BASEBALL/Guardians shut out Brothers to snap 13-game road losing streak

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) The Fubon Guardians finally snapped their nearly seven-month road win drought by shutting out the CTBC Brothers 1-0 at Taipei Dome on Sunday.

The 1-0 nail-biter ended the Guardians' embarrassing slump outside Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium that had stretched over 200 days.

Their 10 straight losses in the ongoing 2025 season tied the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) record, first set by the Guardians themselves in 2017.

Their last win on the road dated back to Sept. 28, when the Guardians defeated the Wei Chuan Dragons 7-3 at Tienmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei.

The game also halted the Guardians' five-game losing streak.

Guardians manager Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) attributed the victory to a collective team effort, while noting that there is still much room for improvement.

"It's probably because we were on a losing streak -- our hitters wanted to step up even more with runners in scoring position, but that made their approach stiffer," he said.

Chen downplayed the relief of finally securing a road win, saying, "We still have to prepare for the games every day. Everything depends on the result."

The sole run of the game came after 16 scoreless frames, as the Guardians went hitless in their first four at-bats with runners in scoring position, while the Brothers remained hitless until the seventh inning due to the dominance of Guardians starting pitcher Huang Pao-lo (黃保羅).

Huang, the Guardians' third overall pick in the 2022 first round, who had just turned 21 on Wednesday, struck out a career-high eight batters during a 7 2/3-inning outing, issuing three walks on 97 pitches. His strong performance outshone Brothers starter Lu Meng-yang (盧孟揚), who also didn't allow a run across six innings.

Huang flirted with a no-hitter until the bottom of the seventh, when Hsu Chi-hung (許基宏) led off with a double. Huang then retired two batters on groundouts before walking Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) -- the last batter he faced.

"I actually realized I hadn't given up a hit midway through the game, but I didn't think too much about it because I knew I'd eventually get hit," said the right-handed fireballer when asked about his mindset during the near no-hit bid.

Recalling that his last no-hitter came in junior high, Huang expressed hope for another shot if given the chance.

Huang, who suspected Hsu may have been targeting his splitter, credited his dominance to efficient pitching and precise pitch location.

Commenting on Huang's performance, Chen said it was a shame the team did not offer more run support, but praised the young pitcher for showing growing stability and the ability to escape jams.

Compared with his 2024 season, when he posted a 4.20 ERA over 64.1 innings in 16 games (including 11 starts), Huang has allowed just two runs over 16 2/3 innings in three starts this season, for a 1.08 ERA with 17 strikeouts and no home runs allowed.

Despite the win, the Guardians remained at the bottom of the six-team CPBL with a 5-11 record, one game behind the Rakuten Monkeys. The Brothers stayed on top at 11-6, half a game ahead of the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions.

No games were scheduled on Monday.