Enter the Tigers....

CT TANG

Since 1999, 13 Major League organizations (Blue Jays, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, Indians, Mariners, Phillies, Reds, Red Sox, Rockies, Twins, White Sox, and Yankees) have signed and developed Taiwanese prospects in their farm systems. The 14th ML team to join that list is the Detroit Tigers.



The first Taiwanese signing by a ML club for 2008 is OF Chao-Ting Tang. Tang, who has been profiled before, is a former HS teammate (San-Min HS) of Red Sox farmhands Chih-Hsien Chiang and Chih-Hsiang Huang. The 20 year old (DOB: 10/12/1987), who was on the 2005 junior NT, reportedly received a signing bonus in the area of ~ $40K to $60K with some incentives involved from the Tigers. *Updated*

Interpreter Wanted in So Cal......

A MLB team is seeking a part-time interpreter for a player in Southern California. If you have any interest, please contact me.

Wed. Scores...

CPBL:
Bears 22 - Whales 2: Yea, you read that right. The Bears scored a ridiculous 22 runs on 26 hits including 3 bombs to demolish the Whales and break their 5-game losing skid. While everyone in the Bears starting lineup collected a hit, I'll just highlight a select few: CF Long-Yi Huang was 3-6 with HR # 4 and 3 RBI's/ DH Gary Burnham had a huge night - he was 4-7 with 2 doubles, a HR (#5) and 6 RBI's!/ LF CFC was 2-3 with HR #4, a double, 2 walks, and a RBI/ IF Chin-De Yu was 5-6 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 1B Chung-Wei Pan was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI's/ C Chia-Hao Liu was 3-5 with a double and a RBI/ reserve OF Chen-Yu Chung was 2-3 with a triple and 2 RBI's.
Despite the team's offensive fireworks, Bears SP Wen-Hsiung Hsu earned game MVP honors. Hsu improved his record to 2-1 after allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits in 6 IP (5K's, 1BB).
Rookie Min-Ching Kao got shelled in his 1.2 innings of work - giving up 5 runs on 6 hits (he falls to 2-3 on the year). One of the few bright spots for the Whales offensively was 3B Carlos Villalobos - he was 2-4 with a RBI.

Bulls 5 - Elephants 0: Bulls SP Wen-Ping Yu combined with reliever Ming-Chin Tsai on a CG 2-hit shutout. Yu, the game MVP allowed only 2 hits in his 8 innings of work (3K's, 1BB). Bulls LF Hsien-Ming Yu was the main catalyst on offense for his squad as he was 3-5 with 3 RBI's. Collecting the team's other RBI was Tarzan (1-1 with a RBI), coming off the bench in a DH role. Good to see Tarzan back.
There's not much to write about the Elephants, but starter Dan Core earned a ND despite pitching well. DC threw 5.2 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits to go along with 5 K's and 1 BB.


MLB:
The Dodgers beat the Marlins 13-1. CL Hu was 0-2 at the plate while HC Kuo threw 2 scorless innings in relief of starter Chad Billingsley. Kuo allowed 2 hits and K'd 4 while walking 1. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville won 6-2. CH Lin was 2-5 with 2 RBI's and ran buck-wild on the Rome Braves. CH Lin had 3 SB's in the game! Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 7-6 in the 8th. YC Chen is currently 2-3 with a double and a walk. Box

Chih-Chia Chang Joins the Bears....

It's official; pitcher Chih-Chia Chang is a La new Bear. He'll be a key addition to the starting rotation for the slumping Bears. He's expected to join the rotation sometime in the next 2 weeks.


NPB:
CS Yang hit his 1st career NPB HR against the Marines. Prior to hitting his HR, Yang was mired in a 0-17 slump. He was 1-4 on the night with a RBI as his team won 3-2. Box

Speaking of the NPB, Deanna over at her site as a nigun recap of Si-Yo Wu's game yesterday. Wu threw 5 shutout innings, giving up 2 hits and K'ing 7. There's also a pic of Wu.

4/29 Scores..

CPBL:
Whales 7 - Bears 1: The Bears lost their 5th straight game, falling to Steve Watkins and the Whales. SW improved his record to 3-2 after allowing only 1 run on 5 hits in 7 IP (5K's, 1BB). Losing for the Bears was SP Andrew Lorraine, who fell to 2-3. AL gave up 3 runs on 6 hits in 6 IP (4K's, 2BB's).
Game MVP honors went to Whales OF Tai-Yong Kuo who hit 2 HR's and was 3-4 with 3 RBI's. Other Whales of note in the lineup: 3B Chun-Chiang Kao was 1-3 with a RBI/ C Yi-Wei Lee was 2-3 with a double and a RBI/ DH Hsin-Min Wang was 2-4 with a double.
For the Bears: DH Gary Burnham drove in the lone run, he was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ LF CFC was 0-3.

Lions 10 - T-Rex 6: Lions starter Lou Pote is now 4-0 on the season. LP allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in 6 IP (4K's, 1BB). Game MVP honors went to teammate OF Wu-Hsiung Pan who was 3-5 with a double and a RBI. Other Lions on the prowl: CF Sung-Hsien Yang was 2-3/ RF Fu-Hao Liu was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 1B KC Kao was 1-2 with 2 walks and a RBI/ 3B Tilson Brito was 2-4 with 3 RBI's/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 2-5 with a RBI/ 2B Sen Yang was 1-4 with a RBI/ reserve 1B Ching-Ho Chuang was 1-1 with a RBI.
Offensively for the T-Rex: SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 2-5 with a RBI/ CF Yuan-Chia Chen was 1-4 with a triple and a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-4 with a RBI/ 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 2-3 with a RBI/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 1-2 with 2 walks and a RBI/ reserve RF-1B Wei Kao was 2-3 with a triple and a RBI.


MILB:
A - Peoria lost 3-2. HW Chen started and earned a ND - he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 IP. Box

A - Asheville won 16-1. SA Kuo evened his record to 2-2, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits in 7.2 IP. Box

A - Greenville won 8-4. CH Lin was 2-5 with his 8th SB of the season. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 5-3 in the 8th. CH Chiang is currently 0-4. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 7-5 in the 8th. KH Lo is currently 2-4 with a RBI, but was CS. Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 7-3 in the 9th. YC Chen is currently 2-3 with a walk and 2 SB's (#'s 4 and 5 on the year). Box
*Updated

Monday Minors...

MILB:
A - Greenville lost 9-8 in 10. CH Lin was 1-6 with his 7th SB of the season and 2nd OF assist. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 9-2 in the 8th. KH Lo was 0-2. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 5-3 in the 7th. CH Chiang is currently 0-3 while committing his 8th error of the season. Box

AAA - Omaha lost 7-5. CH Tsao pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 11-4 in the 7th. YC Chen is currently 1-2 with 2 walks. Box



Other:
More on the upcoming World Junior Baseball Championships coming up in July/August. This year the tourney will be held in Edmonton, Canada.
Taiwan is grouped with Cuba, Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy, and the Czech. Republic.

Taichung, Taiwan will host the 13th World Youth Baseball Championships - although the dates haven't been specified.

Five and Counting....

