Taipei, April 18 (CNA) The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions recorded one of the hottest season starts in Taiwan's professional baseball league history after routing the Rakuten Monkeys 10-0 in Tainan on Wednesday.
The shutout game at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium marked the Uni-Lions' fifth straight victory and 11th win in their first 13 games of the 2024 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season, making them the fastest team to achieve that number of wins in the 35-year-old league.
The team tallied up 19 hits, led by left fielder Chiu Chih-cheng's (邱智呈) five, his career-best, and a two-run blast by rookie Lin Chia-wei (林佳緯), to score at least one run in all but three innings.
But the MVP of the game went to Uni-Lions' starting pitcher Logan Ondrusek. The right-hander served up six scoreless innings and struck out 10 while scattering six hits for the second win of his third CPBL season.
That dominance saw the 39-year-old's earned run average (ERA) improve to 3.18 after the game. His ERAs were 1.87 and 2.35, respectively, in his first and second years with the Uni-Lions.
With an 11-2 record, the Uni-Lions are the only franchise with a winning percentage above 50 percent, and are 4.5 games ahead of the 7-7 Wei Chuan Dragons and the 6-6 CTBC Brothers, who are tied in second place.
Meanwhile, the Monkeys suffered a three-game slump and now sit fifth in the six-team league. Now 5-8, the team has only one more win than the newly joined TSG Hawks.
During that losing streak, the Monkeys collected only 19 hits in 111 plate appearances to score one run.
Also on Wednesday, the Dragons trounced the Hawks 12-3 in Yunlin County, handing the latter their sixth consecutive loss, and the Fubon Guardians fended off the Brothers 10-4 at home in Xinzhuang, New Taipei.
The Guardians will host the Brothers again on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. for the only CPBL game that day.
- Chen Chun-hsiu, Brothers secure extra-inning win on walk-off homerChen Chun-hsiu (陳俊秀) made a powerful statement on his arrival at the CTBC Brothers Sunday by clobbering a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to lift the team to an 8-7 win over the Fubon Guardians.05/06/2024 09:41 PM
- Rakuten Monkeys' renovated stadium opener postponed due to rainTaiwan's professional baseball league has decided to postpone all three of the league's games scheduled for Friday due to rain, meaning the Rakuten Monkeys will have to wait another day to open their newly renovated home stadium.04/26/2024 05:57 PM
- Dominican pitcher receives CPBL lifetime ban after failing drug testTaiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Wednesday dished out a lifetime ban on Dominican pitcher Elniery Garcia after the import player failed a routine drugs test.04/17/2024 09:13 PM
- Business
MediaTek April sales down; firm ranks as No. 5 IC designer in 2023
05/11/2024 02:50 PM - Politics
U.S. lawmakers propose bill to fund support for Taiwan int'l space
05/11/2024 12:49 PM - Society
Taiwan headline news
05/11/2024 11:17 AM - Society
Nearly 70% of Taiwanese back same-sex marriage: Cabinet data
05/10/2024 10:54 PM - Culture
Taiwan documentary festival featuring nearly 140 works opens
05/10/2024 10:26 PM