Liu Tzu-chieh Hits Walk-off HR for First Career Homer, First in Team History, Leading Monkeys Past Dragons
Rakuten Monkeys' Liu Tzu-chieh hit a dramatic walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th, marking his first career home run and a historic first for the franchise.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 26, 2026 at 21:55
- 🔍 Collected: April 26, 2026 at 22:01 (6 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 26, 2026 at 22:05 (3 min after Collected)
In a dramatic match at the Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium on the 26th, the Rakuten Monkeys secured a 3-2 victory over the Wei Chuan Dragons. The game was a pitcher's duel early on, with Monkeys' Pedro Fernandez and Dragons' Drew Gagnon both pitching 6 scoreless innings. The Monkeys broke the deadlock in the 7th with a 2-RBI single by He Pin-shih-jung. However, the Dragons fought back in the 9th, tying the game 2-2. In the bottom of the 9th, Liu Tzu-chieh led off with a home run off Chen Kuan-wei. This was Liu's first career home run, making him the 12th in CPBL history and the first in Monkeys' franchise history to have a first home run be a walk-off. Manager Tseng Hao-chu praised the growth of young players like Liu and He, noting their ability to perform under pressure. Fernandez finished with 6 innings, 1 hit, and 8 strikeouts, while the win was credited to reliever Chu Cheng-yang.