MLB:
CMW got the proverbial monkey off his back with a dominating performance against the Indians. Wang threw 7 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits while K'ing a season-high 9 (he also walked 2). He then handed the ball off to Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera who helped to preserve the 1-0 win for the Yankees. Recap/Box



CL Hu is starting at 2B for the Dodgers today against the Rockies. He is currently 0-1 in the 3rd. HC Kuo will be pitching out of the bullpen for now.



CPBL:
Whales 4 - Bulls 3: Whales SP Yu-Chieh Shen picked up game MVP honors after winning his second game of the season (2-2 overall). Shen allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in 8 IP (5K's, 3BB's).
Supporting Shen's strong start were: 2B Yi-Min Wang who was 3-4 with a RBI/ C Yi-Wei Lee who was 1-3 with a double and a RBI/ DH Chun-Hsiung Lu was 1-3 with a RBI/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 1-4 with a RBI.
Offensivley for the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang was 0-3/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Chao-Hsing Cheng was 0-2 with 2 RBI's.

T-Rex 6 - Bears 4: With the win the T-Rex now find themselves tied with the Bulls for last place in the current CPBL standings:
1)Lions 17-7
2)Bears 14-9-1 2.5 GB
3)Whales 11-13 6 GB
4)Elephants 10-13-1 6.5 GB
5)T-Rex 9-14-1 7.5 GB
6)Bulls 9-14-1 7.5 GB
Reliever Chun-Nan Lai picked up his 5th win of the year (5-2) after throwing 2 scoreless/hitless innings (2K's, 1BB). Earning a ND for the T-Rex was starter Cory Bailey (5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 K's, 0 BB's). Also earning a ND for the Bears was starter Mike Johnson (7.1 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 10 H, 5 K's, 0 BB's).
Offensively for the T-Rex: SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 2-5 with 2 doubles and a RBI/ CF Yuan-Chia Chen was 1-5 with a RBI (and selected game MVP)/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-5 with a RBI/ RF Chia-Hui Wu was 2-5 with a double and a RBI/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ LF Chih-Peng Chen was 1-3 with a RBI.
For the Bears: RF Chien-Wei Tsai was 2-4 with a RBI/ DH CFC was 3-4/ C Feng-Min Chen was 2-4 with a RBI/ SS Chin-De Yu was 1-3 with a RBI.


NPB:
The Fighters lost 5-0 to the Eagles. CS Yang was 0-3. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville won 10-4. CH Lin was 1-5 with a double, a walk and a RBI. Box

A+ - High Desert lost 5-2. KH Lo was 1-4. Box

AA - Akron won 4-2. SW Tseng threw 2/3 of a scoreless inning. Box

AA - Tulsa is losing 3-1 in the 8th. CL Lo is in line to take the loss. He allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits over 6 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma and Tuscon are scoreless in the 7th. YC Chen is currently 0-1 with a walk. Box
*Updated

Saturday Scores....

CPBL:
Whales 6 - Bulls 3: Whales lefty Fu-Te Ni improved his record to 2-3 after a nice outing against the Bulls. Ni allowed 2 runs on 6 hits over 5.1 IP (5K's, 3BB's). His opposing mound mate Chien-Fu Yang didn't fare as well, allowing 6 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits in 2.2 IP. Yang's record falls to 1-3 on the year.
Game MVP honors went to Whales 1B Chia-Hsien Tseng who was 2-2 with a double and 3 RBI's. Here's how Tseng's teammates fared: 2B Yi-Min Wang was 1-3 with a RBI/ C Yi-Wei Lee was 2-4/ RF Abraham Nunez was 1-5/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 0-5.
Offensively for the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang was 1-5/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 3-5/ 2B Chao-Hsing Cheng was 2-5/ RF Chien-Jung Su was 0-2 with a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 1-4 with a RBI.

Lions 9 - Elephants 3: The Lions gained a half game on the idle Bears as Tilson Brito continued his power surge. TB earned game MVP honors after he launched his 5th HR of the year and was 2-3 with a double and 4 RBI's. Lions starter Yueh-Ping Lin earned his 2nd win of the year (2-0) after allowing 1 run on 3 hits over 5 IP (3K's, 5BB's).
Other Lions of note: CF Sung-Hsien Yang was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Fu-Hao Liu was 2-4 with a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 1-4/ 2B Sen Yang was 1-3/ DH Tai-Chi Kuo was 1-4 with a RBI/ IF Tzu-Sung Wang was 1-2 with a RBI.
Losing for the first time this year was Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao (4-1). He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits in 5 IP (4K's, 4BB's).
For the Elephants: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 2-3 with a double/ DH CYC was 1-5/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Huai-Shan Chen was 0-3 with a RBI/ reserve 1B Ming-Hsien Lin was 0-1 with a RBI.

Other CPBL News:
CFC set a CPBL record as the fastest man to reach 50 HR's, doing it in 193 games and 821 plate appearances.

Former Seibu Lion and NT star Chih-Chia Chang is expected to finalize a one year deal with the La new Bears next week. Reports state that Chang will make roughly ~ 200,000 NT/month. Conversion


MILB:
A - Greenville is losing 7-2 in the 9th. CH Lin is currently 2-5. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 6-3 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 1-1 with a walk and his 4th SB of the year. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 7-5. CH Chiang was 1-5. Box

AAA - Tacoma is tied at 11 with Tuscon in the 7th. YC Chen is currently 2-4 with a RBI. Box



NPB:
The Fighters lost 4-0 to the Eagles. CS Yang was 0-3. Box


MLB:
The Dodgers are up 11-3 heading into the 9th. CL Hu is in the game as a late inning defensive replacement. Barring a miraculous rally from the Rockies, Hu will not get a PA tonight. Game Live
*Updated

The Big Guns Sound Off in the CPBL.....

CPBL:

CFC

T-Rex 5 - Bears 3: The last place T-Rex surprised the Bears despite CFC's big night at the plate. CFC, playing in LF for the Bears hit 2 HR's (3 on the year now) and was 2-4 driving in all 3 of his team's runs. Bears starter Kevin Huang took the loss, falling to 1-2 after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 2 IP.
Picking up game MVP honors for the T-Rex was reliever Ming-Chin Lee. Lee held the Bears scoreless over 2 innings.
Providing offensive support for the T-Rex were: 2B Shih-Yang Deng who was 2-5 with a RBI/ 1B Chuan-Chia Wang who was 1-5 with a RBI/ LF Chih-Peng Chen who was 3-4 with a RBI/ RF Chia-Hui Wu who was 1-4 with a RBI.

KC Kao

TB

Lions 12 - Elephants 4: Coupled with the Bears loss, the Lions pulled 1.5 games ahead of their rival today. Lions starter Chih-Chiang Chang was solid, allowing only 2 runs on 3 hits in 7 IP (4K's, 1BB) to even his record to 2-2. Chang's teammate > 1B KC Kao earned his second consecutive game MVP honor after a perfect night at the plate. He was 5-5 with his 3rd HR of the year, 2 doubles, and 4 RBI's. Backing up Kao's big night were: LF Kan-Lin Huang who was 3-5 with a RBI/ 3B Tilson Brito who was 1-3 with his 4th HR of the year and a RBI/ DH Lien-Hung Chen who was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ SS Tzu-Sung Wang was 2-5 with a triple and 4 RBI's.
Taking the L for the Elephants was starter Kobayashi Ryokan. He allowed 6 runs in 3 IP. The Elephants managed only 6 hits with: SS Sheng-Wei Wang 1-4 with a triple and a RBI/ DH CYC 1-4 with a double/ RF Huai-Shan Chen 0-4 with a RBI.


