The Lamigo Monkeys (Taoyuan) confirmed themselves as the champions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) as they defeated 4-2 the UniPresident Lions (Tainan) in the Taiwan Series. It’s the fourth success for the Monkeys in the last five seasons.
The Monkeys, managed by Hong I Chung, finished first both in the first and in the second hald of the season. This granted them a 1-0 lead in the final series.
The defending champions took a 2-0 lead in the series as they defeated. 15-6, the Lions thanks to a record ten-run second inning. Wang Po Jung, Lin Cheng Fei and Lui Shi Hao all hit home runs. Wu Cheng Che earned the win.
The UniPresident Lions, managed by Huang Kan Lin, stroke back to even the series. They won, 4-2, game 2 behind Andy Van Hekken and thanks to a two-run pinch hit single by Mai Chia I. They also won, 10-4, game 3 with a strong effort by six relievers. Shih Tzu Chien earned the win.
The Lamigo Monkeys outscored the Lions to claim the title with two more wins.
Wang I Cheng struck out ten and led the Monkeys to an 11-2 win in game 4. Lin Hung Yu went 4 for 6.
Michael Nix won the season ending game 5. The final score was 10-3, but the Monkeys managed to break it open only in the bottom of the seventh. Lin Hung Yu homered.
Monkeys infielder Chun Hsiu Chen earned MVP honours. He became the first player to be awarded the MVP of the Taiwan Series in two consecutive editions after Luther Hackman did it in 2008-2009.
The Taiwan Series averaged 25,000 spectators per game. The CPBL regular season had 1,309,737 spectators, with an average of 5,457 per game.
The Monkeys win 2017 Taiwan Series
