Dark horse Lan Ying-luen outslugged teammate Lin “Chubby Kid” Hung-yu by a 2-1 margin in the sudden-death overtime round of this year’s Home Run Derby to capture the annual hitting contest at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The last-minute addition to the Home Run Derby to replace an injured Lin Chih-sheng cashed in on his first appearance in the event by edging past crowd favorite Lin to take home the winner’s trophy along with NT$100,000 in prize money.
‘UNBELIEVABLE’
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be standing up here, [Lin] is definitely a worthy opponent!” Lan said after receiving the trophy from league officials.
SURPRISE WIN
His surprise victory over the league’s current home-run leader brought the home crowd to its feet.
The rookie outfielder who played five years of semi-professional baseball prior to being signed by the Monkeys during the off-season drove the ball deep five times in each of the first two rounds to earn a chance to take on Lin.
Lin cruised through the first two rounds with relative ease.
With only four homers to his credit in the final round, Lan did not appear to have enough to win the event, until Lin also managed just four homers in the round to send the contest into sudden death.
“[Lan] got hot at the right time and that’s what it takes to win,” Lin said after the contest.
Lin won NT$10,000 as the runner up.
Monkeys veteran slugger Chen Chin-fong hit three homers during the competition.
Also winning a hefty prize, 70g in gold, was the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, which was a beneficiary of the All-Star Charity Home Run Derby.
ALL-STAR GAME
The much anticipated annual All-Star Game is set for this evening with the opening pitch scheduled for 5:05pm.
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