The Rakuten Monkeys and the CTBC Brothers traded places atop the CPBL table for the second day in a row yesterday, with the Brothers on top after an 8-5 win at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium.
The two teams are in a race for the first-half title, with the Monkeys ahead half a game going into last night’s home encounter.
However, it was the visitors who emerged victorious to reclaim the No. 1 spot by half a game.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Relief pitching in the late innings again proved Rakuten’s undoing. They battled back from an early 5-1 deficit to close to within one, down 6-5 after the sixth frame. They looked good for a comeback win, with closer Chen Yu-hsun holding the Brothers scoreless in the eighth.
It was not to be. The Monkeys brought in Wang Yao-lin at the top of the ninth and the Brothers lineup rattled him with four hits, driving in two runs to complete the scoring.
Rakuten had more hits in the game — 15 compared with 13 for the Brothers — but the home side stranded runners and could not deliver in clutch situations.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
In Friday’s opener of the three-game series, Rakuten starting pitcher Lisalverto Bonilla handcuffed the Brothers hitters for a 4-0 win in Taoyuan.
First baseman Chen Chun-hsiu provided the run support with a big homer in the fourth inning.
A Dominican righthander who had two seasons in the US Major Leagues, Bonilla’s outstanding performance gave him his fifth victory of the season and lowered his ERA to 3.09, with both being the best statistics among all CPBL pitchers.
He cruised through eight scoreless innings, yielding seven hits on five strikeouts and one walk, before handing the ball to Wang.
There was no scoring until the fourth inning, when Rakuten’s Lin Li ripped a shot to left field for a double, and one out later, Chen Chun-hsiu slammed a hanging curve offering from CTBC starter Liao Yi-chung into the stands for a two-run homer.
Rakuten continued the assault, putting two runners on base on a walk and a single, before third baseman Liang Chia-rong saw a fly ball drop in the outfield for a single that brought the two runners home.
Rakuten had lost three straight games before Friday’s contest.
After the game, Bonilla said that before taking the mound, he kept telling himself to do everything possible to seize victory.
“I was determined to end our losing streak and it’s great to celebrate with my teammates again,” he said.
It was the third time this season that Bonilla has delivered to help stop a Rakuten skid of at least three games.
Rakuten manager Tseng Hao-chu said that he was impressed with Bonilla’s hard work and intelligent play.
“Bonilla talks to the catcher and pitching coach. He asks about the other team’s batters and their tendencies, so he is picking up things and making adjustments,” Tseng said.
“This is why he has been very consistent and chalking up wins for us this season,” he said.
In the other game yesterday, the Uni-President Lions edged the Fubon Guardians 3-2 in Tainan. The Guardians were 5.5 games off the pace and the Lions six behind after last night’s results.
On Friday, the Lions knocked around the opposition pitchers for 15 hits, crushing Fubon 10-4.
Among the hits were three homers, with outfielder Su Chih-chieh’s solo shot in the second inning his league-leading 15th homer, while third baseman Chen Yung-chi also clobbered his sixth of the campaign.
Chen Yung-chi went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and was named MVP of the game.
Veteran Pan Wu-hsiung did even more damage with a three-run homer in the third inning.
Lions starter Ryan Feierabend, a lefty from the US who has a knuckleball among his repertoire, lifted his record to 2-3 for the season.
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