Cristopher Mercedes Dominates as Wei Chuan Dragons Win 2026 Taiwan Series

TAIPEI — The Wei Chuan Dragons are champions of Taiwan after Cristopher Mercedes delivered eight scoreless innings in a 6-0 victory over the CTBC Brothers in Game 6 of the Taiwan Series on Monday, October 26.

The Dragons won the best-of-seven championship series 4-2, securing the sixth title in franchise history and their second since returning to the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2021. They also became the first CPBL club to celebrate a championship at the Taipei Dome.

Mercedes controls the clincher

Mercedes retired the first 10 batters he faced and did not allow a hit until the sixth inning. The left-hander finished with 100 pitches, permitting only two hits and one walk while striking out six.

That performance earned Mercedes both the Game 6 MVP award and Taiwan Series MVP honors. He had also beaten the Brothers in Game 2, when he allowed one run across six innings in a 3-1 Dragons victory.

The outing was exactly what Wei Chuan needed after CTBC had won Games 4 and 5 to cut a 3-0 series deficit to 3-2. The Brothers arrived at Game 6 with momentum and the possibility of forcing a decisive seventh game, but Mercedes never allowed the comeback to gain another step.

Five-run eighth breaks Game 6 open

Wei Chuan took the lead in the third inning. Li Kai-wei was hit by a pitch, Kuo Tien-hsin singled, and Chang Cheng-yu drove in the opening run with a timely hit.

The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the eighth, when the Dragons finally separated. Four consecutive hits produced two runs, Liu Chun-wei added a sacrifice fly and catcher Chiang Shao-hung launched a two-run home run to complete a five-run inning.

Lin Tzu-yu recorded the first two outs of the ninth before closer Lin Kai-wei induced the final groundout. Red streamers then filled the Taipei Dome as 38,178 fans watched the Dragons complete the title run.

A sixth championship for Wei Chuan

The Dragons won four championships during their original CPBL era from 1990 through 1999. After the franchise disbanded, Wei Chuan returned to Taiwan’s top professional league in 2021 and won its fifth championship in 2023.

Monday’s victory added another chapter to that revival. Wei Chuan won the first three games of the series, weathered two CTBC wins and then answered with its most complete performance of the postseason: eight dominant innings from Mercedes, late power and a shutout in the clincher.

The Brothers’ Mario Sanchez took the loss despite limiting the Dragons to one run over five innings. Sanchez had started Game 1 and later worked 4 1/3 scoreless relief innings in CTBC’s extra-inning Game 4 victory, but the Dragons finally broke through against the Brothers’ bullpen in the eighth.

For Wei Chuan, the enduring image is a Taipei Dome covered in red as the Dragons lifted the 2026 Taiwan Series trophy — the first championship celebration in the stadium’s history.