With the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions defeating the Rakuten Monkeys in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) playoff series, the U-Lions will now face the CTBC Brothers in the Taiwan Series. Here’s how each team has gotten to where they are now.
The U-Lions finished the first half of the CPBL season as champions, with a record of 37-0-23. They are led by pitchers Gu Lin Ruei Yang, Logan Ondrusek, and Mario Sanchez in their rotation. Also, former MLB reliever Hector Perez was a workhorse in their bullpen during his first CPBL season. Offensively, they are led by Chen Cheih-Hsien, who hit .344 on the season, and power-hitting outfielder Lin An-Ko, who led the U-Lions with 20 home runs. It will be interesting to see if the U-Lions can remain hot at the plate.
As for their competition, the CTBC Brothers finished third in the first half of the season, but they would become the second-half champions, securing their spot in the Taiwan Series. The Brothers went 38-0-22 in the second half of the season. Former MLB pitcher Daniel Mengden held down the Brothers rotation, along with Jose De Paula. Mengden compiled a 10-3 record, while De Paula went 10-5. They were also led by closer Wu Chun-Wei, who collected 29 saves in 58 innings, striking out 55 batters. In terms of their offense, Chen Tzu-Hao led the team with 17 home runs, while Tseng Song-En led the Brothers with a .304 average.
The Brothers have not played in a game since October 5, when they defeated the Rakuten Monkeys 5-4. The first game of the series is set to take place on Saturday, October 19, when the Brothers will be hosts to the U-Lions for game one. If needed, game seven will be held on October 27. Below is a breakdown of the schedule for the Taiwan Series:
G1: 10/19/24 U-Lions @ Brothers (Taipei Dome) 5:05 AM EST
G2: 10/20/24 U-Lions @ Brothers (Taipei Dome) 5:05 AM EST
G3: 10/22/24 Brothers @ U-Lions (Taipei Dome) 6:35 AM EST
G4: 10/23/24 Brothers @ U-Lions (Tainan) 6:35 AM EST
G5: 10/25/24 U-Lions @ Brothers (Taichung) 6:35 AM EST
G6: 10/26/24 U-Lions @ Brothers (Taichung) 5:05 AM EST
G7: 10/27/25 U-Lions @ Brothers (Taichung) 5:05 AM EST
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WBN CPBL: https://worldbaseball.com/?s=cpbl
Photo Credit: Kuan Yu Shih #3 of Uni-Lions hits a single in the top of the fourth inning during the CPBL game between Uni-Lions and Fubon Guardians. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)