NPB:
CS Yang was 0-3 as the Fighters lost 6-1. Box


MILB:
A - Lansing lost 13-2. CH Cheng got pounded for 7 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits (including 2 HR's) in 4 IP. Box

A - Lakewood won 12-11 (11). YF Lin threw 2.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits. Box

A - Greenville lost 11-3. CH Lin was 1-4 with a double. Box

A+ - High Desert won 13-8. KH Lo was 0-4 with a walk, a RBI, and his 2nd SB of the season. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 7-5. CH Chiang was 2-4 with a RBI. Box

AAA - Tacoma won 6-4. YC Chen was 1-4 with a RBI. Box


MLB:
CL Hu is in the game late - a 9th inning defensive replacement for Jeff Kent at 2B. The Dodgers and Rockies are tied at 7 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Game Live
*Updated

A Milestone Set...

CPBL:

Pan

Lions 3 - Bears 2: With the win, the Lions vaulted themselves back into first place (half a game ahead of the Bears). Lions SP Wei-Lun Pan picked up win #3 on the season (and in doing so, became the youngest pitcher to win 70 games in the CPBL) with another impressive performance - he allowed 1 run on 6 hits over 6 IP (1K, 3BB's). Game MVP honors went to teammate 1B KC Kao who was responsible for driving in 2 of his team's runs (1-4 with a double). Lions' sluggers Lien-Hung Chen and Tilson Brito were a combined 0-7.
Pitching valiantly for the Bears was starter Wen-Hsiung Hsu. Hsu threw a CG, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits (6K's, 2BB's). Hsu picked up the L, falling to 1-1 on the year.
Offensively for the Bears: CF Long-Yi Huang was 3-4/ RF Chien-Wei Tsai was 3-5 with a double/ DH CFC was 0-3/ 1B Gary Burnham was 1-3 with a RBI/ reserve C Chung-Wei Pan was 1-1, hitting his 3rd HR of the year - a solo shot.

Bulls 4 - T-Rex 3: T-Rex starter Chien-Fu Chen fell to 1-5 on the year despite pitching well. Chen allowed only 1 earned run (4 total) in 8 innings. SP Jeremy Cummings earned a ND for the Bulls after giving up 1 ER (2 total) on 6 hits over 5 IP.
Bulls 1B Chung-Yi Huang was elected the game MVP as he was 3-4 with a double and a RBI. Other Bulls of note: 2B Chao-Hsing Cheng was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ DH Chien-Ming Chang was 1-5/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 3-4.
Offensively for the T-Rex: CF Yuan-Chia Chen hit HR #2, he was 2-3 with a RBI/ SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 1-4 with a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-4 with 2 doubles/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 2-4 with a double.

NPB:

Lefty WY Chen

The Dragons lefty earned a ND despite a tremendous showing by the young man. Chen, who was selected as the top LHP at the 2002 Junior World Championships, allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits over 6 IP to go along with 7 K's and 2 BB's. Box



MILB:
A - Asheville 11 - Greenville 6: SA Kuo and CH Lin squared off. Lin was hitless against Kuo, but did walk twice against him. Kuo earned a ND after allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 10 hits over 4.2 IP. CH Lin was 0-4 with 2 walks and his 6th SB of the season. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 5-1. CH Chiang was 0-3 with a walk. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 7-4 in the 10th. KH Lo is currently 1-4 with a RBI. Box

AA - Akron lost 13-6. SW Tseng allowed 3 runs on 1 hit (a 3-run HR) in 1.2 innings of relief. Box
More on Tseng's struggles this year - apparently he's lost a few mph off of his FB.

AAA - Omaha won 12-11. CH Tsao picked up the W in relief after throwing 2 scoreless innings, giving up 1 hit. Box

AAA - Tacoma won 6-3. YC Chen was 1-3 with a sac-fly RBI and his 3rd SB of the year. Box


MLB:
Wang will face CC Sabathia in a nationally televised game on TBS Sunday. Hopefully CMW can exorcise last year's playoff demons on Sunday.

Kuo may pitch on Sunday against the Rockies.

Hu is still in LA - IF Blake DeWitt was sent down to AAA to make room for a 12th pitcher.

Wed. Scores...

CPBL:
Whales 5 - Elephants 2: Whales SP Steve Watkins threw a CG gem, allowing only 2 ER on 5 hits (6K's, 1 BB) to improve his record to 2-2. Watkins got plenty of run support from: 3B Chun-Chiang Kao who was 3-4 with 2 RBI's/ CF Jen-Chieh Hsu who was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ RF Abraham Nunez who was 0-4 with 2 RBI's. Game MVP honors went to Whales LF Tai-Yong Kuo who was 3-3 with a walk and scored 4 of his team's runs.
Elephants starter Chia-Rui Mai fell to 1-2 on the season despite a decent performance. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 6 IP to go along with 8K's and 2BB's allowed.
Offensively for the Elephants: 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ DH CYC was 0-4/ 1B Chia-Chia was 0-2.

Bulls 1 - T-Rex 1 (12): In the league's second draw of the season, there were some dominant performances from the SP's from both sides. T-Rex starter Hsien-Chih Chang threw 9 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits to go along with 5K's and 2BB's. Chang was selected the game MVP.
For the Bulls, starter Wen-Ping Yu was also impressive after shutting out the T-Rex for 7 innings, giving up 5 hits while K'ing 5 and walking 2.
Offensively there wasn't much going on for either team. For the Bulls: reserve RF Chao-Hsing Cheng was 1-1, driving in his team's only run in the bottom of the 12th/3B Pai-Hung Wu was 2-3/ DH Chien-Ming Chang was 0-5.
For the T-Rex: C Ko-Fan Chen drove in his team's lone run in the top of the 12th and was 1-5 with a double/3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-5 with a double.


MLB:
CL Hu is currently 2-3 with 2 RBI's and a walk as the Dodgers lead the D-Backs 6-2 in the 8th inning. Game Live

Kuo to the bullpen?


MILB:
A - Greenville won 5-3. CH Lin was 0-4 with 3 K's and an OF assist. Box

A - Lansing beat Peoria 2-1. HW Chen started, giving up only 1 hit in 3 scoreless innings (3K's, 0BB's). Box

A+ - High Desert lost 6-1. KH Lo was 1-3. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 3-0. CH Chiang was 1-3 with a walk, but committed his 7th error of the year. Box



NPB:
I missed CS Yang (Yoh) getting called up to the parent club.
Yang made his season debut on 4/11 and was:
0-2 on Tuesday (4/15)
1-2 with 2 walks Sunday (4/20)
1-4 on Tuesday (4/22)
0-3 today as the Fighters lost 5-0.
*UPDATED

Top Amateur Signing from SK......

