CPBL
Sweeping their four-game series against the La New Bears last week, the Macoto Cobras regained a share of the lead in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) standings (tied with the Sinon Bulls) as the final week of the first half of the CPBL season approaches.
After back-to-back wins on Tuesday and Wednesday behind the strong pitching of starters Yang Chi-jia and Hsu Chu-jien, respectively, the Cobras took no mercy against a sagging Bears staff by posting a pair of shutout victories over the weekend against their former Taiwan Major League brethrens.
PHOTO: MACOTO COBRAS
Friday's 5-0 blanking of the Bears in Hsinchu was led by power hitter Hsieh Jia-shien's red-hot bat that delivered three RBIs on a 2-for-4 night.
Hsieh went deep against Bears starter Chris Wright in the opening inning for a two-run home run to jumpstart the Cobras offense and followed with anther run-scoring single to right in the seventh inning.
On the mound for the surging serpents was lefty ace Lin Ying-jeh, whose three-hit gem marked his first complete-game shutout win of the year.
The aboriginal southpaw out of Taitung also struck out nine to up his league-leading total to 84 "Ks" this season.
Back from his brief stint in Japan with the Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball League, Wright scattered five runs (two earned) on eight hits over seven frames in a losing effort.
Cobras 6, Bears 0
Lin En-yu's 6-0 complete-game shutout victory over the Bears in Tienmu on Saturday was the perfect sequel to Lin Ying-jeh's masterpiece the night before as the Cobras rookie sensation also went the distance in another impressive outing.
The four-hit, complete-game shutout was especially sweet for Lin En-yu in that it was the second time in a month that he had denied the opposing squad of a scoring chance while going the distance for his team.
Leading the way for the Cobras attack on the night was slugger Mario Encarnacion of the Dominican Republic, who drove a fat pitch from Bears starter Matthew Beech over the left-field fence for a three-run homer, his 11th of the season.
Bulls 9, Lions 0
Taking three of four in their own four-game set against the President Lions last week were the Bulls, who lost the sole possession of the lead in the CPBL standings with the lone loss to the big cats in Game 2 of the doubleheader at Tainan on Sunday.
Following a hard fought 4-3 win over the home Lions last Monday that mathematically eliminated the Lions from contention for the first-half title, the Bulls overwhelmed the Lions on Saturday in a 9-0 final that gave Panamanian righty Lenin Picota his lead-best eighth win of the season.
Doing most of the damage from the batter's box for the Bulls was ever-hustling outfielder Tseng Hua-wei who lit up the Tainan sky with a 3-for-4 night, including his team-high five RBIs for the game. Tseng just missed hitting for the cycle by a home run as he belted a single, a double and a triple off three different Lions pitchers.
Bulls 4, Lions 1
Game 1 in Sunday's doubleheader at Tainan had the Bulls striking first in the top of the third on Tseng's solo homer off Lions starter Julio Manon for a quick 1-0 advantage.
Even though the Lions would answer in the bottom of the sixth on the strength of first baseman Kao Guo-ching's run-scoring single to make it 1-1, Manon was unable to keep his team in the game as he fell behind again in the very next inning when Bulls designated hitter Chen Tsung-fu knocked in two go-ahead runs with a liner up the middle after a wild pitch by Manon had advanced both runners to scoring position.
The raging Bulls would add another run in the eighth to make it 4-1, giving starter Osvaldo Martinez his eighth win of the season.
Lions 8, Bulls 2
The Lions spared themselves of an embarrassing series sweep at home by convincingly beating the Bulls 8-2.
Doug Linton won for the first time in nearly two months (over a seven-start span) with a solid performance on the mound.
The Lions' preseason ace allowed a run on six hits in eight innings as he finally got the run support that had been missing over his six previous starts (just 3.6 runs per game) to pocket the victory.
Major League
AP, Chicago, Illinois
Mark Prior's return from the disabled list was a sparkling success.
