2020 Taiwan Series G1: Uni-Lions 4 – Brothers 2

Oldie but a goodie, the Uni-Lions’ 39-year-old veteran Pan Wu-Hsiung delivered a clutch pinch-hit go-ahead home run in the extra innings to propel the Uni-Lions to a 4-2 victory in Game one of the 2020 Taiwan Series. The Uni-Lions now lead the Brothers 1-0 in a best-of-seven series.

  • Uni-Lions (1-0) at CTBC Brothers (0-1)
  • Saturday, October 31, 2020
  • Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
  • WP: Huang Chun-Yen (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
  • LP: Cheng Kai-Wen (0-1, 20.25 ERA)
  • S: Chen Yun-Wen (1)
  • MVP: Pan Wu-Hsiung (1-1, 3 RBI, R)
  • Home Runs: Pan Wu-Hsiung (1)
  • Box Score & Game Highlights
  • Attendance: 15,600 (78% seating capacity limits)
  • Game Time: 3:47

G1 Game Notes

  • Game 1 is officially in the books and my prediction is officially in the toilet (Brothers sweep)! Fans across the world were treated to an intense and entertaining opening to the 2020 CPBL Taiwan Series that featured a bit of everything.

  • Much to the chagrin of “experts” in all corners of social media, Jose de Paula and Teddy Stankiewicz did not start G1 as expected. Instead, Esmil Rogers and Brock Dykxhoorn were called upon and more than delivered. Rogers cruised to a cool 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, and 5 K line and outpitched his counterpart Dykxhoorn: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 6 K.
  • In their combined 14 half-innings, Rogers and Dykxhoorn retired the side eight times (Rogers 5, Dykxhoorn 3). Rogers at one point retired 13 in a row and really only broke a sweat in the top of the 6th when a leadoff single (2B Lin Ching-Kai), a walk (CF Chen Chieh-Hsien), a sac bunt (1B Wu Chieh-Jui), and an RBI-single (LF Su Chih-Chieh) on a drawn-in infield produced his lone run surrendered. A walk to lead off the top of the ninth ended Rogers’ brilliant 116-pitch performance. Kudos to the Brothers for starting him in G1 and taking advantage of his home-away splits (4-1, 1.74 ERA in 57 IP at home, 2-3, 5.37 ERA in 52 IP on the road).

  • The Lions coaching staff cannot be happier with Dyxhoorn’s start as well but it was the oftentimes shaky bullpen that held it together tonight and came up with four clutch innings to close out the game. Save for an HBP, Chiang Cheng-Feng, Cheng Chun-Jen, and Huang Chun-Yen pitched three spotless and scoreless relief innings without allowing anything. Nada. Zilch. 零 (ling). The Lions will take more of that please!
  • Lions closer Chen Yun-Wen did his darndest to make things interesting in the home half of the 10th. Charged with a three-run lead, a leadoff single followed by an HBP put the first two Brothers on base and brought the home crowd to its feet. Pinch-hitter Chen Chih-Hao would fly out before 3B Wang Wei-Chen, who reached base four times, would single to load the bases to bring up 2-hole hitter RF Pan Chih-Fang. It’s unfortunate that Chen Chih-Hao had PH two batters earlier because this would have been the perfect spot. It’s also unfortunate that 1B Hsu Chih-Hung had to be replaced by Su Wei-Da in the 6th because Su would have been a second candidate to do some damage here. Pan singled earlier in the third but had also struck out twice. More importantly, he did not look confident or comfortable at the plate in earlier at-bats. Pan promptly struck out for the third time.

  • Alas, none of this would be relevant if not for the heroics of 15-year veteran PAN WU-HSIUNG!!! 3-run, pinch-hit, game-winning home run in extra innings. On the road. Enough said. Except too bad Mookie Betts doesn’t play for the Brothers….

  • Interesting stat to consider: when the Lions win G1 of the Taiwan Series, they have gone on to win the Series 100% of the time (‘96, ‘00, ‘07, ‘09, ‘11, ‘13). When the Brothers lose G1, they have gone on to lose…also 100% of the time (‘09, ‘14, ‘15, ‘18, ‘19). Yikes! Oh, and winners of the first game in the Taiwan Series go on to pop champagne 85.2% of the time.

2020 Taiwan Series G2 Starting Pitchers

The two teams will meet for game two on November 1 at Taichung stadium. The Uni-Lions have named Tim Melville as their starting pitcher. The Brothers will send 2020 CPBL pitching triple crown winner José De Paula to the mound hoping to even the best-of-seven series.

Tim Melville posted a 3.57 ERA, 1.42 WHIP over 17.2 innings against the Brothers this season. He will need to watch out for the following players:

  • Hsu Chi-Hung (3-for-7 with 1 HR and .429 AVG)
  • Yueh Tung-Hua (2-for-5 with .400 AVG)
  • Chang Chih-Hao (2-for-5 with .400 AVG)

José De Paula on the other hands has been lights out against the Uni-Lions. He posted a strong 2.25 ERA, 1.03 WHIP over 60.1 innings against the Uni-Lions this year. He needs to lookout from the following players:

  • Wu Chieh-Jui (5 for 15 with 1 HR and .333 AVG)
  • Lin Ching-Kai (6 for 19 with 1 HR and .315 AVG)
  • Kao Kuo-Ching (4 for 13 and .308 AVG)
  • Chen Chung-Ting (6 for 20 and .300 AVG)

Highlights of 2020 Taiwan Series G1

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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