Fubon Guardians' Chiang Kuo-hao Shines Again as 'Universal Right Arm' in Emergency Start

(Central News Agency, Reporter Su Chih-yu, Taipei, 7th) The CTBC Fubon Guardians faced an unexpected situation yesterday when their scheduled starting pitcher was suddenly unable to play due to injury. Chiang Kuo-hao stepped in as an emergency replacement, pitching 4 innings and allowing 2 runs, once again polishing his 'Universal Right Arm' reputation. Laughing, Chiang, who wants to keep pitching, said, 'I know this one.'

Guardians' Japanese pitcher Suzuki Shunsuke was scheduled to start against the Uni-President 7-ELEVEn Lions yesterday. The stadium's big screen still showed him as the starter at the top of the 1st inning. However, it was Chiang Kuo-hao who took the mound in the bottom of the 1st. The reason was that Suzuki Shunsuke had suffered a cut on the middle finger of his right hand during pre-game warm-ups and could not play.

Chiang is no stranger to stepping in when a starting pitcher has issues, but this was his first time doing so under such urgent circumstances. About 15 minutes before the game started, pitcher Tseng Chun-yueh ran over to relay the coach's order for him to prepare. His first reaction was, 'Me? What happened?' After learning of the emergency, he had to change his warm-up routine, opting to pitch in the bullpen first before stretching, all to ensure he could make it to the mound in time.

After taking the mound, Chiang faced scoring threats in each of the first four innings but held the Lions scoreless. He was pulled in the 5th inning after giving up a hit and a walk, and the runners he left on base eventually scored. Chiang commented, 'There were really a lot of things happening yesterday. I got a nosebleed in the 2nd inning, and after the 4th, I felt like I was about to cramp. But I felt I could keep pitching; I had gotten through the earlier crises.'

Even though it was a last-minute start, Chiang showed immense responsibility. 'My strategy was to let them hit the ball and try to eat up as many innings as possible with the fewest pitches. I felt I could have pitched even more innings.'

Interestingly, before today's game, Lions manager Lin Yueh-ping specifically came to talk to Chiang. Chiang relayed that Lin joked, 'You should have been taken out after the 4th inning. You made us go so many innings without scoring; I almost wanted to punch the wall.'

Suzuki Shunsuke bought drinks for the pitching staff today, with his greatest gratitude reserved for Chiang Kuo-hao. Suzuki said, 'Due to my own poor management, I really caused a lot of trouble for the other pitchers, especially Kuo-hao, who wasn't scheduled to pitch but stepped in for me.'

Regarding his finger injury, Suzuki stated that the skin suddenly split during pre-game catch. 'I've never experienced this before. If there was a way to stop the bleeding, I would have wanted to pitch.' He estimated it would take about three days to heal, after which he should be able to resume pitching. (Editor: Chen Jen-hua) 1150607