HJ Lee

I know this isn't directly related to Taiwanese baseball, but it's interesting news anyways. Some Korean news outlets are reporting that an 18 year old HS SS - Hak-Joo Lee from Chungahm HS received a $1.15 million signing bonus (I'm hearing that his signing bonus may actually be closer to $750 K - either way it's a significant amount) from the Chicago Cubs recently. The 6'o", 170 pounder was signed by Steve Wilson, who's been active in South Korea. Wilson also signed SK HS'ers Hae-Sung Kook and Dae-Eun Lee ($810 K bonus) last year. DE Lee (Rhee) has been tremendous so far this year in Peoria. *Edited/Updated

HJ Lee's strengths are reportedly: his plus speed (runs the 100 in 11 seconds/4.10 seconds from home-to-first), his defense, arm (clocked at 89 mph), ability to make good contact, and has average power. He's been compared to Ichiro by some scouts because of his tools. The kid sounds very comparable to Red Sox signee Che-Hsuan Lin. Speaking of Lin, Red Sox Prospects has a breakdown of his stats this season.

Lee's signing bonus puts him in some elite company - check out what some of the top international prospects received last year and in 2006. It sounds like Lee would be the top SK positional HS prospect to sign with a ML organization since Shin-Soo Choo (a 2 way-star in HS who received a $1.3 million bonus in 2000). Hopefully we'll continue to see more top HS kids from South Korea give the ML's a try.

50/50 Split....

MLB:CMW picked up win #4 as the Yankees beat the White Sox 9-5. CMW allowed 3 ER on 10 hits over 6 IP. Wang can thank Bobby Abreu for the W as his grand slam in the top of the 7th gave the Yankees a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. The win marks a milestone for Wang as he now has 50 career wins. Box/Recap



The Dodgers lost to the Reds 8-1. HC Kuo lasted 3.2 innings before he was chased from the game. HC Kuo allowed 5 runs (4 came in the 4th inning) on 8 hits. Kuo was 1-1 at the plate with the lone run scored for his club.
Box/Recap



MILB:
A - Lakewood won 10-3. YF Lin allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1.1 IP. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 4-1. CH Chiang was 1-4. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 5-3. CL Lo fell to 0-4 on the year after giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits over 5 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma lost 9-5. YC Chen was 1-4 with a walk. Box



CPBL:
Elephants 11 - Whales 2: Dan Core picked up win #2 (2-0) and game MVP honors after a strong performance against the Whales. DC allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits over 7 IP (7K's, 1BB). Falling to 2-2 on the season was Whales rookie SP Min-Ching Kao (3ER on 8H in 2.2 IP).
The Elephants racked up 18 hits: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-5 with a double and a RBI/ DH CYC was 2-6 with a double and a RBI/ RF-1B Chia-Chia was 2-4/ LF-RF Kuan-Jen Chen was 4-6 with a RBI/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 3-6 with 2 RBI's/ CF Cheng-Wei Huang was 2-5 with a double.
For the Whales: 3B Carlos Villalobos was 2-3 & RF Abraham Nunez was 2-4 with 2 RBI's.

Lions 6 - Bears 2: The Lions gained a game on the league leaders (.5 GB) in a clash of the league's top 2 teams. Lions SP Lou Pote continues to win (3-0) as he allowed only 1 ER on 7 hits over 6.1 IP (0K's, 5BB's). Taking the L was Andrew Lorraine (2-2). AL gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits in 4 IP. Game MVP honors went to Lions 1B KC Kao who was 4-5 with 2 RBI's. Teammate 3B Tilson Brito was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI's while C CK Kao was 1-3 with 2 RBI's.
For the Bears: LF CFC was 1-5/ 3B-SS Chih-Wei Shih was 2-5/ DH Gary Burnham was 2-4 with a RBI/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang was 2-4/ SS Chin-De Yu was 0-3 with a RBI.

Vintage SI.....

The latest SI feature article on CMW reminded me of an older post, which reflected on the last lengthy story on Taiwanese baseball from SI - "Where Have You Gone, Yu-Hong Kai?" (you can find the article in its entirety in the resources section - far right hand column > scroll down). That piece was written in 1991. You have to go all the way back to August 19, 1974 to find the first SI feature article to cover Taiwanese baseball. Here it is (click to zoom & read):

I hope we don't have to wait another 17 years before we see another feature SI article on the topic.

Slow Night (4/21)....

MLB:
The Dodgers won 9-3 over the Reds. CL Hu entered the game to replace Jeff Kent at 2B in the 6th inning. Hu was 0-1 in his only PA. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville lost 5-2. CH Lin was 3-3 with a double and a walk. He was also CS/PO'd at first. Box

AAA - CH Tsao made his return off the temp. inactive list. He threw 2 shutout innings, allowing 1 hit and K'ing 3. Omaha lost 6-2. Box

Po-Yu Lin Update...

MILB:
Here's a quick update on the White Sox farmhand. Po-Yu has been in Tuscon, Arizona doing rehab work. Lin, who has shoulder tendonitis, had a bullpen session last week, topping out at 85 mph. He might throw in an exhibition game next week.

A - Greenville won 19-7. CH Lin was 1-5 with a walk. Box

A+ - Lancaster won 4-2. CH Chiang was 2-5 with his 2nd HR of the year and a RBI. Box
*Updated


MLB:
Hu is starting in the lineup for the Dodgers today. He's at 2B and batting 8th in the lineup. Hu is currently 0-1 as the Dodgers are down to the Braves 1-0 in the 4th inning. Box


CPBL:
Bears 9 - Bulls 3: Bears starter Mike Johnson improved his record to 5-0 with a strong performance against the Bulls. MJ allowed 3 runs on 12 hits over 8 IP (4K's, 1BB) to earn game MVP honors. Mike received plenty of run support from his battery mates: 3B Chih-Wei Shih was 1-3 with a RBI/ LF CFC was 1-3 with a RBI/ DH Gary Burnham was 3-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Chih-Tsung Chiang was 3-3 with a double and 3 RBI's/ 1B Chung-Wei Pan was 1-3 with a RBI/ C Feng-Min Chen was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's.
For the Bulls: starter Iba Tomokazu fell to 1-1 on the year (3.2 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 0 K's/BB's)/ CF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-4/ LF Da-Hung Cheng was 2-4 with a RBI/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Chien-Jung Su was 2-4/ backup C Chia-Pao Chung was 1-1 with a RBI.

Elephants 13 - T-Rex 4: The Elephants outhit the Rex 20-5. Leading the way for the Elephants was game MVP CYC (Chih-Yuan Chen). CYC, still DH'ing, was 5-6 with HR #3, a double, and 3 RBI's. His teammates: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 3-5 with a RBI/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Chia-Chia was 3-5 with 3 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 4-5 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-4/ 1B Chin-Yong Wang was 0-3 with a RBI/ C Yi-? Kuo was 0-5 with a RBI. Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao improved his record to 4-0 after allowing 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 IP (3K's, 9BB's!).
The T-Rex struggled offensively with CH Hsieh still out of the lineup because of injuries. 3B Napoleon Calzado was 0-4/ CF Yuan-Chia Chen was 1-2 with a RBI/ 1B Wei Kao was 2-5 with 2 RBI's.

