The Sinon Bulls scored seven early runs and held off a fierce rally by the Uni-President Lions to win 7-5 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium on Sunday to split a two-game weekend home stand.
Yu Wen-pin tossed seven shutout innings before being chased after giving up a grand slam to the Lions’ Tilson Brito in the eighth. Yu won his seventh of the season while his counterpart Aaron Fultz of the US lasted only four short innings with seven allowed runs on 10 hits to lose his Taiwan debut.
The home Bulls struck for four quick runs in the second and tacked on three more by the end of the fourth to lead it 7-0.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Brito’s slam off Yu quickly cut the deficit to three and the Lions scored a fifth run in the ninth to make it 7-5.
But with two outs and the bases loaded for the Lions, the Bulls’ Yang Jien-fu was able to induce a ground ball to first for the final out of the contest, ending what would have been the biggest comeback of the year for Uni-President.
T-REX 9, WHALES 2
The dmedia T-Rex finally broke out of a six-game slump with a big 9-2 rout of the Chinatrust Whales at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Sunday.
After two devastating shutout losses in their past three games, the T-Rex lineup finally erupted for nine runs on 14 hits to back up game-winner Cory Bailey, who was rock-solid with two allowed runs — only one earned — on three hits over seven effective frames on the night.
Hsieh “the Ugly” Jia-shien and Jose Leon each had three hits with three combined RBIs to lead the T-Rex while Chou Si-chi stretched a sure double into a rare triple to tie the Elephants’ Chen Guan-ren for the league’s lead at six for the year.
ELEPHANTS 6, BEARS 3
The smoking-hot Brother Elephants continued their recent success by doubling the La New Bears 6-3 in Sinjhuang on Saturday night to extend their streak to a season-high six straight.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s two-run shot in the third not only capped a five-run spurt that planted the winning seed for the Elephants, it also marked the Elephants’ monumental 1000th club homer.
With the Lions losing on Sunday, the Elephants are tied for first in the standings with the defending champs.
There are a dozen games remaining in the regular season.
One lone game now separates three teams in what could be the closest finish in four seasons.
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