Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's two-run home run in the top of the ninth broke a 6-all tie for Team Taiwan as it beat the President Lions 8-7 in exhibition action on Friday.
The veteran long ball slugger who is no stranger to playing the hero in international competition with notable contributions in last year's Baseball World Cup and the Asian Baseball Championship, held nothing back in crushing an offering from Lions reliever Lin Yueh-ping over the right-field wall for an opposite-field blast to give his team its first lead on the night at 8-6.
Even though the home Lions answered with a run of their own off Team Taiwan closer Luo Jia-ren after loading up the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, Luo got a key double play from his infield to collect two quick outs before retiring the final Lions batter with a game-ending strikeout to earn the victory.
singles and doubles
While the Lions relied on a slew of singles and doubles to score their runs, Team Taiwan used three homers to plate seven of the eight runs on the night, starting with Lin Tseh-hsuen's two-run shot in the top of the fifth that brought the national squad to within a run of the Lions at 3-4, Lin Chih-sheng's three-run blast that tied the game up at 6-all in the eighth, before the Prince's two-run dinger put his team ahead.
"It was quite a relief for the hitters to finally come around, given the lack of run production we've experienced over the first three games," Team Taiwan head coach Hong Yi-chung said after the game, referring to Team Taiwan's recent games.
Needing little time to get to Team Taiwan starter Cheng Kai-wen, the Lions drew first blood in the bottom of the first when Kuo Dai-chi doubled off Cheng and scored on a grounder up the middle on the ensuing play to grab an early 1-0 lead.
Australian
Team Taiwan countered with a run in the third off Lions starter Gregory Wiltshire of Australia to even things up at 1-1, only to see Cheng allow two more runs to cross in the bottom of the same inning with three straight base hits and another run in the fourth to trail the Lions 1-4 in a disappointing performance.
Both teams traded a pair of runs in the fifth to keep the Lions lead at 6-3 over the next two innings before Lin Chih-sheng's three-run blast forced the third tie in the game at 6-6 to set the stage for Chang's ninth-inning magic.
Earning the win for Team Taiwan with three innings of perfect relief, including six strikeouts, was left-hander Nee Fu-deh who entered the game in the sixth trailing 3-6 and kept the Lions off the board through the eighth to give his offense a chance to rally from behind.
As for the Lions, the shaky effort by the bullpen masked a solid start from Wiltshire which brought praise from skipper Lu Wen-sheng.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS