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04/05/2003 Archived Entry: "Taiwan Baseball News: Hurst Lifts Elephants Past Agan; Whales Shutout Gida"
Taiwan Baseball News: Hurst Lifts Elephants Past Agan; Whales Shutout Gida
First Securities Agan 1 Brother Elephants 5
By Andrew Wong
Jonathan Hurst's return to the Chinese Professional Baseball League gave the struggling Brother Elephants the boost they desperately needed as he pitched a complete game to win in his 2003 debut, 5-1 over the First Securities Agan. Hurst improved to 1-0-0 and was named the game MVP. Not bad for someone who won 16 games last year.
Shortstop Rue-chang Chen was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, centerfielder Chih-yuen Chen 1-for-2 with an RBI and rightfielder Chin Jeh Lee went 1-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Elephants to victory before a crowd of 4,698.
On the mound Hurst was dominating, striking out eight but his American counterpart Gerg Bicknell (0-1-0) was not although he only gave up two earned runs of the four runs he gave up in six innings.
Foreigner Rafael Osuna played shortstop for the Agan and went 1-for-4 with a home run as his team could not generate much offensively on this night, the night of ace Jonathan Hurst's return.
The Agan fell to 5-9-0 on the season while the Elephants improved to 4-10-1 and are 6.5 games back of the idle Sinon Bulls for the league lead in standings. The Agan are 5.5 games back.
Linescore
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Agan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4
Elephants 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 X 5 9 0
WP: Jonathan Hurst (1-0-0)
LP: Gerg Bicknell (0-1-0)
Game MVP: Jonathan Hurst
Attendance: 4,698
Game time: 3:02
Makoto Gida 0 China Trust Whales 4
By Andrew Wong
Even though the China Trust Whales committed four defensive errors, the Makoto Gida could not capitalize and consequently allowed the Whales to tack on three runs in the second inning and one in the third, coasting to a 4-0 shutout.
Third baseman Chien-wei Chen went 1-for-3 with a run scored to lead the Whales to victory in front of 1,551 at Tian Mu Stadium last night. The Gida only got three hits, two of which were by second baseman Yi-shian Lin.
American Michael Marchesano (0-1-0) watched his 2003 ERA rise to 7.20 as he gave up four runs, all earned, on six hits in five innings to pick up the loss for the Gida.
With the defeat, the Gida dropped to 6-10-0 while the Whales improved to 8-7-1 and are 3 games back of the Bulls. The Gida are now 5.5 games back.
The Gida and Elephants will go at it again tonight with a 5:05 p.m. (Taiwan time) game at Tian Mu Stadium.
Linescore
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Gida 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Whales 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 4 6 4
WP: N/A (2-1-0)
LP: Michale Marchesano (0-1-0)
Game MVP: N/A (2-1-0)
Attendance: 1,551
Game time: 2:40
Today's Games (Taiwan time)
President Lions at Sinon Bulls, 1:05 p.m. (first game of double-header to makeup April 4 game)
President Lions at Sinon Bulls, 5:05 p.m.
Makoto Gida at Brother Elephants, 5:05 p.m.
2003 Chinese Professional Baseball League standings
W L T GB Pct.
1. Sinon Bulls 10 3 0 --- .769
2. President Lions 10 4 0 0.5 .714
3. China Trust Whales 8 7 1 3.0 .533
4. Makoto Gida 6 10 0 5.5 .375
5. First Securities Agan 5 9 0 5.5 .357
6. Brother Elephants 4 10 1 6.5 .286
Brother Elephants' P Jonathan Hurst
