NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan -- CPBL’s Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions have clinched the second half title of the 2021 season and punched their ticket to the Taiwan Series for a repeat showdown with the CTBC Brothers.
Although the Lions lost to the Fubon Guardians, 3-4, in the potential clinching game in Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium tonight, the team still clinched their second-half title, with the second place CTBC Brothers losing to the Weichuan Dragons, 2-11.
The clinch marks the 15th half-season title in Lions’ franchise history, and the Brothers and the Lions will meet for the sixth time in the Taiwanese version of Fall Classic in their franchise history.
Lions second-year manager LIN Yueh-Ping credited lead-off hitter CHEN Chieh-Hsien (.319/.394/.407) as the key player for their second-half title. Chen was on the bereavement leave for ten games in early October and the Lions went 3-6-1, and the Lions won 8 out of 9 upon his return.
“Chen is absolutely the key,” said Lin. Manager Lin also mentioned the contribution from their starting catcher LIN Dai-An: “Our pitching this year is arguably the most stable department of all, and LIN deserves a lot of credit too.”
Lions ace Brock Dykxhoorn (17-4, 1.83ERA) also praised LIN as “MVP in my mind.” LIN has appeared league-high 263 games as a catcher in recent three seasons, and he was behind the plate for all Dykxhoorn’s starts this season.
A couple thousands of Lions fans in the stadium showed their class tonight as they waited for the home team Guardians to complete all their post-game celebration procedures (by defeating the Lions on the night) before throwing the orange banners onto the field to celebrate the title.
With the completion of the second half just a few days around the corner, both the Lions and the Brothers are working on securing the home field advantage for the Taiwan Series. Currently the Lions are enjoying a half-game lead with the winning percentage of .566 with two games left to play, while the Brothers are 3 percentage points behind the Lions with three games to go.
The tentative Game One of the best-of-seven Taiwan Series will be on the 27th of November.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League was inaugurated in 1990 and is an Associated Member of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
