BASEBALL / Guardians erupt for 13 runs in 1st inning to rout Brothers

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) CTBC Brothers starter Cheng Hao-chun (鄭浩均) endured another early meltdown Wednesday, exiting after recording just one out in a 17-2 home loss to the Fubon Guardians that echoed his rough outing against Japan at the 2026 World Baseball Classic in March.

At Tokyo Dome on March 6, the right-hander allowed eight runs in 1 2/3 innings against Samurai Japan, with all the damage coming in the second inning. On Wednesday, he lasted only one-third of an inning after giving up nine runs at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.

The Brothers surrendered 13 runs in the opening inning, setting a franchise record for most runs allowed in a frame and marking the fourth time in Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) history that a team has given up at least 13 runs in an inning.

The CPBL record is 14 runs allowed in one inning, set by the Jungo Bears against the Wei Chuan Dragons on March 28, 1994.

Cheng opened the game by allowing four consecutive singles and one run before striking out Dai Pei-feng (戴培峰) for the first out. With the bases still loaded, however, Cheng failed to retire any of the next five batters he faced, issuing three walks and allowing two more singles as the Guardians built a 7-0 lead.

The offensive outburst continued after the Brothers replaced Cheng with Yu Chien (余謙), who gave up another walk and four straight hits, including a triple by Wang Nian-hao (王念好), before finally recording the third out of the inning.

The Brothers answered with two runs in the bottom of the first but failed to score again for the rest of the night.

After the game, Wang, who went 3-for-4 with a walk, said the Guardians fed off the team's early offensive rhythm and tried not to overthink their at-bats.

"Seeing everyone keep getting hits, I just thought the team was really locked in tonight," Wang said. "Once I got up there, I didn't want to think too much. If I saw a pitch I liked, I just swung."

Cheng, the 2023 CPBL Rookie of the Year, took his second loss of the season after allowing nine earned runs. His ERA rose to 6.17.

The defeat was the Brothers' third straight and left them last in the six-team league at 9-21-1, the only CPBL club still below 10 wins after 31 games. They trailed the fifth-place Rakuten Monkeys by five games.

Meanwhile, the Guardians extended their winning streak to three games and improved to 16-13, trailing the first-place Wei Chuan Dragons by one game and the second-place Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions by half a game.