The EDA Rhinos swept the day-night doubleheader series by topping the Chinatrust Brothers 7-6 in a matinee meeting at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium before closing out the deal by a 9-1 margin in the nightcap in Taichung last night.
The two victories not only gave the Rhinos a clean sweep in the three-game set against the Brothers, but lifted them past the 10-win plateau to net them a 2.5 game lead over the second-placed Lamigo Monkeys in the standings three weeks into the new season.
Chang Chien-ming’s solo homer off Brothers reliever Luo Kuo-hua in the top of the eighth proved to be the difference in the game, as it put the visitors ahead by three at that point, just enough to hold off a two-run rally by Chinatrust in the bottom of the ninth to send the Rhinos into the win column.
Even though the Rhinos never trailed in the contest with four quick runs off Chinatrust starter Cheng Kai-wen over the first two innings of play, they were able to put the game away as the Brothers kept on fighting back.
Trailing by three, Chinatrust plated a pair off Luo Chia-ren with three straight doubles off the EDA closer. However, with the tying run almost 30m from the plate and his team hanging onto a slim one-run advantage, the former Houston Astros pitcher managed to strike out the final batter to preserve the win for fellow reliever Tsai Ming-chin.
Tagged with his first loss of the season was Brothers starter Cheng, who allowed six runs on 12 hits over six frames in a losing effort.
In the night game in Taichung, the Rhinos cashed in on a shaky outing by Chen Hung-wen by erupting for six runs in the ninth against the Chinatrust closer to blow an otherwise close 3-1 game wide open in an eventual 9-1 final.
Chien Chia-yo earned his first win of the year by tossing three shutout innings- of two-hit relief to beat Brothers starter Hsieh Jung-hao, who pitched six innings of three-run ball, but fell victim to an anemic offense that managed to muster only one run on eight hits on the night.
MONKEYS 8, LIONS 3
Chen Chun-hsiu’s two-run double, coupled with a two-run error by the Uni-President Lions defense, led to a six-run eighth for the Lamigo Monkeys as they blew a two-all tie wide open late in the game to run away with an 8-3 win at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the second straight multi-RBI game for Chen, who also delivered a two-run double the night before to guide the Monkeys past their foes on the road.
The win clinched the three-game series in Tainan for the visiting Primates after they split the first two matches against the home Cats with one win apiece.
Chung “Yoyo Man” Cheng-yo’s run-scoring single broke a scoreless tie in the top of the second to give Lamigo a quick 1-0 advantage, which lasted into the sixth before the home Cats answered with two runs of their own to lead it 2-1.
Yu Teh-lung’s clutch single with a runner on second made it two-all in the seventh, setting the stage for Lamigo’s game-breaking eighth that made a winner out of Hung Sheng-chin, who beat Lions starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-lung.
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