[Previous entry: "Korea Baseball News: Unicorns in 1st with Wins over Lions- 11 Wins in a Row"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Cooperstown Confidential; by Bruce Markusen; May 1, 2003"]
05/01/2003 Archived Entry: "Taiwan Baseball News: Whales Hold On For Dear Life"
Taiwan Baseball News: Whales Hold On For Dear Life
By Andrew Wong
China Trust Whales 11 Makoto Gida 6
Chao-jee Sooh pitched shutout baseball for six innings and the China Trust Whales barely held on for a 11-6 win over the Makoto Gida yesterday before a sparse crowd of 352 fans at Shingcung Stadium.
The Whales scored seven times in the fourth inning and two each in the fifth and sixth but with Sooh out of the game, gave up three in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to hold on for the victory. Sooh gave up only two hits, improved to 3-1-0 and was named the Game's MVP.
Center fielder Song-hsuen Yang led the hitting barrage for the Whales as he finished the game 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBIs. Teammate and designated hitter Han-chou Tseng went 1-for-3 with two runs and one run driven in.
Gida starter Chi-chia Yang went only four innings, giving up seven runs, four of which were earned thanks to three errors committed behind him. Yang gave up six hits and dropped to 2-4-0.
His teammates tried to comeback in the last three frames of the ballgame as right fielder Cheng-han Wu went 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Gida first baseman Jia-hsian Hsieh finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs and plated one run while designated hitter Chan-rong Chiou hit his second home run of the 2003 Chinese Professional Baseball League season and finished the night 1-for-3 with one run and three RBIs. Those three RBIs all came in the bottom half of the seventh inning as Chiou belted a three-run homer.
With the win, the Whales improved to 16-10-2 while the Gida fell to 11-18-0. The Whales are now 2.5 games back of the league-leading Sinon Bulls, who will play the second-place President Lions tonight (6:35 p.m. Taiwan time) at Tainan Stadium.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Whales 0 0 0 7 2 2 0 0 0 11 11 0
Gida 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 6 8 3
WP: Chao-jee Sooh (3-1-0)
LP: Chi-chia Yang (2-4-0)
HR: DH Chan-rong Chiou (2) (Gida)
Game MVP: Chao-jee Sooh
Attendance: 352
Venue: Shingcung Stadium, Taiwan
Game time: 3:18
Brother Elephants 11 First Securities Agan 1
The Brother Elephants got a huge performance from Japanese starter Sin Nakagomi as they thumped the First Securities Agan 11-1 in front of 3,663 fans at Kaoshung Stadium last night.
Nakagomi gave up five hits but kept the Agan off the scoreboard as he pitched six shutout innings and improved to 2-3-0.
In the other dugout, Venezuelan native John Acosta continued his struggles as he was pounded for five runs, all earned, in 2 1/3 innings to begin the third. He dropped to 0-5-0.
Short stop Rue-chang Chen went 2-for-5 with two runs scored for the winners while center fielder Chih-yuen Chen finished 1-for-4 with one run scored and two RBIs. Elephants' second baseman Shun-shian Fong went 3-for-5 with one RBI and plated two runs.
For the 6-20-1 Agan, short stop Rafael Osuna went 0-for-2.
With the victory, the Elephants improved to 11-16-1 and the two teams play again tonight at 6:35 p.m. (Taiwan time) at Kaoshung Stadium.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Elephants 0 0 6 3 0 0 0 1 1 11 17 1
Agan 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 8 0
WP: Nakagomi (2-3-0)
LP: Acosta (0-5-0)
Attendance: 3,663
Venue: Kaoshung Stadium, Taiwan
Game time: 2:51
Today's Games
At Tainan Stadium: Sinon Bulls (19-8-0) at President Lions (19-10-0)
At Kaoshung Stadium: Brother Elephants (11-16-1) at First Securities Agan (6-20-1)
2003 Chinese Professional Baseball League standings
W L T GB Pct.
1. Sinon Bulls 19 8 0 --- .704
2. President Lions 19 10 0 1.0 .655
3. China Trust Whales 16 10 2 2.5 .615
4. Brother Elephants 11 16 1 8.0 .407
5. Makoto Gida 11 18 0 9.0 .379
6. First Securities Agan 6 20 1 12.5 .231
