Not even the hottest soap opera could compete with the drama that was on the CPBL stage last week, as we take a look at three series that had a little bit of something to suit everyone's taste.
The storyline of the week was: Can the 27-year-old Sinon Bulls third-baseman Chang "Prince of the forest" Tai-shan (
Having hit one out of the park on Saturday night in front of a home crowd of over 10,000 against Brother Elephants ace Jonathan Hurst, Chang filled the Taichung Stadium again on Sunday with another sold-out crowd eagerly awaiting the making of baseball history. Unfortunately, he had no home runs and ended up going one-for-five in a 14-4 losing effort against the Elephants, but did bring all those watching to their feet with a fly ball deep to right-center in the seventh, which was caught on the warning track by a back-pedaling Elephants center-fielder Chen Chih-yuen (
Overshadowed initially by the hype related to Chang's approach to the century mark, then by his second defeat of the season, was Bulls starter Osvaldo Martinez's own version of history-making. Martinez retired Elephants second baseman Feng Hseng-shian (馮勝賢) in the third inning to record his 856th career strikeout, surpassing the league record of 855 set by former President Lions pitcher and current Lions manager Hsieh Chang-hehn (謝長亨).
The win clinched the three-game series 2-to-1 for the Elephants against a strong Bulls.
The Makoto Gida did the near impossible in Kaohsiung by winning games three and four against the league-leading Lions, 8-2 and 4-2, respectively, to tie the series at two games apiece.
Down two games to zip going into Friday night's contest, Gida starter Tsai Shih-ching (蔡士勤) held back a powerful Lions lineup, that had averaged nearly seven runs per game, to just two runs on four hits in a complete-game outing.
The Gida continued their winning ways on Saturday against by holding the Lions to just two runs in a 4-2 affair.
Cheng Jing-yi (
The First Securities Agan managed to prevent the three-game series sweep by the ChinaTrust Whales with a 3-all tie on Sunday. Unlike games one and two against the Whales, where the Agan lost both games by a whopping combined score of 26-to-4, Sunday night's game in Hsinchuang went down the wire. The Agan took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, only to see it vanish, courtesy Whale designated hitter Tseng Han-chou's (
"It's one of those games where you wish you could catch a break," Agan starter Greg Bicknell said.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
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