2020 Taiwan Series G3: Brothers 5 – Uni-Lions 1

The CTBC Brothers bullpen managed to get a day off on Game Three of the Taiwan Series as Ariel Miranda pitched a complete game against the Uni-Lions. With the 5-1 victory, the Brothers are now leading 2-1 in the best-of-seven Taiwan Series.

  • Uni-Lions (1-2) at CTBC Brothers (2-1)
  • Tuesday, November 3, 2020
  • Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium
  • WP: No. 28 Ariel Miranda (1-0, 1.00 ERA)
  • LP: No. 40 Huang Chun-Yen (1-1, 20.25 ERA)
  • S: Didn’t need the bullpen!!!
  • MVP: Brothers SS No. 90 Chiang Kun-Yu (4-for-4, R, defensive highlights galore)
  • Home Runs: Hsu Chih-Hung (1)
  • Box Score & Game Highlights
  • Attendance: 7,126
  • Game time: 3:15

G3 Game Notes

  • What a dandy! Sure, Lions fans are disappointed but what more could you ask for than a well-played, entertaining, and emotionally riveting G3? Unbeaten-by-the-Brothers SP for the Lions Teddy Stankiewicz (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP in 17.2 IP) vs. CPBL-highest-paid-import (reportedly $600K) SP for the Brothers Ariel Miranda faced off and went toe-to-toe from the get-go. Think Ford vs. Ferrari. Ali vs. Frazier. Evert vs. Navratilova (that’s tennis, for my mother-in-law ?). The two pitchers literally traded big out after big out with Miranda ultimately outlasting Stankiewicz.
  • Dominance was spelled M-I-R-A-N-D-A tonight as the Cuban left-hander literally breezed his way to a complete-game victory by going all nine innings, surrendering just one run, three hits, and one walk while punching out nine at the expense of eight different Lions hitters. Miranda was dotting the corners and painting the black all night long with a nasty split and a low-90’s fastball that was mmm mmm tasty! The Lions somehow managed to plate a run, doing so on consecutive pitches. DH Lin An-Ko would lead off the bottom of the 2nd with a triple to left (the ball got past a diving LF Chan Tze-Hsien — a misplay in my opinion) and would come home to score on the very next pitch on a sac fly to center off the bat of 3B Kuo Fu-Lin. Otherwise, the Lions were retired in order in six of their nine innings with a streak of 13 in a row at one point. Miranda was worth every penny tonight.

  • Texas-native Teddy Stankiewicz (I can finally spell his name without looking it up) did a more than admirable job in his start with a final line of 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 4 K. Two of those strikeouts came in a bases-loaded pickle with one out in the top of the 7th with the score still tied 1-1. Stankiewicz punched out 3B Wang Wei-Chen (batting .500 coming into tonight’s game) and then let out a Lions roar as he got RF Chen Chih-Hao to chase a high slider.
  • You had the feeling from the beginning that this one would come down to the relief corps. The Brothers didn’t need it (closer CC Lee was warming in the pen) but the Lions most glaring weakness proved to be the difference in the game. RP Fu Yu-Kang followed Stankiewicz with a clean 8th but the wheels came off in the top of the 9th as G1 winner Huang Chun-Yen allowed a leadoff single to eventual game MVP SS Chiang Kun-Yu. Defensive replacement C Kao Yu-Chieh would sac bunt Chiang to second and one out later, Wang Wei-Chen got his chance at redemption, smashing a ground-rule double to right-center to put the Brothers ahead. After immediately plunking the next batter, Huang was replaced by Lions closer Chen Yun-Wen (save in G1) who promptly gave up a bat flip worthy 3-run bomb to 1B Hsu Chih-Hung. Game, set, match. The implications of the bullpen meltdown are huge for the rest of the series. Chen has given up runs in both appearances and his confidence is clearly shaken. I would not want to be in manager Lin Yueh-Ping’s shoes when he makes those pitching changes….

  • Chen Chieh-Hsien, Lions leadoff man and CPBL leader in batting average and hits, finally collected his first hits of the series, going 2-for-4. The Lions are going to need him. And LF Su Chih-Chieh (1-for-11, 2 K, 1 R) needs to stop sleeping in the jungle. The Lions are going to need him too.
  • The defense played by both teams this game could fill up their own top 10 list. Double plays, diving catches in the outfield, and picks at first. No star shined brighter defensively than 20-year old SS for the Brothers Chiang Kun-Yu, who became the youngest game MVP winner in Taiwan Series history at 20 years and 122 days. Oh, and we went 4-for-4 (three singles and a double) with a run scored. The dude is a wizard at short.

2020 Taiwan Series G4 Starting Pitchers

Game 4 starters: Brothers Huang En-Sih vs. Lions Chiang Chen-Yen (uh-oh…) Game time is 6:35 pm Taiwan time.

Huang En-Sih posted a 5.05 ERA and 1.43 WHIP over 35.2 innings against the Uni-Lions this year. Chiang Chen-Yen on the other hand struggled against the Brothers with a disappointing 8.36 ERA and 1.82 WHIP across 28 innings.

Highlights of 2020 Taiwan Series G2

About the Author

Clive used to operate the CPBL English website and has done work with the CTBA and the Dodgers as an interpreter. In 2020, he became one of the English commentators for Eleven Sports Taiwan. You can find Clive on Twitter @hsumongous.

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