TAIWAN – Wei-Lun Pan tossed six strong innings and Wu-Hsiung Pan knocked in three runs to lead the Uni-President Lions to a 5-1 victory over the Brother Elephants Saturday in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season opening matchup.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou attended the opening day festivities and tossed the ceremonial first pitch.

In a rematch of last year’s Taiwan Series, the Lions ace treated the capacity crowd of 10,000 at Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu to a dazzling outing. Wei-Lun Pan (1-0), who has won at least 10 games in each of his first six seasons in the league, allowed a run on two hits in six innings with seven strikeouts to begin the new season on a winning note.

Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min put the Elephants ahead briefly in the second with a solo home run – the 6,000th long ball in CPBL history. However, the two-time reigning league champion pulled even in the third as both batting lineups struggled to muster any offensive momentum.

CPBL STANDINGS

The score remained knotted until the fifth when Wu-Hsiung Pan drilled a three-run shot off Brother starter’ Kobayshi Ryokan. The rightfielder also connected for a double in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate to begin the new season.

The Lions, who prevailed over the Elephants in a thrilling seven-game affair to win the CPBL title a year ago, added a final run in the eighth to clinch the season opening victory.

Second baseman Sen Yang paced the Lions 12-hit attack with three hits, while leadoff man Sung-Hsien Yang and designated hitter Lien-Hung Chen each tallied two hits apiece.

Former major leaguer Rico Washington went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI in his
debut in Taiwan’s professional league.

Ryokan (0-1) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs and nine hits in six innings.

Source: Taiwan Baseball

Tags: Taiwan