Chen Lien-hong homered for the second-straight game, Nelson Figueroa pitched eight effective innings of two-run ball and the President Lions topped the Sinon Bulls 6-4 in Tainan on Wednesday evening to win their seventh in a row.
The runners-up in last year's Taiwan Series are peaking at the right time and increased their lead over the second-placed La New Bears to three-and-a-half games heading into the final week of the regular season.
The visiting Bulls went 2-0 up early on with a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly by cleanup man Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan and Chang Jien-ming's RBI single up the middle in the top of the third.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
That lead was erased by the bottom of the third, when the Lions strung three consecutive singles together off Sinon starter Kurita Yusuke to even things up at 2-2. They then pulled away with four unanswered runs over the next five frames, highlighted by Chen's solo blast in the fifth and Kao Guo-ching's two-run triple in the eighth to lead 6-2.
Trailing by four, the Bulls scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth by leading off the inning with a pair of base hits to place runners on second and third with no outs against Tsao Jung-yang and knocking in both on a wild pitch by the Lions closer and an RBI groundout from Lin Tsung-nan. But that was as close as they got, as Tsao settled in and retired the final two Bulls to secure the win.
Picking up his third win in as many starts was Figueroa, who is unbeaten at 3-0 since his Taiwan debut on Sept. 15th. He allowed two runs on nine hits while fanning five and walking two.
Suffering the loss on behalf of the Bulls was Kurita, who ran up the pitch count to 110 in just five-and-a-third innings of work with four runs on seven hits and was pulled from the game earlier than he would have liked.
Elephants 7, Whales 3
Winning their third-straight game for only the second time in this rebuilding year, the Brother Elephants bested the Chinatrust Whales 7-3 in Sinjhuang on Wednesday -- virtually eliminating the Whales from postseason play in the process.
As was the case with the game between the Bulls and the Lions, the losing team struck first as the Whales' Shih Jin-sho connected for a two-out single off Brother starter Liao Yu-cheng for a 2-0 lead in the top of the second.
Those turned out to be the only runs that Liao would give up in seven solid innings as he two-hit the Whales before being relieved in the eighth en route to his fourth win of the year.
Offensively for the Elephants, the heart of the order picked up the scoring slack on the night by going a combined 10-for-14 at the plate, with Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan grinding out four hits and Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-min and Chen Rei-chen chipping in three apiece to account for five of the seven runs scored.
Taking the loss for the Whales was starter Chu Wei-ming, who lasted only two innings on three runs and seven hits for his second setback of the year.
The Whales will need to run the table in their remaining six games and hope for the league-leading Lions to lose at least seven of their final nine to qualify for the playoffs, which start in about two weeks.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946