4/19 Scores....

CPBL:
Whales 6 - Lions 2: Lefty Fu-Te Ni finally picked up his first win of the year (1-3) after a dominant performance against the league's toughest lineup. Ni, the game MVP, allowed 1 ER on 6 hits over 7 IP - to go along with 8 K's and 3 BB's. His only mistake of the game was a solo HR allowed to Fu-Hao Liu in the first inning. Earning the L for the Lions was starter Greg Wiltshire. GW allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits over 5.1 IP (1K, 4BB's).
Providing run support for Ni were: 3B Carlos Villalobos who was 2-5 with a RBI/ 1B Chia-Hsien Tseng who was 2-5 with 2 RBI's/ C Yi-Wei Lee who was 2-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's.
For the Lions: LF Kan-Lin Huang was 2-5/ OF Fu-Hao Liu was 1-4 with his 4th HR of the year and a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 3-4 with a double/ IF Tilson Brito was 1-4/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-5 and C CK Kao was 1-4 (box score has both players driving in a run - so one of them drove in a run).

With the loss, the Lions fall to 1 GB the Bears who stand alone at the top of the standings.
1)Bears 13-5-1
2)Lions 13-7 1GB
3)Elephants 8-10-1 5GB
4)Bulls 8-11 5.5 GB
5)Whales 8-12 6 GB
6)T-Rex 7-12 6.5 GB


Elephants 8 - T-Rex 5: Elephants CF Cheng-Wei Huang was named the game MVP after his productive night at the plate. Huang was 3-5 with a triple and 3 RBI's. As for Huang's teammates: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 2-4/ DH CYC was 1-4/ RF Chia-Chia was 2-5 with a RBI/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 1-5 with a RBI/ C Rui-Chang Chen was 2-4 with a double/ 1B Chin-Yong Wang was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI's. Starter Steve Kent earned a ND despite allowing 2 ER on 7 hits over 4.1 IP (5K's, 3BB's).
For the T-Rex: Starter Chien-Fu Chen earned the L (1-4) after giving up 4 runs (1 earned) on8 hits over 5 IP (4K's, 1BB)/ RF Su-Chi Chou was 2-5/ 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 2-5 with a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-3/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B Wei Kao was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 3-5 with a RBI.


NPB:
The Dragons won 10-5. WY Chen allowed 1 ER on 5 hits in 2 inning of relief. Box


MILB:
A - Lakewood won 9-2. YF Lin threw 1 perfect inning. Box

A - Lansing won 10-4. CH Cheng earned the W as he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits over 4 IP. Box

A - Peoria won 9-7. HW Chen pitched 1.1 scoreless inning, K'ing 2. Box

A - Greenville lost 9-3. CH Lin was 0-3 with a walk and his 5th SB of the year. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 5-0 in the 9th. The team is in the process of being no-hit. KH Lo is currently 0-3 and committed his first error of the year. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 4-3 in the 7th. CH Chiang is 1-3 with a triple, a RBI, and a BB. Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 11-3 in the 5th. YC Chen is currently 0-2. Box
*Updated

Friday Action...

CPBL:

Lions 5 - Whales 0: SP Wei-Lun Pan was outstanding, giving a game-MVP worthy performance. Pan threw 7 shutout innings, allowed only 4 hits, while K'ing 6 and walking none, thus improving his record to 2-0. Equaling Pan's performance was teammate - OF Sung-Hsien Yang who was 4-4 with 2 RBI's - he was selected the game MVP.
Other Lions in the lineup: RF Fu-Hao Liu was 3-5 with a triple/ 1B KC Kao was 0-2 with 2 walks/ 3B Tilson Brito was 1-3 with a walk/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 2B Sen Yang was 1-4 with a double.
For the Whales: RF Tai-Yong Kuo was 2-4/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 1-4.

Bears 7 - Bulls 6:

CFC - game MVP

Bears LF CFC earned game honors after he drove in the GW run in the 9th and for his 2-4, double, 3 RBI night. Supporting CFC's big night were: RF Chien-Wei Tsai who was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Shih was 3-5/ DH Gary Burnham was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B Chung-Wei Pan was 2-4 with a RBI. Pitching in relief of starter Wen-Hsiung Hsu (2.1IP, 2H, 5R (3 earned), 2K's, 4BB's), Yu-Wei Hsu managed to shut down the Bulls offense - allowing only 1 run on 2 hits over 5.2 IP (1K, 2BB's). Chin-Chih Huang would pick up the W (2-0) for the Bears after throwing a scoreless/hitless 9th inning for the Bears.

For the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang was 0-2 with a RBI/ CF Hsien-Ming Yu was 0-3 with a RBI/ LF Da-Hung Cheng was 0-5 with a RBI/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 0-4 with a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Chen was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 1-3 with a double/ 2B Chia-Hao Chang collected 2 of his team's 4 hits in 3 AB's.


MLB:
Kuo pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning in relief of starter Derek Lowe. Kuo K'd 1 as his team fell 6-1 to the Braves. Box
Kuo's next scheduled start is Tuesday against the Reds.

CMW is also scheduled to pitch on Tuesday against Jose Contreras and the White Sox.

MILB:
A - Asheville lost 14-3. SA Kuo fell to 1-2 as he gave up 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits in 4 IP (2K's, 5BB's). Box

A - Greenville lost 9-8. CH Lin was 3-5 with 2 doubles, a RBI, and his 4th SB of the season. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 4-0 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-3. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 3-0 in the 7th. CH Chiang is currently 1-3. Box

AA - Akron lost 5-4 in 10. SW Tseng pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing 1 run on 2 hits. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 3-2 in the 8th inning. YC Chen is currently 0-2 with a walk. Box

Thursday Scores...

CPBL:
T-Rex 6 - Whales 3: Rookie Chun-Nan Lai earned his 4th win of the year (4-2) and game MVP honors after shutting down the Whales offense. Lai allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits over 5 IP (1K, 2BB's). Fellow rookie starter Min-Ching Kao earned the L, falling to 2-1 on the season. He allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1.1 IP (1K, 3BB's).
T-Rex lineup: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 0-1 with 2 walks and a RBI/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 1-4 with a RBI/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 1-4 with a triple/ 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 1-3 with a RBI.
Whales lineup: The team was limited to 4 hits - CF Ren-Chieh Hsu was 1-4 with a triple and 2 RBI's/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 1-4 with a RBI.

Bears 8 - Elephants 4: Bears SP Kevin Huang picked up his first W of the year (1-1) and game MVP honors after throwing 6 innings, allowing 2 ER on 8 hits (0K's, 2BB's). Elephants rookie Chia-Rui Mai fell to 1-1 on the year after giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits over 4.1 IP (3K's, 2BB's).
Backing Huang's strong start were: RF Chien-Wei Tsai who was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Shih who was 3-4 with 3 doubles and a RBI/ DH CFC was 0-3 with a walk and 2K's/ 1B Gary Burnham blasted HR #4 and was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 2B Chih-Tsung Chiang was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ LF Hao-Chu Tseng was 0-3 with a RBI.
The Elephants outhit the Bears 14-10 (albeit no XB hits) with the following leading the way: CF Ming-Hsien Lin was 2-3/ DH CYC was 0-5/ 1B Chia-Chia was 3-4 with 2 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-5.


