Taipei: The Rakuten Monkeys triumphed over the CTBC Brothers with a narrow 2-1 victory on Sunday, marking the Brothers’ second consecutive defeat in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Taiwan Series at the Taipei Dome.

According to Focus Taiwan, Monkeys’ ace pitcher Pedro Fernandez from the Dominican Republic delivered a stellar performance, maintaining a scoreless streak through six innings. He eventually conceded a run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning, having allowed just three hits and two walks over 93 pitches. Fernandez’s efforts contributed significantly to the Taoyuan-based team’s advantage.

The Monkeys’ offensive strategy was spearheaded by leadoff batter Lin Li, who launched a home run off Brothers’ starter Brandon Leibrandt’s pitch in the opening at-bat, securing an early 1-0 lead. Lin’s home run was notable as it marked only the second leadoff homer in the 30-plus-year history of the CPBL’s Taiwan Series.

The Monkeys added to their lead with another run in the seventh inning, securing a 2-1 victory. Despite multiple opportunities to level the score in the eighth and ninth innings, the Brothers were thwarted by Monkeys’ relievers Chen Kuan-yu and closer Chu Cheng-yang, who executed crucial groundouts and double plays to keep the Brothers scoreless.

Historically, 16 out of 18 teams that have won the first two games in the best-of-seven Taiwan Series have gone on to claim the championship title. The Monkeys and the Brothers will take a day off on Monday before resuming the series for Game 3 on Tuesday at the Taipei Dome.