BASEBALL/Gant's eight scoreless innings lift Dragons to win in Taiwan Series opener

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) John Gant pitched eight scoreless innings to lead the Wei Chuan Dragons to a 3-0 win over the CTBC Brothers in Game 1 of the Chinese Professional Baseball League's Taiwan Series at Taipei Dome on Saturday.

The American right-hander allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out six on 100 pitches, earning Game 1 MVP honors and giving the Dragons a 1-0 lead in the championship series.

Gant held the Brothers scoreless through four innings before his teammates gave him run support, then protected Wei Chuan's lead through the eighth.

The outing continued the success he had against CTBC in the regular season. He went 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in six starts against the Brothers, and the Dragons won all six games.

Across those outings, Gant struck out 32 and allowed 25 hits and nine earned runs over 37 innings. Five were quality starts, meaning he pitched at least six innings and allowed no more than three earned runs.

He went 9-2 in the regular season and led the league with a 1.49 ERA and 136 strikeouts.

Saturday's game pitted him against Mario Sanchez, whose 125 regular-season strikeouts ranked second in the league. Sanchez had started the Brothers' playoff opener against the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, earning the win after allowing one run over seven innings.

Against Wei Chuan, Sanchez kept the game scoreless through four innings before the Dragons broke through with two runs in the fifth and added another in the sixth.

He went seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, with three strikeouts and no walks.

The loss put the Brothers in an unfavorable position: they have finished as runners-up in all seven previous Taiwan Series in which they lost the opener.

Those series came in 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 and, most recently, 2025, when they lost to the Rakuten Monkeys in five games.

This is the first Taiwan Series between the Dragons and the Brothers, and the first scheduled to be played entirely at a single venue, Taipei Dome.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for 5:05 p.m. Sunday at Taipei Dome.