2024 Taiwan Series G5: Brothers 4 – Uni-Lions 1
On October 25, the CTBC Brothers defeated the Uni-Lions 4-1 in Game 5 of the 2024 Taiwan Series, capturing the championship before a sold-out crowd of 20,000. This victory marks the Brothers’ 10th title in franchise history.
It is worth noting that seven of these Taiwan Series Championships were won under the Brother Elephants banner (1992, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010), while the CTBC Brothers have claimed three championships since the rebranding (2021, 2022, 2024). CTBC Financial purchased the Brother Elephants at the end of the 2013 CPBL season, renaming the team as the CTBC Brothers.
CTBC BROTHERS ARE YOUR 2024 TAIWAN SERIES CHAMPIONS! 🥳🏆
This is the Brothers’ 10th championship in their franchise history (1992, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2021, 2022, 2024).
24-year-old outfielder 曾頌恩 (Tseng Song-En) has been named the MVP of 2024 Taiwan Series. pic.twitter.com/Z8tVW3soYG
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) October 26, 2024
Game 5 Recap
Facing elimination, the Uni-Lions quickly took the lead in the first inning. Lin Chia-Wei set the tone with a leadoff double to the warning track, followed by veteran Chen Yung-Chi’s RBI single to put the Uni-Lions ahead 1-0.
The Brothers responded in the bottom of the first inning to reclaim the lead. Chen Chun-Hsiu jump-started the two-out offence with a double to deep centre, followed by Chen Tzu-Hao reaching base after being plunked by a fastball. With runners on first and second, the Brothers’ captain Wang Wei-Chen levelled the score at 1-1 with a line-drive single to centre. Tseng Song-En, one of the most dangerous hitters in this Taiwan Series, drove in the go-ahead run with a single to right, making it 2-1.
2024 #CPBL Taiwan Series G5
CTBC Brothers’ 陳俊秀 (Chen Chun-Hsiu) sparked a 2-out rally with a double and scored the tying run on an RBI single from 王威晨 (Wang Wei-Chen). 曾頌恩 (Tseng Song-En) then followed with a go-ahead single, putting the Brothers up 2-1. pic.twitter.com/ihY6iwu5o2
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) October 26, 2024
After experiencing the first-inning jitters, both starting pitchers, José De Paula for the Brothers and Mario Sanchez for the Uni-Lions, settled into a rhythm, shutting down opposing batters through the next few innings.
José De Paula did run into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning, allowing three hits. However, Brothers’ catcher Kao Yu-Chieh kept the inning under control by gunning down two Uni-Lions’ runners attempting to steal second base, helping José De Paula escape unscathed. José De Paula finished the night strong, tossing seven innings with just one run allowed on six hits and recording three strikeouts.
The Brothers reignited their offence in the bottom of the sixth. Tseng Song-En smacked a deep double to the warning track, then raced home on Chiang Kun-Yu’s RBI single to shallow left, extending the lead to 3-1 and driving Uni-Lions’ starter Mario Sanchez out of the game. Mario Sanchez completed his outing with 5.1 innings pitched, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out five.
2024 #CPBL Taiwan Series G5
CAN’T STOP THE CHARGING BIG BOI! CTBC Brothers’ 曾頌恩 (Tseng Song-En) ripped a deep double to the warning track, then showed off his speed, racing home on Chiang Kun-Yu’s single to shallow left for the insurance run. pic.twitter.com/pcXKdGT04q
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) October 26, 2024
In the eighth inning, the Brothers turned to closer Wu Chun-Wei, who had already appeared in Games 1 and 4. Wu efficiently closed out the game with two scoreless innings on only 17 pitches, securing the Brothers’ 4-1 victory in Game 5 and the 2024 Taiwan Series Championship.
As the Brothers’ outfielder Yueh Cheng-Hua chased down a deep fly ball and made an impressive running catch near the wall to secure the final out, the stadium erupted in celebration. Tens of thousands of yellow streamers filled the sky in true Taiwan Series fashion, celebrating the Brothers’ championship win.
CTBC Brothers’ Tseng Song-En was named MVP of the 2024 Taiwan Series. The 24-year-old outfielder posted an insane video game-like slash line of .524/.545/.857 over five games and 22 plate appearances.
After the game, Brothers’ team owner Jeffrey Koo Jr. announced an additional bonus of 1.34 million USD for the team in honour of winning the Taiwan Series.
今日自由時報 pic.twitter.com/XS7LpN0ojm
— Claire _¢ (@claire_chw) October 26, 2024
💛🐘明天不用進場啦⚾️🏆#總冠軍#進擊 #進取勝利 #進擊取勝#TaiwanSeries #台湾シリーズ@CTBC_Brothers #CPBL #台湾プロ野球 pic.twitter.com/LnANjH5PN8
— Huang Rong (@h_rong) October 25, 2024
G5! pic.twitter.com/Lq0CKTSvra
— H.Y. Lee (@HsienYuLee1) October 25, 2024
Did the Hawks give Watkins a full year contract? It’s unusual for a CPBL team to sign a new foreign pitcher this early in the off season.
I’m guessing it is probably half-season deal or until the August 31 trade deadline. Bob Nightengale probably just assumed its a full-year deal because that is tend to be the standard in other countries. Hawks GM has always been pretty fast, as in early, when signing their foreign players. I like their strategy, getting it done early before everyone else.
The Hawks GM also revealed they have re-signed both Yoshida Kazumasa and Kento Onodera for 2025 already. They are in talks with Nick Margevicius and Steven Moya right now.