Clutch hitting, coupled with a solid defensive effort that turned a pair of double plays, helped the Brother Elephants trip up the Lamigo Monkeys 5-1 at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night.
The win not only extended the Elephants’ current win streak to four, but also gave them a rare sweep in the three-game set against the Monkeys, as both clubs head into the second half of the season with totally different perspectives.
It was an uplifting series for the defending champions in the sense that they were able to put together a strong finish, despite a disappointing first half (23-32 with five makeup games scheduled for this week).
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
As for the Monkeys — who held the top spot in the standings for most of the first half until a slew of injuries led to a total collapse in their last 10 contests during which they went a dismal 3-7 — the second half could be a long one if they continue to have to play without the services of top sluggers Lin Chih-sheng and Chen Chin-fong.
The men in their golden uniforms wasted little time getting on the board, with Huang Shih-hao leading off the bottom of the second with a single and scoring three batters later on an RBI groundout by Chang Cheng-wei that made it 1-0.
Chang would knock in his second and third run of the game in the fourth with a rare triple off Lamigo starter Scot Drucker in what ended up being a three-run inning to give the Elephants a comfortable 4-0 advantage through the fourth.
That was more than ample for the Elephants pitching, with starter Cheng Hong-chi tossing five innings of one-run ball, before the bullpen took over with four innings of shutout relief to preserve the victory for Cheng.
Suffering the loss in only his second start for the Monkeys was Drucker, who allowed four runs on seven hits over six frames.
BULLS 5, LIONS 1
Finishing off the Uni-President Lions in a series-sweeping 5-1 victory, the Sinon Bulls silenced a hostile crowd at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night to extend their win streak to a season-high three.
Starter Lin Ying-jeh took a 5-0 shutout one out into the seventh, before turning the game over to his bullpen en route to his second win.
Even though he lost the shutout bid with the Lions’ lone run of the night charged against him during the seventh, the result was still sweet for the “tragic hero,” who went 0-8 over his first 10 starts, as he finally registered back-to-back wins for the first time this year.
Offensively for the Bulls, Wu Tsong-jung’s two-for-three hitting led a lineup that plated five runs on 10 hits in a winning effort.
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