Jose Leon's thunderous three-run homer off Bulls closer Kuo Yong-chih turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead in the top of the ninth and the Macoto Cobras held off a fierce Sinon Bulls rally in the bottom of the inning to take the 4-3 win in Sinjhuang on Wednesday evening.
The former major leaguer from Puerto Rico collected his third multi-RBI game in seven chances since joining the Cobras earlier this month to deliver the win that snapped a three-game losing streak.
His addition to the Cobras lineup should make the postseason quite interesting, as it may very well be the shot in the arm that the first-half champs need to remain competitive in the playoffs.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
They have recently not been able to replicate the kind of success they had been known for, with a league-worst 14-26 record during the second half.
The classic pitchers' duel between the Cobras' Andy Van Hekken and Bulls starter Alfredo Gonzalez had the teams battling to a 1-1 draw after the first three innings on Chou Si-chi's second-inning RBI double for the Cobras and a pair of defensive errors by the Cobras defense that led to the Bulls' first run in the bottom of the third.
Lin Tsung-nan's sacrifice fly to right following a leadoff triple by Chen Cheng-wei gave the Bulls their first lead of the game at 2-1 in the fourth, which stood until Leon's game-deciding swing in the top of the ninth.
Trailing 2-4, the Bulls managed to get one of the runs back in the bottom of the ninth on Lin Hsun-wei's two-out single that knocked in the runner from second. But that was as close as they would get as Huang Chin-chih came on and got the next hitter to groundout to short for the final out of the game.
Picking up his 11th win of the year with two-and-two-thirds innings of one-hit relief was Chang Hsien-chih, who gave up an unearned run in the ninth before Huang bailed him out with the tying run by preserving the win in the end with his second save of the season.
Tagged with the loss and a blown save was Bulls closer Kuo, who got two quick outs to start the ninth before running into a world of trouble by giving up a walk and a single before Leon's game-winning homer.
Whales 12, Bears 2
Scoring early and often, the Chinatrust Whales roughed up the La New Bears on the road for a 12-2 win in Kaohsiung on Wednesday night to hand the defending champs their third straight defeat.
The Whales wasted little time finding their groove against a wild Bears starter Andrew Lorraine, who issued four walks on top of a pair of extra-base hits in just two-and-a-third innings with three quick runs that dealt Lorraine his first loss in six starts since joining the Bears early last month.
In came lefty reliever Hsu Yu-wei, who got out of the third without further damage and pitched a scoreless fourth before letting the Whales have their way with a run each in the fifth and sixth to lead it 5-0.
The Bears offense finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth against the stellar pitching of Whales starter Lorenzo Barcelo by loading up the bases to set up Jiang Chih-tsong's sacrifice fly that made it 5-1.
A five-run eighth by the Whales, highlighted by game-MVP Kao Jung-chiang's three-run blast and Chen Jia-hong's two-run shot, blew the game wide open.
Even though the Bears' Huang "Easy" Long-yi would counter with his ninth homer of the season, a solo shot off Whales setup man Du Chang-wei in the bottom of the same inning, it was too little too late as the Bears tacked on two more runs in the ninth to complete the massacre.
Barcelo was credited with his seventh victory of the year for holding a potent Bears lineup to an unearned run on four hits over six outstanding innings to even his season mark at 7-7.
Getting ahead of the hitters on the count was the key to success for the Dominican right-hander, as it allowed him to throw the hard slider that forced the hitter to bite more often than not.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
RSS