NPB:
The Dragons lost 1-0 to the Giants. WY Chen threw a scoreless 9th inning and managed to K Michihiro Ogasawara. Box


MLB:
The Dodgers beat the Pirates 8-1. CL Hu was 0-1. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville won 6-0. CH Lin was 1-3 with 2 walks and his 3 SB of the season. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 1-0 in the 5th. CH Chiang is currently 1-3. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 20-5! CL Lo continues to struggle. He earned his 3rd L of the season and gave up 9 runs (8 earned) on 7 hits in 1.1 IP. Box

AA - Akron won 5-1. SW Tseng allowed 1 run on 1 hit over 1.1 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 5-3 in the 6th. YC Chen is currently 1-3 with a RBI. Box
*UPDATED

The SI Jinx.....

MLB:

CMW appears in this week's Sports Illustrated (April 21, '08 print edition) - with a lengthy article lauding the Yankees ace. Tonight was a different story however for CMW. The 28 year old would not survive the 5th inning. CMW allowed 8 ER (5 came in the 5th inning) on 9 hits over 4+ innings. Fortunately for him, his offense picked up the slack and outslugged the Red Sox 15-9. Box

MILB:

A - Greenville lost 8-2. CH Lin was 0-5. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 1-0 in the 2nd inning of a doubleheader. CH Chiang is currently 0-1. Box

A+ - High Desert is knotted up at 3-3 in the 7th. KH Lo is 0-3 with a RBI. Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 5-1 in the 8th inning. YC Chen is currently 1-4. Box

CPBL:
Lions 8 - Bulls 4: Two of the Lions' big guns helped lead the way to their team's win. 1B KC Kao and 3B Tilson Brito both slugged HR's to plate half of their team's 8 runs. KC Kao was 1-1 with 2 RBI's (HR #2) while Tilson Brito was 2-3 with 2 RBI's (HR #3). TB was game MVP.
Other Lions hitters: OF Sung-Hsien Yang was 2-5/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Sen Yang was 2-3 with 2 RBI's/ C CK Kao was 2-4 with a double.

Picking up the W for the Lions was Lou Pote, who threw 6 innings giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits (5K's, 3BB's).For the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang hit his 1st HR of the year (2-5 with a RBI)/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 2-3/ RF Hsun-Wei Lu was 1-4 with a RBI.

Bears 4 - Elephants 3: CFC's clutch solo HR (HR #1) in the bottom of the 8th broke a 3 all tie and proved to be the game winner. The Bears DH was the game MVP after his 2-4, 1 RBI night. Teammate Gary Burnham drove in the team's other 3 runs on a 3-run shot (HR #3) in the 4th inning. GB was 1-3 with 3 RBI's. Earning a ND for the Bears was starter Andrew Lorraine, who allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 6.1 IP (1K, 1BB).

The Elephants were led by DH CYC's 2nd HR of the year (he was 1-4 with a RBI) and SP Danny Core's strong start - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 K's, 2 BB's. DC would also earn a ND. Other Elephants notables: Chia-Chia was back in the lineup, playing in RF, he was 1-4 with a double/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 1-4 with a RBI/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-4/ C Yi-Feng Kuo was 2-3 with a double/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-3 with a RBI.

IBB Client List....

IBB sports agency (based out of Taiwan & representing Po-Yu Lin/White Sox and Chia-An Huang/Mariners) - run by Adam Chang is representing a number of amateur prospects from Taiwan, including NT C Kun-Sheng Lin.

Here's the list as provided by the agency:

Client List

Name (School/Team)	Birthday	Height	Weight	Pos	T/B	Pitches
Xan,chi-yao (Taiwan Power)	01/02/1983	178cm	78kg	of	L/L
Yang,shien-shieng (Taiwan Beer)	08/09/1987	171cm	71kg	ss	R/Switch
Lo,bo-yu (National Taiwan College of P.E.)	11/19/1988	181cm	75kg	ss	R/R
Tsai,wan-lin (Catholic Fu-Jen University)	05/12/1988	176cm	75kg	p	R/R	92mph fastball, slider, 75mph slow curve ball
Mai,chia-xiew (Cooperative Bank)	02/25/1987	180cm	78kg	p	R/R	94mph fastball, slider, change-up
Lin,chen-hwa (Wen Hwa Culture University)	12/16/1988	186cm	82kg	p	R/R	90mph fastball, 81mph sinker, slider, split finger
Yan,chia-wei (Vanung University)	05/12/1989	177cm	74kg	p	R/R	90mph fastball, 78mph forkball, slider
Lin,Kun-sheng (National Taiwan College of P.E.)	03/08/1987	178cm	82kg	c	R/R

The Saga of Chin-De Chang...

Chin-De Chang

photo - Apple Daily


Mr. Lin

As reported by Yam Sports and China Times, Chin-De Chang is a 14-year old (DOB 5/17/1993) top power hitting prospect from Taiyuan junior HS in Taitung, Taiwan. The 2 way player (left-handed hitting SS and RHP) stands a shade under 5'10" and weighs 171 pounds. The youngster was good enough to draw the attention of the KDN Sports Agency. Chang and his family ended up signing an agreement to let the agency represent him. The young man was on his way to following in the footsteps of many top Taiwanese junior high prospects who attend HS in Japan when his junior HS found out. The school's baseball program would have been suspended as a result of Chang's signing with an agent. Furthermore, school officials stated that Chang's father is illiterate and was duped by the agency. Based on the circumstances, the kid and his family decided against going to Japan. The KDN agency sent someone named Mr. Lin to the school to try and work out something. Since February of this year, Mr. Lin had been by the school multiple times, demanding that the school release Chang to him. The school was alarmed by the demands and presence of Mr. Lin on their campus and called the police as well as releasing this story to the media. KDN will seek legal recourse (threatening to sue for $1 million NT) since Chang and his family signed a binding contract.
Speaking of binding contracts, Chia-Jen Lo is also represented by KDN. Lo has a binding 5 year contract with the agency. KDN will receive a 15% cut of anything Lo receives over the duration of his contract.

Tuesday Scoreboard...

