Dragons Defeat Fernandez; Manager Yeh Quips: 'He's Lonely Without Hsu Jo-hsi'

(Central News Agency, Taipei, 16th) The Wei Chuan Dragons scored 3 runs off Pedro Fernandez today, and with their own starting pitcher Tseng Jen-ho giving up only 1 run in 6 innings, they defeated the Rakuten Monkeys 3-1. Dragons' manager Yeh Chun-chang pointed out Fernandez's declining performance, suggesting it might be because he misses Hsu Jo-hsi, making him a bit lonely.

The Dragons have historically had the upper hand against Fernandez. Today, in the bottom of the 1st inning, they scored a run with three consecutive hits from Kuo Tien-hsin, Chu Yu-hsien, and Liu Chun-wei, followed by another run on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the 2nd, a double by Lin Hsiao-cheng and a single by Kuo Tien-hsin efficiently added another run. This led to Fernandez, who gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, suffering his 7th career loss against the Dragons (against 4 wins).

Fernandez had many misplaced pitches today, and his velocity was not as high as usual. In a post-game media interview, Yeh Chun-chang stated: 'Maybe it's because he's missing the competition with Hsu Jo-hsi. From my perspective, when he faced Jo-hsi before, his velocity would increase.' Now that Hsu Jo-hsi has moved to the Japanese league, 'He's a bit lonely, the atmosphere isn't there yet.'

In his career, Fernandez has faced Hsu Jo-hsi on the same mound 3 times in the regular season, plus one game in the championship series. Each pitcher earned one win, with the other two games having no decision for either. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150516