National baseball league champions are getting their wish after decades. And the Weichen Dragons of the Taiwanese League have won their first title in 24 years.
The Weichen Dragons defeated the Rakuten Monkeys 6-3 in Game 7 of the 2023 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Taiwan Series at Tien Mu Baseball Stadium in Taipei on Wednesday. With the victory, Weichen won its first championship in 24 years since 1999.
In the Taiwanese League, which is divided into first and second divisions, Weichen finished first in the regular season and first in the second division to advance directly to the Taiwan Series. The Rakuten Monkeys followed suit, finishing third in the regular season and second in the postseason to advance to the Taiwan Series with a series win over the Tung Yi Lions.
It was the Weichen Club that took the first win of the Taiwan Series. In Game 1 on April 4, Weichen won 3-2. Rakuten then evened the series with a 4-0 win in Game 2 on May 5. Since then, the two teams have fought tooth and nail, and this season’s Taiwan series will go to a seventh game.토토사이트
Rakuten struck first in Game 7. In the first inning, Rakuten’s No. 4 hitter, Liao Jianfu, hit an RBI single to open the scoring. The Weichen Dragons answered right back. In the bottom of the first inning, Weichen scored the tying run on a single by Zhang Zhengyu, followed by back-to-back singles by Lin Xiaoqing and Zhang Xiaohong. Gao Xiaoyu followed with a two-run double, capping off a big inning that saw the team score a whopping five runs in the first inning alone. Rakuten added two more runs in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn’t enough to put the game out of reach.
The game was highlighted by a strong performance from Weichen’s starter, Drew Gagnon. Gagnon is no stranger to Korean baseball fans, having played for the KIA Tigers in the KBO in the 2020 season. He pitched six innings of three-run ball to help Weichen win the game. Former Kiwoom Heroes pitcher Jake Brigham also pitched the ninth inning to secure the win for Weichen.
On the same day, Taiwanese baseball expert Yun-Seok Kim told MHN Sports, “Weichuan won three consecutive league titles from 1997 to 1999. However, due to widespread match-fixing in the Taiwanese league, it became difficult for the parent company to operate the baseball team, and it was decided to disband the team in 1999.” “The team was reestablished in 2019 and won the championship on this day,” it added.
This season is different. It started with Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers winning the championship 62 years after its founding, and the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball winning the title after 38 years. The Taiwanese League’s Wei Chen also won their first title in 24 years.
Now, the LG Twins are in the mix. LG improved to 3-1 in the KBO’s Korean Series and are just one win away from their first title in 29 years.
Game 5 of the Korean Series between LG and the KT Wiz will be played at 6:30 p.m. on April 13 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.