Hsieh Ming-tsong’s walk-off single with two outs and runners at the corners scored the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth as the Sinon Bulls rallied for two runs to edge past the Uni-President Lions 8-7 at the Yilan County Baseball Stadium in Luodong on Saturday evening.
The win not only set the hapless Lions further back in the standings with their sixth straight defeat, but also nipped Lin Yueh-ping’s recent streak of consecutive innings without allowing a run at 11-and-one-third as the normally sure-handed closer blew just his third save in 15 chances to lose the heartbreaker.
It was the third one-run loss that the defending champs had suffered in their last five games, leaving many wondering if they could ever regain the winning form that led to back-to-back titles in the last two seasons and a first-place finish in the first half of this season.
The Lions needed a two-run single by Chen Lien-hong to turn a 5-6 deficit into a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh and thought they had the game wrapped up when Lin took the mound with the narrow lead to start the fatal ninth.
But that would not be the case as the Bulls rose to the occasion one final time in a game that featured four different lead changes to prevail in the end.
BEARS 3, ELEPHANTS 1
Homering for the second time in as many games, Lin Chih-sheng led the La New Bears past the Brother Elephants at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu on Saturday.
Even though the Bears did not score 15 or more runs in the game like they had done in their previous two contests — missing an opportunity to set a new league record for three straight games with 15 or more runs scored — it was a solid win for them nonetheless. The Bears rang up a pair of runs off Elephants starter and former Major Leaguer Tsao Chin-hui in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead and held on for their sixth win in a row.
BOOT TO FACE: Wilfried Singo said that his actions were not intentional, ‘but I was able to see afterwards that’ the ’keeper had a significant face injury Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win away against AS Monaco, but lost goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a gruesome facial injury. The bloodied Italy international was left requiring 10 staples after sustaining lacerations to the right side of his face when he was caught by the studs of Monaco defender Wilfried Singo. “I don’t know if the referee was badly positioned, but VAR [video assistant referee] needed to intervene, you have to protect the players,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “To not give a red in a situation like
Cheng Chen Chin-mei on Saturday beamed broadly as she hoisted a 35kg weightlifting bar to her waist, dropped it and waved confidently to the enthusiastic crowd in a competition in Taipei. Cheng Chen, 90, has been pumping iron since last year, encouraged by her granddaughter to take up the sport after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She credits the regimen with helping to fix her posture. Three generations of her family were among a couple of hundred people watching Cheng Chen and 44 others aged 70 or older in the weightlifting competition. In the three-round event, Cheng Chen lifted as much as
Zach LaVine on Thursday scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 117-108 upset victory against defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics, while LeBron James once again made history. LaVine went 11-of-19 from the floor and made six three-pointers while adding six rebounds and four assists for the Bulls, who improved to 13-15 for the season. “We’re a good team,” LaVine said. “We’re competitive and we’re a resilient group.” Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17 points for the Bulls, while Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter to rally past
Teenage sensation Luke “The Nuke” Littler on Saturday set a tournament record with a 140.91 set average as he secured a second-round win in the PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-1 victory over fellow Englishman Ryan Meikle late. The 17-year-old came close to winning the World Championship in January, but lost in the final to Luke Humphries. Now, he has started the latest edition on a high note. Tournament favorite Littler fired in four maximum 180s, while winning three consecutive legs in 11, 10 and 11 darts, setting a record set average and finishing with an overall average of 100.85. “It was