A solo homer by Chen Chin-fong broke a 2-all gridlock in the bottom of the sixth and the La New Bears went on to double up on the Brother Elephants 4-2 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Saturday night.
A sellout crowd of nearly 20,000 packed the ballpark to witness the showdown between two former Major Leaguers — Elephants fireballer Tsao Chin-hui and the Bears’ Chen — got their money’s worth.
Tsao struck out Chen in the fourth before the slugger exacted his revenge two innings later by taking Tsao deep for what turned out to the game-winner.
PHOTO:CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Shih Chih-wei also homered off Tsao in the game, a solo blast later in the sixth that gave the Bears an insurance run.
Bears starter Wu Si-yo benefited from the pair of long balls as he fell behind 0-2 in the opening frame, but quickly found his groove by tossing shutout ball over the next five innings.
The Bears bullpen then took over and one-hit the Elephants over the final three innings to preserve Wu’s second win of the season.
Wu, who spent two seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s NPB, definitely had the upper hand on the night against Tsao, who served up four runs on seven hits over six innings.
The win gave the Bears sole possession of the lead in the latest standings, with the Lions and Sinon Bulls trailing by a game in a tie for second place.
BULLS 5, LIONS 3
Shen Yu-jeh came out of the bullpen with minimal warning to relieve struggling starter Chiang Jien-min and pitch five scoreless innings of two-hit ball to lead the Sinon Bulls past the Uni-President Lions 5-3 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tienmu on Saturday.
The loss not only cost the Lions the top spot in the standings, but also nipped a 10-game streak for starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen, who had not lost to the Bulls since Aug. 26, 2006.
Chang Jien-ming and Lin Yi-chuan did damage at the plate for the Bulls by going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs apiece. The pair accounted for four of their team’s five runs.
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