MLB:
The Dodgers are currently up 8-1 in the 6th inning. HC Kuo started and was wild in the first inning - allowing 3 walks - plating the lone run for the Pirates. He would K the side in the 2nd inning and settle down over the next 2 innings. Kuo's bottom line: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6 K's, 3 BB's - and a ND. Box

Wang will start tomorrow against the Red Sox. He'll be rematched against Clay Buchholz on the nationally televised game (ESPN2). *Updated


MILB:
AAA - Tacoma is up 11-3 in the 7th. YC Chen is back in the lineup. He's currently 1-4 with a double and a RBI. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 4-0 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-2. Box

A - Lakewood won 5-3. YF Lin earned his 1st save of the year after allowing 1 run on 2 hits over 2 IP. Box

A - Peoria lost 5-1. HW Chen threw 3 scoreless innings in middle relief. Box

A - Greenville won 7-0. CH Lin was 0-2 with 3 walks, a SB, and committed his 2nd error on the season. Box



CPBL:
Bulls 8 - Lions 5: Game MVP Wen-Ping Yu picked up his second win of the year against the Lions. Yu allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits over 6.2 IP - to go along with 4 K's and 4 BB's. The hard-luck loser for the Lions was Chih-Chiang Chang, who fell to 1-2 on the season. He gave up 6 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits over 5 IP. His defense committed 4 errors on the night.
Bulls at the plate: RF Chien-Ming Chang was 2-5 with a RBI/ LF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ DH Da-Hung Cheng was 2-5/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 3-5/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 2-5 with a double and a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 1-3 with 2 RBI's.
For the Lions: CF Sung-Hsien Yang was 3-5 with 2 doubles and a RBI/ 2B Sen Yang was 0-3/ RF Fu-Hao Liu was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Tilson Brito was 1-4 with a double/ C CK Kao was 0-1 with a RBI.

Whales 6 - T-Rex 5: Pitching in relief of starter Steve Watkins, Yu-Chan Liu earned game MVP honors and the W after blanking the T-Rex for 2.1 innings, allowing only 2 hits and K'ing 2. Watkins left after 4 innings giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits. T-Rex starter Hsien-Chih Chang pitched well, but earned a ND. He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits over 5 IP (7K's, 1BB).
In the Whales lineup: SS Che-Wei Kang was 2-5/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 3-5 with a RBI/ LF Chun-Hsiung Lu was 2-4/ 1B Chia-Hsien Tseng was 1-3 with a double and a RBI/ CF Ren-Chieh Hsu was 2-4 with a RBI/ C Hsin-Min Wang was 1-3 with a double and a RBI.
The T-Rex lineup: CF Su-Chi Chou was 4-5/ SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 1-3 with a RBI/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 2-4/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 1-5 with 2 RBI's/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 2-3 with a double.


NPB:
Wei-Yin Chen threw 2 perfect innings of relief for the Dragons, K'ing 2. The Dragons beat the Giants 6-3. Box

4/14 MILB Scores...

MILB:
A - Lansing lost 6-2. CH Cheng pitched 5 innings of middle relief, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Box

A+ - KH Lo hit his 1st HR of the year and is currently 1-3 with 2 RBI's. High Desert is up 7-0 in the 7th inning. Box

AA - Akron lost 6-3. SW Tseng pitched the last 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits. Box

AAA News - Wondering where CH Tsao is? He's been placed on the temporarily inactive list.

4/14 News.....

CPBL Standings & News:
1)Lions 11-5
2)Bears 10-5-1 .5 GB
3)Elephants 7-8-1 3.5 GB
4)Bulls 7-9 4 GB
5)Whales 6-10 5 GB
6)T-Rex 6-10 5 GB


*Chih-Sheng Lin's punishment has been finalized. He will be suspended for 15 games (he's already sat out 4 games, so he's got 11 more to go ) and will be fined 180,000 NT - up from the initially reported 110,000 NT.


*Here's a vid of yesterday's Lions vs. T-Rex game. The Lions hit all three jacks (Tilson Brito followed by Lien-Hung Chen followed by Tai-Chi Kuo)
in the 6th inning to break open a close game.

4/13 Scoreboard...

CPBL:
Lions 5 - T-Rex 3: The Lions won on the strength of 3 HR's. DH Lien-Hung Chen hit HR #5 and was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ game MVP Tilson Brito was 2-4 with HR #2 and a RBI/ SS Tai-Chi Kuo came off the bench and hit HR #3, he was 1-1 with 2 RBI's. Other Lions of note: 1B KC Kao was 1-4/ C CK Kao was 2-4/ 2B Sen Yang was 0-2 with a RBI. Lions starter Greg Wiltshire earned a ND despite pitching well - allowing only 1 run on 3 hits over 5.2 IP (4K's, 3BB's).
For the T-Rex, LF Chuan-Chia Wang hit HR #2 and was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's. Wang's other teammates: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-4.

Bears 5 - Whales 2: Mike Johnson improved to 4-0 after another impressive start from him. MJ allowed 1 run on 5 hits over 6.1 IP (6K's, 4BB's). Bears LF Hao-Chu Tseng backed up MJ's strong start with his own game MVP performance - he was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI's. Other Bears in the lineup: CF Long-Yi Huang was 1-3 with a RBI and HR #3/ DH CFC was 0-3/ C Feng-Min Chen was 0-3.
Fu-Te Ni was the unlucky loser, falling to 0-3 on the year. Ni allowed only 1 earned run (4 runs total) on 5 hits in 5.1 IP as his defense committed 5 errors in the game. Ni also had 5 K's and walked none. Carrying a big stick for the Whales for the second consecutive night was RF Tai-Yong Kuo. He was 2-5 and drove in both of his team's runs. Carlos Villalobos was 0-4.


MILB:
A - Greenville won 3-1. CH Lin was 2-4. Box

A - SA Kuo lasted only 1.1 innings after giving up 7 runs on 7 hits. His team is down 7-0 in the 4th. Box

A+ - CH Chiang is currently 1-3 with a double and a RBI, but he's also made 3 errors. Lancaster is down 10-3 in the 3rd. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 1-0 in the 4th. KH Lo is 1-2 with the lone RBI. Box

Sat. News and Scores...

MLB:
HC Kuo will get the start on Tuesday against the Pirates.

CL Hu is currently 0-3 as the Dodgers lead the Padres 11-1 in the 9th inning. Live Box


CPBL:
Elephants 10 - Bulls 9: After the Bulls had managed to tie things at 9 all in the top of the 9th, the Elephants would score the game winner in the bottom of the frame. Game MVP honors went to RF Huai-Shan Chen who had the GW hit and was also 2-5 with 3 RBI's. Other contributing Elephants: OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ DH CYC was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 2-3 with a double/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 0-4 with a RBI/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-4/ SS Keng-Shin Liu was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI's. Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao got rocked for 8 runs of which 4 were earned in 2.1 innings. He earned a ND.
For the Bulls: LF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI's/ DH Da-Hung Cheng and RF Chien-Ming Chang were both 0-4 with a RBI/ CF Hua-Wei Tseng was 4-5 with a triple/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 3-5/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI's. Tarzan DNP.

Bears 6 - Whales 0: Bears starter Wen-Hsiung Hsu and reliever Chih-Hua Hsu combined on a 5 hit shutout. Wen-Hsiung Hsu earned game MVP honors after picking up his first win of the season and for his 7.1 scoreless innings, in which he allowed 3 hits and had 5 K's and 1 BB. Backing Hsu's strong start were: CF Long-Yi Huang who was 2-5 with a triple and a RBI/ DH CFC who was 2-5 with a RBI/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang who was 2-4 with his first HR of the year and 2 RBI's/ C Feng-Min Chen who was 1-3 with a RBI.
RF Tai-Yong Kuo collected 2 of the team's 5 hits (in 4 AB's - including a double). Teammate Carlos Villalobos was 0-4.


