Taipei, April 2 (CNA) The Rakuten Monkeys clinched the 2023 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season opener 4-1 against defending champions CTBC Brothers in Taichung on Saturday, after Liao Chien-fu (廖健富) pinch-hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning.
Brandon Waddell, who started on the mound and pitched six innings for the Taoyuan-based Monkeys, also drew attention, as he collected a win in his CPBL debut.
The 28-year-old American lefty yielded only one run and two walks, while striking out six, before he retired from the mound and watched Liao send the ball deep into the right field in the following frame.
"Our teammates hit the ball well against (José) de Paula actually. It's just that the result wasn't good. So I hoped I could hype us up when I played," Liao said, adding that the coaches had told him to prepare for a potential pinch-hit chance one frame earlier.
In addition to Liao's clutch blast, the Monkeys also got a boost from a solo shot by Lin Li (林立) in the eighth, scoring their fourth and last run of the game.
The Monkeys batters had difficulty putting their team on the board in the first six innings, despite their scattered six hits off de Paula, partly because of an error by center fielder Chen Chen-wei (陳晨威) while running the bases.
Chen attempted to steal second base in the top of the third, when the Monkeys had one out, and he took advantage of a wild throw by Brothers catcher Francisco Peña to reach third base.
However, Chen did not actually touch the second base, and he was out after de Paula threw the ball to second baseman Yueh Tung-hua (岳東華).
Cheng Chin (成晉), who came to the plate next, hit a single soon after.
"That's very embarrassing. This is the first time that I did not touch base," said Chen, who led the stolen bases in the CPBL's last season with 38.
During Saturday's game, which the Monkeys won the Brothers 4-1, they also saw their 18-year-old prospect catcher Sung Jia-xiang (宋嘉翔) shine, with one hit in his four at-bats.
Monkeys manager Tseng Hao-chu (曾豪駒) said Sung's performance had earned him a starting position in Sunday's home game against the Fubon Guardians.
The game in Taichung was played to a packed crowd of over 18,000, which was a season opener record for the Brothers' franchise.
Following Saturday's loss, the Brothers will host the Wei Chuan Dragons on Sunday, with the latter's veteran slugger Ngayaw Ake (Lin Chih-sheng, 林智勝) expected to be seeking his 300th career home run for a new CPBL record.
