Homering for the third time in as many games, Lin Chih-sheng connected for a two-run blast to rally the La New Bears past the Sinon Bulls 6-1 at the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium on Friday evening.
The veteran slugger, who leads the league in total long balls at 23 for the season, also overtook the top spot in total RBIs from Bulls slugger Lin Yi-chuen. Lin Chih-sheng drove his RBI total to a whopping 78 in the 68 games he has played.
“We all get hot from time to time and I am just trying to ride this one out for as long as I can,” Lin Chih-sheng told reporters after the Bears’ fourth straight win.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He also enjoyed a five-game home-run streak earlier this season when he smashed seven homers over a five-game span.
The duel between foreign hurlers Aaron Rakers for the Bears and Ricardo Rodriguez for the Bulls lasted through the sixth, with the only run a solo homer by Bulls batter Wilton Veras in the fourth.
But things went south in the seventh when the Bears came out of hibernation and erupted for six unanswered runs, highlighted by a pair of two-run shots from Lin Chih-sheng and fellow hitter Pan Chung-wei.
Despite belting seven hits off three different La New pitchers — with three of the seven going for extra bases — the Bulls went a futile 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Rakers was credited with his 10th win of the year for allowing one run on five hits over six frames, with two strikeouts and no walks.
He is now 10-3 with a team-best 3.63 ERA — the third best in the league.
ELEPHANTS 3, LIONS 0
Chou Si-chi’s two-out single with a runner on second cracked a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, with the Brother Elephants going on to blank the Uni-President Lions 3-0 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday night.
Also starring for the men in the golden uniforms was starter Mike Smith, who pitched seven-and-a-third innings of five-hit ball, with five strikeouts and no walks.
The Elephant’s Kuo Yi-fong also came through with a rare triple in the seventh to knock in a pair of insurance runs.
The Lions had several scoring opportunities in the game, with runners reaching scoring position in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings on the seven hits they mustered off Smith and the Elephants bullpen. They came up empty on all of them, however, dropping their third in a row in heartbreaking fashion.
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