Taipei:John Gant delivered an outstanding performance, pitching eight scoreless innings to propel the Wei Chuan Dragons to a 3-0 victory over the CTBC Brothers in the opening game of the Chinese Professional Baseball League's Taiwan Series at Taipei Dome.
According to Focus Taiwan, the American right-hander allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out six batters over 100 pitches. His dominant showing earned him the Game 1 MVP honors and provided the Dragons with a 1-0 lead in the championship series.
Gant's impressive outing continued his regular-season success against the Brothers, where he maintained a 2-0 record with a 2.19 ERA over six starts. Over these games, he struck out 32 batters and allowed 25 hits and nine earned runs across 37 innings, with five of these starts being quality ones.
During the regular season, Gant achieved a 9-2 record, leading the league with a 1.49 ERA and 136 strikeouts. In Saturday's game, he faced Mario Sanchez, who ranked second in regular-season strikeouts with 125. Sanchez had previously secured a win against the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the Brothers' playoff opener but struggled against the Dragons, allowing three runs on six hits over seven innings.
The CTBC Brothers have historically struggled after losing the opener in the Taiwan Series, having been runners-up in all seven previous instances since 2009. This series marks the first Taiwan Series meeting between the Dragons and the Brothers and is the first to be played entirely at Taipei Dome. The best-of-seven series continues with Game 2 scheduled for 505 p.m. Sunday at the same venue.