Prior allowed only one hit in six innings and retired 18 of his 19 batters Sunday, outpitching Jon Garland and sending the Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 victory over the White Sox.
Corey Patterson broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the sixth for the Cubs, who took two of three on the road to split the season series at three games apiece.
Making his first start since May 27, when a line drive fractured a bone in his right elbow, Prior (5-1) dominated the White Sox, who have the best record in baseball. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. After allowing a single to Pablo Ozuna in the third, Prior retired his final 10 batters.
Jerome Williams pitched two scoreless innings, and Ryan Dempster got three outs for his 11th save in 12 chances.
Trying to become the first 13-game winner in the majors, Garland (12-3) gave up two runs -- one earned -- and four hits in 7 1-3 innings.
Braves 8, Orioles 1
At Atlanta, Andruw Jones hit another home run, John Smoltz pitched his second consecutive complete game and Atlanta sent Baltimore to its fifth straight defeat.
Jones had two hits, including his major league-leading 24th homer, and drove in two runs as the Braves completed a three-game sweep. During Atlanta's 5-1 homestand, Jones had five homers and 11 RBIs.
Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro hit his 562nd home run, leaving him one behind Reggie Jackson for ninth on the career list.
Brian McCann had three hits and two RBIs for Atlanta. Rafael Furcal added a two-run triple.
Smoltz (8-5) opened with four perfect innings and improved to 5-1 in June with his 50th career complete game and third this year. He has pitched at least eight innings in five straight outings.
The right-hander allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked none for his fourth win in a row and third complete game in four starts.
Rodrigo Lopez (7-3) gave up seven hits and four runs in six innings, ending his streak of five straight wins.
Indians 4, Reds 3
At Cleveland, pinch-hitter Victor Martinez singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, leading Cleveland past Cincinnati.
The Indians completed interleague play with a major league-best 15-3 record and improved to 22-10 overall since May 21.
Bob Howry (5-2) got the final out of the eighth, and Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his 21st save in 24 chances.
David Weathers (4-1) took the loss.
Red Sox 12, Phillies 8
At Philadelphia, Manny Ramirez hit his 19th grand slam and drove in five runs, leading Boston over Philadelphia for its season-high seventh consecutive victory.
Ramirez tied Hall of Famer Eddie Murray for second place on the career grand slams list. Lou Gehrig holds the record with 23.
Boston blew a seven-run lead, but Mark Bellhorn hit a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning.
After Philadelphia rallied from a 7-0 deficit to tie the score at 8 in the seventh, Boston got four runs in its next at-bat off Rheal Cormier (2-2), including Jason Varitek's two-run homer.
Mike Timlin (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Astros 3, Rangers 2, 10 innings
At Houston, Andy Pettitte pitched nine strong innings and Morgan Ensberg singled home the winning run in the 10th, giving Houston a victory over Texas.
Juan Dominguez (0-2) walked Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman to start the 10th before Ensberg slapped his game-ending single to left.
Chad Qualls (3-3) pitched a hitless 10th for the win.
Twins 5, Brewers 2
At Milwaukee, rookie Luis Rodriguez hit his first major league home run and Kyle Lohse became just the second Minnesota starter in 13 games to get a win, leading the Twins past Milwaukee.
Rodriguez, who turns 25 on Monday, hit a two-run homer in the first that barely cleared the wall in the left-field corner and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.
Lohse (6-6) snapped a personal three-game losing streak despite allowing at least a hit in each of his six innings.
Milwaukee starter Victor Santos (2-8) allowed five runs on 10 hits.
Padres 5, Mariners 4
At San Diego, Damian Jackson homered twice and had four hits, and Xavier Nady homered for the third straight game to lead San Diego over Seattle.
Jackson's second homer, on a 3-1 pitch from Julio Mateo (2-3) leading off the eighth, broke a 4-4 tie. Jackson also hit his third career leadoff homer, off Joel Pineiro. He has three homers this year.
Rudy Seanez (4-0) pitched the eighth, stranding a runner on third. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances, and the 413th of his career.
