Wei Chuan Dragons Secure 8th Straight Win; Manager Yeh Credits Woodall

The Wei Chuan Dragons defeated the CTBC Brothers 5-0 today, securing their 8th consecutive win and tying the second-best record in team history. During this streak, foreign pitchers have started seven of the games, with the last five consecutive starts also handled by foreign pitchers. Manager Yeh Chun-chang admitted that this is the benefit of having Bryan Woodall on the roster. Today's starter, Andrew Gagnon, escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, ultimately pitching six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. The bullpen combined for a shutout, marking the second consecutive shutout for the Brothers, who have now gone 19 consecutive innings without scoring since the final inning on the 22nd. Manager Yeh said in a post-game interview, "Gagnon started well, but perhaps the pitcher and catcher were overthinking later. Fortunately, he didn't give up any runs. He felt some back discomfort in the second inning, but it wasn't serious. I think he felt pressure to hold the lead while the team is on a roll." Among the starters during the 8-game winning streak, Tseng Jen-ho is the only local pitcher, with the team utilizing a "foreign pitcher rotation" in the last five games, taking advantage of the roster spot vacated by Marcelo Martinez, who was sent to the minors on the 23rd. Although the CPBL limits foreign player registration to four and active roster to three, Yeh pointed out that "because we have Bryan Woodall, who doesn't occupy a foreign player quota, we have this flexibility. We might have a chance to use five foreign starters before the end of the first half of the season." In the batting lineup, Chu Yu-hsien hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, his seventh of the season, to open the scoring. The Dragons added three runs in the sixth and one in the ninth. Chu said, "Home runs aren't something you can force. I just did my job. Everyone stepped up today. If the pitchers hadn't held them down, we would have been tied up." After the game, players cheered for Chen Tzu-hao. Chu explained, "Players encourage each other after games. When I was in a slump, everyone cheered for me. We have a common goal, which naturally creates this atmosphere."