Shih Chih-wei’s two-out single with men on second and third capped a four-run seventh as the Lamigo Monkeys held off a late-game rally by the Sinon Bulls to escape with an 8-6 win at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The clutch single not only ended up being the game--winning hit for the Primates, but also represented Shih’s 800th career base hit as the veteran infielder celebrated the milestone with a big “W” at home.
Lamigo wasted little time getting to Sinon starter Lai Hong-cheng as they plated two in the opening frame off the rookie lefty on the strength of an RBI single by Lin Hong-yu and a run-scoring error by the Sinon defense.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The Monkeys doubled their lead to 4-0 in the third with Kuo Yen-wen’s sacrifice fly and Shih’s one-run double with two outs.
Trailing 1-8, the Bulls managed to pull within a deuce of the Monkeys with an explosive five-run eighth, highlighted by a three-run blast from Wang Hsin-min for his first round-tripper of the season.
However, it was too little too late as the Monkeys quickly sent closer Hsu Ming-jeh to the mound who got the final four outs of the game without giving his ground to make a winner out of starter Lenny DiNardo.
The American southpaw is now 3-0 to tie the Lions’ Yuya Kamada for most wins in the league.
Elephants 12, Lions 6
Scoring at least a run over the first five innings of play, the Brother Elephants doubled up on the Uni-President Lions in a 12-6 final at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium yesterday to avoid being swept by the defending champs.
Chang Cheng-wei tied the league record for most hits in a single game with five on the day to lead a previously anemic Elephant offense that teed off against the Lion pitching by erupting for 18 hits off four different Lions hurlers.
Even though the home Cats scored six runs on a dozen hits off the Elephants’ pitching in a slugfest, the outcome of the game was never in doubt as the Elephants cruised to an easy victory to nip a stressful five-game losing skid.
Guan Da-yuan was credited with the win for his 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Lions starter Chen Yi-chen was tagged with the loss for serving up three runs in less than two innings of play.
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