Guardians Hit By Fourth Defeat In As Many Days

Henry Sosa - winding up

On a balmy Saturday evening in southern Taiwan, Fubon Guardians’ ace pitcher Henry Sosa went into his 9th game of the season hoping to lift the team from Xinzhuang in New Taipei to a 16W-19L record after three consecutive defeats on the road.

Coming into the game with a 4-2 record off 8 starts, and an ERA well under 5.00, a number most starters in Taiwan would be glad to dip below, Sosa’s head to head with the Uni-Lions Josh Roenicke (0-3) should on paper at least have been a rather one-sided affair.

Things did not go according to script, however, with the Lions holding out till the 5th inning before the Guardians brought 2 runners home.

A scrappy Guardians bullpen performance following Sosa’s departure after the Dominican pitched into the 6th inning for Fubon, giving up just 2 hits on 6 strike-outs, saw the Lions manage to claw 3 back by the end of the 8th.

No further runs were added, giving the home team a 3-2 win on the night, and leaving the Guardians with a dismal 15W-20L record ahead of a home series against the in-form CTBC Brothers from Tuesday.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.