BASEBALL/Ace pitcher's early exit cast doubts over Uni-Lions' CPBL title hopes

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Losing Game 1 to the CTBC Brothers 10-4 in the Taiwan Series opener Saturday was a tough blow for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, but the potential loss of Gu Lin Ruei-yang (古林睿煬) for the game and the series may have been even worse.

In a rematch of the 2021 Taiwan Series, the fireballer was pulled at the beginning of the fourth inning due to back tightness, after tossing three scoreless innings before a sellout crowd in the 40,000-seat Taipei Dome.

Lin Yueh-ping (林岳平), Uni-Lions manager, said Gu Lin felt tightness early in the game, with signs appearing as early as the second inning when he walked Tseng Song-en (曾頌恩).

"He is [being checked] in the hospital now. We will re-evaluate his condition when he comes to the field tomorrow, but we have to extend the series first to give him a chance [to take the mound again]," Lin said after the game.

Now 24, Gu Lin led the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) with a 1.66 ERA over 21 starts. His 10 wins made him the only Taiwanese player among the 10 starting pitchers in the CPBL with double-digit wins.

Prior to Game 1, much attention had been paid to Gu Lin, who is widely expected to sign a contract after this season with an overseas franchise in the United States or Japan, including the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Gu Lin's early exit with the Uni-Lions leading 3-0 proved decisive, as the Brothers scored at least one run in the next three innings, including seven runs in the sixth inning that gave them an insurmountable lead.

In contrast, Brothers starting pitcher José de Paula rebounded from a disastrous first inning, in which he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk. The Dominican lefty shut out the Uni-Lions over the next six innings to be named the game's MVP.

"The first inning was a bit chaotic, but I didn't give up and always told myself to keep going," de Paula said via an interpreter.

It was the Brothers' fifth straight victory over the Uni-Lions in the Taiwan Series. The opening game win in the best-of-seven series also gave the team a 77.8 percent chance to capture this year's title, according to Blue Wei (魏楚育), an anchor for Taiwan's ELTA TV.

Having the next two games played in the Taipei Dome will also help the Brothers, if past performance holds true.

While the Brothers played the league's most games there with a league-leading .679 winning percentage, the Uni-Lions have played in the indoor baseball stadium only six times and recorded the league's lowest winning rate there.

In its five games against the Brothers at the dome, the Uni-Lions lost four times.

For Game 2 on Sunday, the Uni-Lions will start Mario Sanchez, who had a league-most 14 wins, to try to reverse the momentum, while Daniel Mengden will start for the Brothers.