The Chinatrust Whales continued their unprecedented success by easily defeating the Brother Elephants 5-2 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tienmu on Sunday to remain unbeaten this season.
The once-troubled club, marred by a series of point-shaving incidents which led to the dismissal of several key players last season, has quietly turned into a championship-contending team under the leadership of Lin Min-cheng and manger Hsieh Chang-hen.
Nee Fu-deh's timely resurgence as a legitimate No. 2 starter and Shen Yu-jeh becoming a formidable force out of the bullpen to back up ace Steve Watkins of the US are also reasons why the Whales have had their best-ever start.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
And a quick start was exactly what the Whales had in mind on Sunday as they piled on five quick runs over the first three innings to overwhelm the Elephants.
After the Elephants drew first blood in the top of the first on Chen Guan-ren's RBI double to the opposite field, the Whales responded immediately in the bottom of the same inning, with red-hot slugger Kang Tseh-wei's run-scoring single equalizing the score.
Following Lin Chin-chang's solo home run off Elephants starter Yeh Yong-jeh that made it 2-1 in the bottom of the second, the Whales managed to blow the game wide open with three more runs in the third on four base hits off the Elephants pitching.
The 5-1 advantage was plenty for rookie starter Kao Jing-min, who surrendered a pair of runs on five hits over six strong innings to record his first career victory.
Suffering the loss for the Elephants was Yeh, who gave up all five of the Whales runs on eight hits in less than three innings of play to lose his first start of the season.
Bears 9, Lions 3
The La New Bears took advantage of a late-game collapse by the President Lions defense, scoring six runs (five unearned) over the final two innings to claim a 9-3 win over the defending champions in Kaohsiung on Sunday.
What had been a hard-fought 3-2 Bears lead through the seventh suddenly turned into a blowout with the Bears sending eight men to the plate against two different Lions hurlers for four runs in the eighth, before striking for two more in the ninth to seal the win.
Earning his first win of the seasonwas starter Mike Johnson of Canada who allowed a pair of runs on seven hits while fanning five and walking three over six frames.
‘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