TAOYUAN, Taiwan - CTBC Brothers ace Jose DePaula threw a seven-inning four-hit game and only yielded two solo homeruns as the Brothers defeated the Rakuten Monkeys, 5-3, to take Game 1 of the best-of-seven Taiwan Series.
The CPBL Taiwan Series opened with Rakuten Monkeys, who possess the highest overall winning percentage, hosting the defending champions CTBC Brothers, who advanced to Taiwan Series by defeating Weichuan Dragons in the playoff series, in the 33rd edition of the Taiwanese Fall Classic.
DePaula, the reigning MVP of the Year from 2020 and 2021, made his fifth career Taiwan Series start while the Monkeys sent Dylan Covey to the mound for his Series debut.
The Brothers quickly established the lead in the top of the first inning by scoring three times with three hits, one walk and an error by the catcher. The Monkeys scored one run each in the fourth and the seventh with solo homeruns from Hung-Yu Lin and Chun-Shiu Chen to make it a one-run game, only to see the Brothers cross the plate twice in the top of the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth the Monkeys managed to get one run on the board with Hung-Yu Lin’s second solo homerun of the game but that was all the Monkeys had to show before taking the home loss.
With the first win of Taiwan Series, the Brothers are now 41-38 in Taiwan Series history and ranked third on the all-time winning percentage only behind the Monkeys (30-18, 0.625) and the Dragons (21-16, 0.568). DePaula was credited with the win and became the pitcher with the most Taiwan Series wins (3) in franchise history.
Under the new postseason format - which sees the team winning the first and second stages of the playoffs start the Taiwan Series 1-0 - the Monkeys will have the home advantage in Game 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 in the Series, while the Brothers will only play at home twice in Game 3 and 4.
Statistically, the team that wins Game 1 of the Taiwan Series has an 86.2% chance to clinch the title. In Brothers franchise history, the chance to win the Series after taking a 1-0 lead is 75%.
