Lions and Brothers square off in CPBL Taiwan Series 2024
As another sold-out 40,000 fans packed the Taipei Dome to participate in the historic Game 1 of the Taiwan Series 2024, CTBC Brothers turned the table on the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions to take the first victory of the Series, 10-4.
In the historical first Taiwan Series game to be held in the Taipei Dome - a venue for next month’s WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS - the Brothers sent their two-time CPBL MVP of the Year (2020-2021) and outstanding player of Taiwan Series 2020, Jose DePaula, to the mound. DePaula has appeared in three Taiwan Series and has a 3-1 record with a 2.32 ERA.
The Lions also sent their ace Jui-Yang Gu-Lin, who went 10-2 with a 1.66 ERA in the season, to debut in the Taiwan Series before representing Chinese Taipei in the upcoming Premier12 which starts on 9 November.
The Lions struck early on against DePaula, scoring three times on three hits and an error, to take an early 3-0 lead. However, Lions Gu-Lin was taken out of the game after three innings due to back discomfort, and the Brothers jumped on the Lion's bullpen to tie the game and make it 9-3 after six innings. DePaula successfully shut down the Lions after the first inning and took his 4th Taiwan Series win.
The Lions won the CPBL 2024 first-half titleand advanced to the Taiwan Series after defeating the Rakuten Monkeys in the playoffs.
CTBC Brothers won the second-half title and earned a bye by having a higher winningpercentage than the Lions.
In the 2020 Taiwan Series, the Lions made the greatest comeback in Taiwan Series history by defeating the Brothers in seven games after being down 3-1. The Brothers gained revenge the next year by sweeping the Lions in the first leg of their back-to-back sweeping championship seasons.
The Lions currently own the most Taiwan Series titles with 10, while the Brothers are trailing by one with nine championship titles.
Game Two and Three of the best-of-seven Taiwan Series will be played at the Taipei Dome, while Game Four will be held at the Lions' home field in Tainan. The rest of the Series will return to the Brothers' home in the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.