The Chinese Professional Baseball League’s first all-Taipei Dome Taiwan Series opens at 5:05 p.m. on October 17 with Wei Chuan Dragons ace John Gant facing CTBC Brothers playoff hero Mario Sanchez, a matchup that pits the league’s 1.49 ERA champion against the import who closed out the Uni-Lions in the deciding challenge series game.
Paths to the dome
Wei Chuan captured the first-half title and the best overall winning percentage, earning home-field advantage for Games 1, 2, and 5–7 in the best-of-seven series. The Brothers finished fifth in the full-season table but rode a second-half crown and a one-game playoff head start to beat the Uni-Lions 3–2, including an 8–2 clincher in Taichung on October 12.
It is the first Taiwan Series between the Dragons and Brothers, and the first time every championship game will be staged under the dome’s roof—a scheduling choice CPBL officials said would simplify travel and maximize television windows.
Starter profiles
Gant told reporters at the dome practice day that he is excited simply to reach the Taiwan Series, regardless of which game he starts. Against the Brothers this season he is 2–0 with a 2.19 ERA in four outings. Sanchez, meanwhile, posted a 2.61 ERA versus Wei Chuan and dominated the Uni-Lions in Game 1 of the challenge round with seven one-run innings.
Rosters announced on October 16 list three foreign pitchers per club, with the Dragons leaving two-time home run champion Li Kuang-hui off the 32-man sheet—a surprise given his past postseason production. Brothers manager Liu Wei-yue tapped Sanchez for the opener after Pan Wei-lun’s playing career ended in 2024, shifting the marquee mound role to younger arms.
Fan and broadcast footprint
Chunghwa Telecom remains the series title sponsor for a sixth consecutive year, with games on MOD, Hami Video CPBL TV, and radio partners. Dome tickets sold through the league’s app sold out within minutes for the weekend slots, prompting secondary-market warnings from consumer authorities.
Series stakes
A 4–1 or 4–0 Brothers run could crown a champion as early as October 21, while a seven-game slog would push Game 7 to October 25. For Taipei, the series is as much an infrastructure showcase as a sports event: the dome finally hosts every fall classic inning after years of neutral-site experiments in Taichung and Tainan.
Game 1’s pitching duel sets the tone—Gant’s precision against Sanchez’s postseason pedigree—before the series shifts nominal home sites without leaving the building. Baseball Taiwan has waited decades for a dragon-elephant title round; it begins under one roof on Saturday evening.