored on a wild pitch on the ensuing play before making it 5-0 in the sixth on Yang’s RBI single to the right.
That was all the runs either offense produced, with Pan lasting seven strong innings and the Whales bullpen doing its job by keeping the Lions hitters at bay.
Earning his second win of the season in as many starts was Pan, who allowed no runs on four hits while fanning six and walking none to top his counterpart Chu, who surrendered five runs on eight hits over five frames to drop his second in a row. He remained winless at 0-2 for the year.
Bears 7, Bulls 6
Chen Chin-fong’s walk-off single with the bases loaded scored the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth as the La New Bears edged past the Sinon Bulls by a 7-6 margin at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Friday, extending their winning streak to five straight.
After scoring three early runs in the first off Sinon starter Yang Jien-fu, the Bears offense suddenly decided to hibernate over the next three innings, while starter Hsu Wen-hsiung gave up six runs between the third and fourth to find himself with a 3-6 deficit.
Two doubles and three singles by a rejuvenated Bears offense finally brought the hosts back into the game in the fifth to tie things up at 6-6, a score that remained late into the ninth until Chen’s game-deciding swing.
Bears lefty Huang Chin-chih was credited with his second win of the season in as many games for throwing a scoreless ninth, while the Bulls’ Tsai Ming-jin took the loss for serving up Chen’s game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.
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