2015 Taiwan Series

The 2015 Taiwan Series was a rematch of the 2014 Taiwan Series, in which the Lamigo Monkeys had topped the Chinatrust Brothers. Lamigo defended their title by rallying from 3 games to 1 to end with a historic game 7. Chih-Sheng Lin was named Taiwan Series MVP.

Teams

Lamigo Monkeys

The Monkeys were managed by I-Chung Hong. They cruised to a 37-23 first half but fell to 31-29 in the second half, similar to in 2014. They had three explosive batters in SS Chih-Sheng Lin (.380/.469/.689, 31 HR, 106 R, 124 RBI, 2nd in average), 1B Chun-Hsiu Chen (.335/.401/.589, 25 HR, 118 RBI) and DH Hung-Yu Lin (.353/.443/.581, 24 HR, 101 RBI, 4th in average), who ranked 2nd through 4th in the league in home runs and 2nd, 3rd and 5th in RBI. IF Chih-Ping Lin (.305/.373/.384) led the 2015 CPBL with 32 steals. Jared Lansford (16-7, 4.15) tied for the league lead in wins while Pat Misch (6-1, 2.96), Chris Seddon (4-1, 3.56) and Po-Yu Lin (5-2, 13 Sv, 3.96) also pitched well.

Chinatrust Brothers

The Brothers were guided by Fu-Lien Wu. They were 27-33 in the first half but won the second half with a strong 36-23-1 record. They had a more balance offense with contributions from LF Ssu-Chi Chou (.349/.414/.528, 15 HR, 5th in average), 1B Cheng-Min Peng (.320/.414/.394), RF Cheng-Wei Chang (.335/.408/.423, 85 R) and CF Chih-Hao Chang (.297/.356/.523, 14 HR). Bryan Woodall (5-1, 3.45) and Kai-Wen Cheng (10-4, 3.50) were the top starts while Hung-Wen Chen (6-3, 24 Sv, 2.95) was an effective closer and led the league in saves.

Games

• October 18: Monkeys 8, Brothers 6. In front of over 19,000 fans, the Monkeys fall behind 2-0 as Misch starts slowly, but they rally in the 4th against Victor Garate (9 H, 6 R in 4 IP, L). RF Po-Jung Wang homers, LF Yao-Hsun Yang has a two-run single and DH Hung-Yu Lin hits a three-run home run and they do not look back. Misch settles down for the win with 3 runs in 7.
• October 19: Brothers 6, Monkeys 5. Chinatrust started strong again, scoring three runs in the first off Cesar Valdez, with a two-run homer by 3B Chih-Hsien Chiang. They led 4-1 into the 4th when Mike McClendon faded and Lamigo evened up then took the lead. The Brothers tied it again at 5 in the 7th then scored the winning run in the 8th when 1B Chi-Hung Hsu hit into a run-scoring double play. Hung-Wen Chen pitched two scoreless innings to wrap it up with the save. Yu-Hsun Chen gets the loss and Jung-Hao Hsieh the win. RF Cheng-Wei Chang has 4 hits and DH Peng had 3.
• October 20: Brothers 9, Monkeys 8. Chinatrust wins another high-scoring game by one, this time in 11 innings, despite strong games from Lamigo 2B Chih-Sheng Lin (5 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI) and DH Hung-Yu Lin (4 for 6, 3 RBI). Chia-Ming Tu gets the win, Po-Yu Lin the loss.
• October 21: Brothers 12, Monkeys 7. The Brothers won their third straight, torching game 1 victor Misch and 6 relievers. Garate got the win despite 11 hits and 7 runs in 6 1/3 IP. RF Cheng-Wei Chang and 3B Chih-Hsien Chiang each had 3 hits for Chinatrust, Chiang driving in 3. I na losing cause, CF Chih-Yao Chan had 3 hits for Lamigo.
• October 22: Monkeys 9, Brothers 2. The Monkeys stayed alive with a convincing win today. Yi-Cheng Wang threw a 7-hit complete game to stop the hot offense of Chinatrust, while 2B Chih-Sheng Lin (4 H), LF Yao-Hsun Yang and DH Hung-Yu Lin all go deep for Lamigo among 16 hits. McClendon takes the loss with 9 hits and 6 runs in six innings. DH Cheng-Min Peng hits an inside-the-park home run for the Brothers, the first such home run in Taiwan Series annals. Chih-Sheng Lin's home run was his 10th career Taiwan Series homer, breaking Min-Ching Lo's record.
• October 24: Monkeys 5, Brothers 4. Lamigo ties the Series, recovering from a rough start from Valdez (3 R in 2 2/3 IP) as Lansford allows two hits and no runs in 5 innings of relief to get the win. Woodall carries a 3-2 lead into the 4th when Lamigo ralleys to take the lead on a two-run double by RF Po-Jung Wang. DH Hung-Yu Lin (2 for 2, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI) and 3B De-Long Yu (3 for 4, 2 RBI) lead Lamigo's offense. Po-Yu Lin gets the save, fanning two in the 9th. RF Cheng-Wei Chang scores 3 runs for the losing cause.
• October 25: Monkeys 11, Brothers 0. Misch turns in the first no-hitter in Taiwanese post-season history and in Lamigo history in an amazing game 7 performance. Only a walk to 1B Peng cost him a perfect game. It was the most lopsided finale in Series history. Lamigo bangs out 17 hits against 7 Chinatrust hurlers. 2B Chih-Sheng Lin hits a two-run homer to get things going in the first and finishes the Series with 14 hits, 11 RBI, 3 home runs and 7 runs to win his second Series MVP, having won in 2011; he joins Min-Ching Lo and Luther Hackman as two-time winners. Yen-Wen Kuo has 3 hits, two runs and two RBI for Lamigo.