BASEBALL/Former Yankees pitcher leads Brothers to 4th consecutive win

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Former New York Yankees pitcher José De Paula took the CTBC Brothers to a fourth consecutive win on Saturday inside the Taipei Dome.

At the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) game, attended by 20,193 fans, the Dominican starter pitched eight out of nine innings, losing only one run, to lead the Brothers to a 2-1 win against the TSG Hawks.

Both of the Brothers' runs were scored on the top of the second inning after batters Sung Cheng-jui (宋晟睿), Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) and Kao Yu-chieh (高宇杰) made successful hits one after another.

Although the Hawks took a run in the bottom of the sixth following good hits from Chen Wen-jie (陳文杰) and Tseng Tzu-yu (曾子祐), De Paula was able to continue his momentum and keep the opposing team at bay until he was relieved in the bottom of the eighth.

During eight innings, the former Major League Baseball member threw a total of 104 pitches, giving away just five good hits and only one walk, while delivering four strikeouts to earn him the honor of being named MVP of the game.

While De Paula took the Brothers to the team's fourth consecutive win, the Hawks took its third consecutive loss.

The Brothers' manager Keiichi Hirano praised De Paula's performance after the game, saying that the former Yankee was integral to the team's fourth straight win.

Hirano specifically pointed out De Paula's play in the bottom of the eighth where he neutralized the sacrifice bunt of the Hawks' Huang Chieh-hsi (黃劼希) by passing the ball immediately to second base to prevent the opposing team from occupying the base.

De Paula himself said that he was in good spirits, and that on top of being happy that he pitched in accordance to the Brothers' strategies, he was most exhilarated by his own performance after delivering his last strikeout against the Hawks' Chen in the bottom of the eighth.

The Brothers' manager also addressed the Hawks' strategy to send four lefties against the Brothers' batting lineup, saying that his team was not afraid of left-handed pitchers.