The top-ranked Uni-President Lions swept the day-night doubleheader against the Sinon Bulls yesterday with victories by margins of 9-2 and 10-3 at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City.
Chang “OEO” Tai-shan’s sacrifice fly sparked a three-run seventh that blew a 3-1 game wide open in the day game as the defending champs scored six in the late innings to pick up the win.
Fu Yu-kang came out of the Lions bullpen and tossed 4-2/3 innings of one-run ball on three hits to beat Sinon starter Lin Yen-fong, who fared well with three allowed runs through the fifth, but fell victim to an anemic offense that came up short compared with Uni-President.
In the second game, it was all Lions from the get-go, as the Cats plated three in the opening frame on a pair of singles and doubles off Sinon starter Chang Geng-hao, to give Uni-President starter Yuya Kamada a quick 3-0 advantage before the Japanese right-hander even threw his first pitch.
Kamada acknowledged the generosity from his offense by pitching shutout ball through the fifth before giving up a two-run homer to the Bulls’ Chang Jien-ming to make it 5-2 through the top of the sixth.
That was as close as the Bulls got as the Lions’ bats answered with a four-run output in the bottom of the same inning.
Leadoff man Chen Yung-chi had a huge day at the plate with two homers to his credit; the first, a two-run blast off Chang Geng-hao to dead center; and the second, a solo shot off Hsu Wen-tsan to left to lead off the eighth.
Picking up his league-best fifth win of the season was Kamada, who allowed three runs on nine hits over seven innings to go to 5-0, while the loss was charged against Chang Geng-hao as the Sinon right-hander evened his season mark to 1-1.
ELEPHANTS 5, MONKEYS 1
The Brother Elephants avenged a tough loss on Friday in a rain-delayed affair with a win over the Lamigo Monkeys last night at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium.
Rookie phenom Lin Yu-ching was rock-solid for the Elephants as he kept the potent Monkeys lineup at bay with a four-hit gem over eight innings to allow his slow-warming offense a chance for a three-run sixth that broke a 1-all tie.
Taking the loss was Monkeys starter Matt DeSalvo of the US, who matched Lin stride-for-stride through the fifth before a fatal error by his defense led to a pair of unearned runs in the game-deciding sixth inning.
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