Athletics 16, Giants 0
At Oakland, California, Nick Swisher hit a pair of two-run homers, Rich Harden (4-3) threw seven innings of one-hit ball and Oakland swept a three-game series from San Francisco for the first time.
The A's matched the franchise record for largest margin of shutout victory, most recently on May 23, 1959, against the White Sox as the Philadelphia A's. It broke the Oakland record for biggest shutout win -- the previous was 15 on Aug. 30, 2001, at Baltimore.
It was the largest shutout defeat in San Francisco history and matched its biggest loss, which last happened in a 19-3 home defeat against Montreal on May 7, 1997.
Brett Tomko (5-10) lost his third straight decision. He lasted just 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the year.
Angels 5, Dodgers 3
At Anaheim, California, Garret Anderson hit a two-run double in the eighth to drive in the go-ahead runs and give him 1,000 RBIs in his career, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the Dodgers to complete a sweep of the three-game interleague series.
Darin Erstad started the winning rally with a single off Kelly Wunsch (1-1) to snap an 0-for-14 drought. Duaner Sanchez relieved Wunsch and gave up a single to Vladimir Guerrero before Anderson doubled off the right-center field fence.
Brendan Donnelly (5-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the victory, and Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his second save in as many games and 14th in 16 chances.
Pirates 5, cardinals 4
Jason Bay hit a pair of game-tying home runs and Jose Castillo hit a tiebreaking shot in the 10th inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bay had four RBIs for the Pirates, who earned a split in the four-game series and beat the Cardinals for only the second time in 16 meetings after losing the previous two games by a combined score of 16-1.
Bay's three-run shot tied the game at 3 in the third, and he tied it again with his 15th homer leading off ninth against Jason Isringhausen, who blew only his second save opportunity in 23 chances.
Castillo lined his fifth homer, and second in four days, on an 0-1 pitch from Al Reyes (2-1) leading off the 10th.
The Cardinals had runners on first and third with one out in the ninth before John Grabow (2-0) got pinch hitter Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds to foul out to the catcher.
Jose Mesa got the last three outs for his 19th save in 22 chances and the 311th of his career, passing Goose Gossage on the career list and tying Tom Henke for 14th overall.
NPB
AP, Tokyo
Catcher Tomoya Satozaki hit a pair of homers and rookie Yasutomo Kubo went the distance Sunday as the Chiba Lotte Marines downed the Orix Buffaloes 5-0 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Satozaki gave the Marines a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth at Skymark Stadium with a two-run homer off Orix starter Jeremy Powell.
Benny Agbayani doubled the lead in the eighth inning with a two-run homer and Satozaki made it 5-0 in the top of the ninth with a solo shot.
Kubo scattered eight hits while striking out two Orix batters for his second complete-game shutout of the season.
Powell took the loss after giving up four runs on nine hits over eight innings.
The Marines went into Sunday's game tied for first place in the Pacific League standings with the surging Softbank Hawks. The two teams open a key two-game series today at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Golden Eagles 16, Lions 9
At Nagano Olympic Stadium, Yasuo Nagaike hit a two-run homer as the Rakuten Eagles scored seven runs in the top of the 10th inning on their way to a 16-9 win over the Seibu Lions in a game that lasted over five hours.
Kazuo Fukumori, who worked a scoreless ninth inning, was the eventual game winner and improved to 4-1 on the season.
SWALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 1
In the Central League, Akinori Iwamura went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 3-1 win over the Yokohama BayStars at Akita Stadium.
Masanori Ishikawa picked up the win after holding the BayStars to one run on seven hits over seven innings. Hirotoshi Ishii retired the side in the ninth for his 17th save of the season.
TIGERS 8, GIANTS 2
At Koshien Stadium, Makoto Imaoka hit a solo homer as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers scored five runs in the in the bottom of the fourth on their way to an 8-2 win over the Yomiuri Giants.
Naohisa Sugiyama gave two runs on nine hits over six innings.
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