Brothers Take G2 of Taiwan Series With Strong Pitching

By
Rob
-

2020 Taiwan Series G2: Brothers 9 – Uni-Lions 1

Brothers don’t shake hands, brothers gotta hug! The Yueh brothers, aka the “CTBC Smash Brothers”, each belted a home run to cement a 9-1 victory over the Uni-Lions in Game two of the 2020 Taiwan Series. Both teams are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven series.

  • Uni Lions (1-1) at CTBC Brothers (1-1)
  • Sunday, November 1, 2020
  • Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
  • WP: No. 46 José de Paula (1-0, 1.12 ERA)
  • LP: No. 54 Tim Melville (0-1, 7.50 ERA)
  • MVP: Brothers SP No. 46 José de Paula (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K)
  • Home Runs: Yueh Tung-Hua (1), Yueh Cheng-Hua (1), Yueh… I mean Su Wei-Da (1)
  • Box Score & Game Highlights
  • Attendance: 15,600 (78% seating capacity limits)
  • Game Time: 2:59

G2 Game Notes

  • Baseball in November rolled in a “chilly” 72° F game-time temperature but that had no ill effect on Brothers starting pitcher José de Paula. The man was on fire! He gave up four hits, all of which came in the first three innings. He then mechanically mowed down hitter after hitter, 16 of them in a row, in fact, ending his dominant outing with five consecutive strikeouts. In his last inning, Lions hitters looked like little leaguers as they waved feebly at his 150 kmh (94 mph) straight up GAS. G1 starter Esmil Rogers more than held his own but this is why you start de Paula in the first game, not the second.

  • The Lions managed to string together three consecutive hits (single, single, double) in the top of the second by 4-5-6 hitters Lin An-Ko, Kao Kuo-Ching, and Chen Yung-Chi, squeaking out their lone run of the game. More damage was on tap but a big base-running gaffe by Kao (rundown between third and home) on an Su Chih-Chieh groundball to first resulted in a huge double play for the Brothers. It went from runners on second and third with no out to a runner on third with two outs. In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter but at the time, it was a very costly mistake by a veteran that should do better.
  • In the bottom of the second, the Brothers (literally) came to life. They batted around as they scored five runs, highlighted by brothers Yueh Tung-Hua (older) and Yueh Cheng-Hua (youngest player to hit a HR in Taiwan Series at 19 years, 277 days old), taking turns hitting 2-run dingers. Those are some extra proud parents tonight. ✌Yueh-Yueh ✌!

  • All of Lions starter Tim Melville’s five earned runs were surrendered in the second inning but he recovered nicely, still giving the Lions six strong innings. It was an ominous start for the former big leaguer, as seven of the first nine Brothers hitters reached base (three doubles, a single, a walk, and of course, the two bombs). After that, Melville would go on his own little streak of nine batters retired in a row, ending his evening with a double-play and strikeout. His final line: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.

  • The Lions offense was quiet in G2. Lin An-Ko went 2-for-4 for the second straight game but other than that, crickets…and 11 K’s as a team.
  • The Brothers offense punched out 13 times in G1 but that was quickly rectified tonight as only three hitters whiffed. Benching Lin Shu-Yi and Pan Chih-Fang helps a lot (six of the 13 strikeouts in G1), a move that I expect will continue in the series. With another rightie starting G3 for the Lions (Teddy Stankiewicz), I anticipate the same lineup as tonight. Every starter minus Chen Chih-Hao notched a base hit.
  • The Lions all but waved the white flag in the bottom of the eighth when they brought in reliever Pan Wei-Lun. The man is a CPBL legend (most wins all-time) but as I mentioned in my preview, it would be better to keep his role as mentor in the bullpen. Pan and his 135 kph (84 mph) fastball were taken out to pasture. He needed 35 pitches to get through the inning as he gave up three hits, a walk, and four earned runs. The big dagger came off the bat of pinch hitter Su Wei-Da who launched a 3-run tater to put the game away. Su does that a lot (a CPBL record seven career pinch-hit homers).
  • Despite an 8-run lead, Brothers closer C.C Lee came in to shut the door in the ninth. As is customary, fans time his inning of work because of how quickly he disposes of opponents. He sent the Lions home in 7 minutes and 11 seconds. The Uni-President Lions own all 5,222 7-Eleven’s in Taiwan (the highest ratio of 7-Eleven’s per capita in the world).

2020 Taiwan Series G3 Starting Pitchers

Game 3 starters: Brothers Ariel Miranda vs. Uni-Lions Teddy Stankiewicz. Game time is 6:35 pm on Tuesday, November 3 (5:35 am EST) in Tainan. I guess fans in the US can sleep in a little!

Ariel Miranda posted a solid 3.05 ERA, 1.34 WHIP over 56 innings of work against the Uni-Lions this season. The hard-throwing Cuban lefty will have to watch out for the following players:

  • Cheng Chung-Ting (3-for-5 with .600 AVG)
  • Wu Chieh-Jui (7-for-13 with .538 AVG)
  • Kao Kuo-Ching (6-for-17 with . 353 AVG)

Although with a small sample size against the Brothers, the Uni-Lions’ Teddy Stankiewicz absolutely dominated the Brothers this season. Over three games, he posted a 0.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP across 17.2 innings. Stankiewicz will need to be careful when facing the following players:

  • Hsu Chi-Hung (5-for-8 with .625 AVG)
  • Yueh Tung-Hua (1-for-2 with .500 AVG)
  • Wang Wei-Chen (3-for-8 with .375 AVG)

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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