CPBL Roundup: Brothers Win Second Half, Lions Grab Last Playoff Spot

The Chinese Professional Baseball League regular season has concluded, and the postseason is set.

Lions punch their ticket to the postseason

After finishing third in the league’s first half, the Lions entered the second half needing a strong performance to either win the second-half title or secure the third and final playoff spot.

After failing to win the second half, they battled the Fubon Guardians throughout much of August and September for the final playoff spot.

Both teams entered Sept. 25 tied for the final playoff spot in the full-season wild-card standings. The Guardians then lost four of five games, while the Lions won five of six to take a 3 1/2-game lead heading into Friday.

The Lions had the night off, but the Fubon Guardians faced the Wei Chuan Dragons. A loss would eliminate the Guardians from postseason contention and clinch the final playoff spot for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions.

In a scoreless game in the bottom of the second inning, Dai-An Lin broke through for the Guardians. His two-out RBI double against Dragons starter CC Mercedes gave the Guardians an early 1-0 lead in a must-win game.

Shunsuke Suzuki was dealing for the Guardians and carried the 1-0 lead into the fifth. In the top of the inning, that lead disappeared when Tzu-Hao Chen delivered a game-tying solo home run to the right-field seats. It was the only blemish for Suzuki, who went eight innings and allowed three hits and one run.

The game went to extra innings tied at 1.

Fubon’s best reliever, Jyun-Yue Tseng, came on in the 10th. After starting the inning with two strikeouts with a runner on second, Tseng needed one more out to keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the 10th.

Hao-Lin Jan stepped to the plate and delivered a clutch RBI single to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead.

After a flyout and a walk, the Guardians put the potential tying run at third with one out. A groundout to the pitcher and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for Yu Chang, the clear-cut best hitter in the CPBL and Fubon’s superstar, with the Guardians’ slim playoff hopes on the line.

Tzu-Yu Lin struck out Yu Chang on a 1-2 pitch to give the Dragons a 2-1 victory.

The loss capped a Guardians free fall in September and the second half. With one game left in the second half, the Guardians have gone 24-35 overall and 10-16 in September and October.

They entered Aug. 26 with a 2 1/2-game lead over the Lions for the final wild-card spot. Just over a month later, they were eliminated and six games behind the Lions.

After a strong offensive performance in the first half, when they averaged four runs per game, the Guardians’ offense went south in the second half. They finished last at 3.1 runs per game and were second-worst in runs allowed at 3.9 per game.

It added up to a late-season collapse and an eighth consecutive season without a playoff appearance.

Brothers take home second-half title

The CTBC Brothers entered Sunday leading the Rakuten Monkeys by 1 1/2 games, looking to clinch the second-half title and a spot in the postseason.

A Brothers loss, combined with a Rakuten win over the Dragons on Sunday and a win over the Guardians in a makeup game Monday, would have forced a one-game playoff for the final playoff spot.

The Brothers hosted the TSG Hawks at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. The Hawks were looking to play spoiler after already being eliminated from postseason contention.

After a fielder’s choice gave the Brothers an early 1-0 lead, Wei-Sheng Huang delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 3-0.

After the Hawks scratched one run across in the second, it remained a 3-1 game heading into the bottom of the fifth. Following an RBI single by Wei-Chen Wang, Kun-Yu Chiang delivered an RBI single of his own to make it 5-1 as the Brothers began to pull away.

In the biggest game of the season for the Brothers, Nivaldo Rodríguez came through. The Brothers’ ace went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts. He helped the Brothers take a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Song-En Tseng’s RBI double pushed the lead to 6-1, and Wei-Chen Wang’s second RBI single made it 7-1. Wei-Sheng Huang then drove in two more with an RBI single, giving him four RBIs on the night and the Brothers a 9-1 lead.

After tacking on three more runs in the eighth to make it 12-1 over the Hawks, the Brothers were three outs away from clinching the second-half title and eliminating the Rakuten Monkeys, the team that beat the Brothers for the CPBL championship last year.

After Hu Chen recorded the first two outs, CC Lee came on and induced a popup to Kun-Yu Chiang to clinch the second-half title for the Brothers.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the Brothers. After a 20-38-2 first half in which they finished last, allowed the most runs in the CPBL and scored the second fewest, they completely flipped the script in the second half.

They averaged five runs per game and allowed just 3.7 runs per game. While the pitching saw significant improvement, the offense carried the Brothers.

The Brothers will play the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in a best-of-five series beginning Friday at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Game 2 will be hosted by the Lions in Tainan. If necessary, the series will shift back to Taichung for Games 3 and 4.

Under league rules, the half-season champion will begin the series with a 1-0 lead and needs only two wins to advance. The Lions will need to win three of four games to advance.

The winner will advance to play the Wei Chuan Dragons in the Taiwan Series.

The matchup

In 24 regular-season matchups, the Brothers went 13-11 against the Lions, including 7-5 in the second half.

The Lions currently boast the best 1-2 pitching combination in the postseason. Former major league pitcher Jordan Balazovic made his CPBL debut this season and has been masterful. In 115 innings, Balazovic has a 1.72 ERA with 118 strikeouts.

Fellow Canadian pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn has been excellent as well for the Lions. He is tied for third in the CPBL with 150 2/3 innings and is second with a 1.61 ERA to go with 94 strikeouts.

While the Brothers benefit from an automatic 1-0 series lead, the Lions have a rotation capable of lifting them to the Taiwan Series.

Balazovic is the expected Game 1 starter for the Lions, with Dykxhoorn expected to start Game 2 and Jackson Stephens potentially going in Game 3.

The Brothers are led on the mound by a couple of foreign arms of their own.

Venezuelan pitcher Mario Sánchez led the CPBL with 154 2/3 innings and was second with 125 strikeouts. He enters the postseason at his best. In September and October, Sánchez had a 1.85 ERA in six appearances.

His fellow countryman, Nivaldo Rodríguez, has also been a workhorse for the Brothers. He is second in the CPBL in innings pitched at 154 and has 104 strikeouts and a 3.33 ERA.

Those two, along with José De Paula, lead a pitching staff that underwent a big turnaround in the second half.

Game 1 is Sunday, and if necessary, the series can extend to Oct. 12.

The Taiwan Series will begin Saturday, Oct. 17, between the Wei Chuan Dragons and either the CTBC Brothers or Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. The best-of-seven series will begin at the Taipei Dome in Taipei.

The Dragons will be the home team for five of the seven potential games.

Second-half standings

CTBC Brothers 36-24 — Clinched playoff berth as second-half winner
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions 34-26 — Clinched playoff berth
Rakuten Monkeys 33-27
Wei Chuan Dragons 28-32 — Clinched playoff berth as first-half winner
Fubon Guardians 25-35
TSG Hawks 24-36

Full-season standings

Wei Chuan Dragons 67-53
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions 64-55-1
Fubon Guardians 58-61
Rakuten Monkeys 57-60-2
CTBC Brothers 56-62-2
TSG Hawks 54-65-1