2024 CPBL Playoff Series

The 2024 CPBL Playoff Series featured the Rakuten Monkeys against the Uni-President Lions, it was a rematch of last year.

Teams

Uni-President Lions

The Lions led the first half of the 2024 CPBL season at 37-23-0 but slumped to 29-30-1 in the second half under manager Yueh-Ping Lin. They had two solid starters - ERA title winner Rui-Yang Gu Lin (10-2, 1.66) and strikeout leader Mario Sanchez (14-5 2.49). Their lineup was also solid. They had two elite hits machines as Chih-Cheng Chiu (.326/.418/.427) and Chieh-Hsien Chen (.334/.421/.417) were both in the top 3 of the batting title leaderboard, and An-Ko Lin (.257/.352/.461, 20 HR) had the most homers among batters from all three postseason teams. Their bullpen was the weakness, as the only two reliable relievers were foreign import Hector Perez (13 HLD, 8 Sv, 1.50 ERA) and closer Hao-Chun Chiu (2.84 ERA, 6 Sv).

Rakuten Monkeys

On the other hand, the Monkeys had one of the most dominant bullpens in the league. Chih-Hsuan Wang (31 HLD, 1.49 ERA) broke the CPBL local pitcher holds record, and Bo-Hao Chen (29 Sv, 2.49 ERA) led the league in saves. Southpaw Kuan-Yu Chen (26 HLD, 1.97 ERA) and Hsin-Yen Chuang (11 HLD, 3.45 ERA) were also reliable. Their ace was Marcelo Martínez (13-3, 2.04 ERA), and Pedro Fernandez (10-8, 3.50 ERA) would be their other starter. Their leadoff hitter Chen-Wei Chen (.295/.338/.446, 30SB) led the league in steals, and Li Lin (.353/.404/.448, 19SB) won the batting title. Their top slugger was former MVP Yu-Hsien Chu (.295/.439/.423), who crushed 12 homers and led the team with 59 RBI.

Games

Game 1

October 12 at Taipei Dome (15,209)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rakuten Monkeys	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Uni-President Lions	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	1

Monkeys: Pedro Fernandez (L, 0-1)- Kuan-Yu Chen - Hsin-Yen Chuang

Lions: Ruei-Yang Gu Lin (W, 1-0) - Yun-Wen Chen (H, 1) - Hao-Chun Chiu (S, 1)

Home Runs

The Lions were staked to a 1-0 lead prior to the Series beginning, but the Monkeys were the first to score. After Yu-Hsien Chu's single, rookie CF Chia-Wei Lin couldn't catch Chih-Ping Lin's flyball. Lions ace Ruei-Yang Gu Lin then fanned Chien-Ting Feng, but Chieh-Sen Ma's sacrifice fly still drove in a run. Lin was tagged out at third on the same play, and the Lions challenged. However, it's ridiculous that there was no camera filming the entire stadium, so they were unable to determine whether Lin was out first or Chu scored first, and the call was upheld.

Uni-President answered back soon. Sheng-Ping Chen hit a leadoff single in the third inning, and Tzu-Chieh Lin completed a sacrifice bunt. Chia-Wei Lin then made up for his mistakes, hitting a timely single that tied the game. Gu Lin and Fernandez then dominated the batters, and it was a tie until the 7th inning. Slugger An-Ko Lin hit a double, and Chen saved his team again. He hit a RBI single, and that was the game-winning RBI. Closer Hao-Chun Chiu gave up a single to Chen-Wei Chen in the 9th inning, but he still closed the door and the Lions were a win away from returning to the Taiwan Series.

Game 2

October 13 at Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium (12,520)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Uni-President Lions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	11	0
Rakuten Monkeys	0	0	5	4	0	0	4	4	X	17	23	0

Lions: Logan Ondrusek (L, 0-1)- Tzu-Wei Lin - Chih-Wei Hu - Ching-Ming Wang - Shao-En Lin - Cheng-Yu Wu - Chun-Yen Huang

Monkeys: Marcelo Martínez (W, 1-0) - Wei-Cheng Huang - Chih-Hsuan Wang - Hung-Wen Chen - Chun-Chang Su

Home Runs Yu-Hsien Chu (1)

The Monkeys destroyed the Lions starter Logan Ondrusek in the 2nd inning. Chieh-Sen Ma, Min-Hsun Chang, Chen-Wei Chen and Chih-Ping Lin all hit a single, then Hung-Yu Lin cleared the bases with a double. Ondrusek was pulled out in that inning, but the Monkeys didn't stop, and they added another 5 runs in the 3rd inning. Former Major Leaguer Chih-Wei Hu only retired one while allowing three hits, and Ching-Ming Wang surrendered another two runs. Chen-Wei Chen was a homer shy from hit for a cycle, and Yu-Hsien Chu crushed a solo shot in the 8th inning. On the other hand, the Lions was dominated by Rakuten's ace Marcelo Martínez, and he threw six shutout innings with two strikeouts. Chih-Cheng Chiu prevented a shutout in the 9th inning with a timely single, but the Monkeys still easily took a win in the homefield. They set the CPBL record for most runs and most hits in a game of the Playoff Series.

Game 3

October 14 at Tainan Baseball Field (7,214)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rakuten Monkeys	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	5	7	3
Uni-President Lions	3	1	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	8	15	0

Monkeys: Matthew Kent (L, 0-1) - Chun-Wei Chiu - Tzu-Peng Huang - Hsin-Yen Chuang - Wei-Cheng Huang - Chih-Hsuan Wang - Kuan-Yu Chen

Lions: Mario Sanchez (W, 1-0) - Hector Perez - Hao-Chun Chiu - Yun-Wen Chen (S, 1)

Home Runs

In the win-or-go-home game, Rakuten's starter Matthew Kent was broke through in the first inning. Kent allowed five straight hits with 3 runs allowed, and he was replaced by Chun-Wei Chiu in the 2nd inning. The Lions had another chance to extend their lead in the 4th inning, after Chih-Cheng Chiu hit a double, but Chieh-Hsien Chen's grounder was caught by second baseman Tzu-Wei Lin's nice play. However, for a mysterious reason, first baseman Chih-Ping Lin intercepted Tzu-Wei's pass to first, and every runner was safe. Yung-Chi Chen then drove in a run with a fly ball, and Chieh-Kai Pan hit a RBI single. Pan then hit a double in the 6th inning, and he scored thanks to Chin-Lung Hu's RBI single. The Lions had a eight-run lead now.

Rakuten's lineup was completely silenced in the first half, and Lions starter Mario Sanchez brought his no-hitter into the 7th inning. The Monkeys finally woke up in the 7th inning. After Chen-Wei Chen's single broke up the no-hitter, they added four hits, and Li Lin's 2-run single reduced Uni-President's lead to 3 runs. Lions closer Hao-Chun Chiu was sent to the mound in the 9th inning, trying to close the game. However, he couldn't control his fastball, and he walked two after giving up a single to Cheng-Fei Lin. The Monkeys needed a homer to take back the lead, but Yun-Wen Chen struck out the next two batters, and the Lions advanced to the 2024 Taiwan Series.

Sources: Official CPBL site