MILB:
A - Greenville won 7-2 in game 1. CH Lin was 1-2 with 2 walks and was CS. Box Greenville won game 2 5-1. CH Lin was 1-4. Box

A - Lakewood lost 2-1. YF Lin threw 2.2 scoreless innings, K'ing 3 and walking 1. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 11-1. CH Chiang was 1-2 with double. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 11-2 in the 7th. KH Lo was 0-3 with a walk. Box

AAA - YC Chen was hit in the head in the first inning and ended up leaving the game.

4/11 Scoreboard...

CBPL:
Elephants 6 - Bulls 0: Game MVP Kobayashi Ryokan threw a CG shutout to help pick up his first win of the season (1W - 2L). Ryokan allowed only 2 hits, while K'ing 3 and walking 3. His mound counterpart, Chien-Fu Yang would fall to 1-2 after giving up 6 runs on 8 hits in 6.2 innings.
Offensively for the Elephants: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 2-4 with a RBI/ OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 0-4 with a RBI/ DH CYC was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 3-3 with a double and a RBI/ reserve 3B Po-Jen Yang was 1-1 with a RBI.
For the Bulls, Tarzan DNP while RF Chien-Ming Chang was 0-4.

Lions 13 - T-Rex 4: Recently acquired SP Lou Pote was impressive in his debut. The former major leaguer allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 5 IP (4K's, 2BB's) to pick up the W.
The Lions rapped out 13 hits and 3 HR's led by: LF Kan-Lin Huang who was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ OF Wu-Hsiung Pan was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ RF Fu-Hao Liu hit his 3rd HR of the season and was 1-4 with a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 1-2 with 2 walks/ 3B Tilson Brito was 0-2 with 2 walks/ game MVP DH Tai-Chi Kuo hit his 2nd HR of the season and was 3-4 with a double and 4 RBI's/ 2B Sen Yang hit his 1st HR of the year and was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ reserve RF Po-Chao Yang was 1-1 with a double and a RBI.
The T-Rex were held to 6 hits: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 1-3 with a triple and 2 RBI's/ LF Chia-Hui Wu was 2-4. CH Hsieh DNP.


MLB:
Three and Counting.....CMW won his third game (and start) of the season against divisional rival - the Boston Red Sox. This time around against a team that has traditionally hit him well, Wang was outstanding, throwing a CG 2-hit gem - allowing only one run. Wang himself said it was the best performance of his young career. NY won 4-1. Box/Recap

Former Lion - Nelson Figueroa won his first ML game in nearly 5 years as the Mets beat the Brewers 4-2. Way to go Nelson!


MILB:
A - Peoria lost 10-3. HW Chen allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 2.1 IP. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 10-6. CH Chiang was 1-5 and committed his 3rd E of the season. Box

A+ - High Desert won 6-5 in 11. KH Lo was 0-5. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 7-3. CL Lo lost his second consecutive start. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits over 3.2 IP. Box
*Updated

Toot-Toot Returns...

CBPL:
Lions 8 - Bears 3: Wei-Lun "Toot-Toot" Pan made his season debut in impressive fashion. Pan threw 5 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, K'ing 5 and walking one. He was selected the game's MVP.
Backing Pan's strong start were: CF Sung-Hsien Yang who was 2-5/ RF Fu-Hao Liu who hit HR #2 on the season and was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ 1B KC Kao who was 1-5 with a double and 3 RBI's/ 3B Tilson Brito was 3-5 with a RBI/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 2-3/ C CK Kao was 0-4 with a RBI.
For the Bears: CF Long-Yi Huang was 2-5 with 2 RBI's/ DH CFC was 0-3 with 2 K's/ LF Hao-Chu Tseng was 2-4 with a double/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang was 1-4 with a RBI.

Whales 7 - Elephants 4 (11): Behind game MVP 2B Yi-Min Wang's 3-5, 3 RBI night, the Whales would prevail in extra innings. Other Whales of note: CF Chun-Chiang Kao was 1-6 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 0-5/ reserve SS Chia-Yuan Chang was 0-0 with a RBI.
Offensively for the Elephants: OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ DH CYC was 3-5 with a RBI/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 2-4 with 2 RBI's.
Both rookie starters pitched well but earned ND's. Whales starter Min-Ching Kao threw 7.1 innings, allowed 3 runs on 6 hits while K'ing 4 and walking 1. For the Elephants, this year's top pick - Chia-Rui Mai allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 5.2 IP (3K's, 1BB).


MILB:
A - Greenville won 5-2. CH Lin was 1-4. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 6-4 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-2 with a walk. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 12-4 in the 6th. CH Chiang is currently 2-4. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 1-0 in the 7th. YC Chen is currently 1-2. Box



MLB:
CMW will be matched up against Clay Buchholz tomorrow in the opening game of a 3 game set in Boston.
*Updated

Chih-Lung Huang Update...

Ok, we finally have an update on the former junior NT star. The young man (represented by Jerry Sung - the self-proclaimed "Jerry Maguire" of Asia) recently had a showcase here in Los Angeles. He exhibited his wares during a JC exhibition game in front of several MLB scouts. Huang, who's been clocked in the low to mid 90's in the past, reportedly hit 90 mph on only one pitch during his session. While I'm pulling for the kid to get his shot here in the US, I'm concerned about his decline in velocity.


On to today's scores:

CPBL:
T-Rex 8 - Bulls 2: Rex rookie SP Chun-Nan Lai improved his record to 3-2 on the year after a strong CG performance. Lai allowed 2 runs on 9 hits over 9 IP - while K'ing 6 and walking none. The game's MVP outdueled losing pitcher Fu-Jen Shen (0W - 2L) who gave up 3 runs in his 7 innings.
Contributing Rex in the lineup: RF Su-Chi Chou was 2-4 with a triple and a RBI/ DH Chuan-Chia Wang was 0-1 with 2 walks and a RBI/ 1B CH Hsieh was 1-3 with a RBI/ 3B Wei Kao was 1-4 with a RBI/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 3-4 with a double and a RBI/ LF Chia-Hui Wu was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Hung-Yuan Lin coming off the bench was 1-1 with a RBI.
For the Bulls: RF Chien-Ming Chang was 2-4 with a RBI/ DH Tarzan was 1-3/ 3B Chih-Wei Chen was 2-3 with a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 0-3.


NPB:
The Dragons fell to the Lions 2-0 on Wednesday. Wei-Yin Chen earned the L, despite allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 4 IP (5K's, 3BB's). Box


MILB:
A - Lakewood won 6-5. YF Lin was charged with a blown save as he allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 1.2 innings. Box *edited

A - Greenville won 7-1. CH Lin blasted his 1st HR of the season. He was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI's. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 3-1 in the 7th. CH Chiang is currently 0-4. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 1-0 in the 7th. KH Lo is currently 1-3 with a walk. Box

AA - Akron lost 6-3. SW Tseng pitched in relief, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in 2 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 5-0 in the 6th. YC Chen is currently 0-2 at the plate. Box


OTHER:
You can now add Nelson Figueroa (2007 Taiwan Series MVP with the Lions) to the short list of former CPBL players (including Ben Weber and Melvin Mora) who have made the jump over to the major leagues.
*Updated