Clutch hitting on the part of the Brother Elephants, coupled with two devastating errors by the La New Bears defense, lifted the Elephants past the Bears in a 3-1 win at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night, giving the Elephants a clean sweep in the weekend series against their archrivals from Kaohsiung.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s two-out single after a fielding error by the Bears shortstop that allowed the runner to reach second put the Elephants ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, while an erroneous throw by the Bears second baseman scored the Elephants’ second run of the game in the third.
That was more than enough to give the men in the golden uniforms the win as starter Carlos Castillo cruised through to the eighth inning with a lone allowed run on six hits to improve to 7-2 for the year.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“It was a big win for us because it meant a clean sweep,” Elephants coach Chen Rei-chen said after the game.
Chen is in the process of guiding the Elephants back to prominence after the game-fixing scandal prior to the season that nearly dismantled his team.
Failure to come up with the timely hits ultimately cost the Bears the win as they batted a dismal one-for-10 with runners in scoring position, including two double-plays, in a game in which they outhit the Elephants by a 7-5 margin.
Tagged with the tough loss despite having gone seven strong innings was Bears starter Ken Ray, who gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits as he fell back to an even 4-4 record for the season.
Lions 4, Bulls 3
Miscues by the defense also played a key role in the contest between the Sinon Bulls and the Uni-President Lions at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night in a come-from-behind win in extra innings for the Cats.
Shortstop Yang Dong-yi’s high throw to first with the bases loaded and two outs was off target, allowing the runner on third to score the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th in a dramatic finish for the Lions.
The play capped a two-run rally for the Lions after they had allowed a go-ahead to the Bulls in the top of the 10th on a fly-ball to shallow-left by Hsu Guo-long that was ruled a single to break a 2-2 tie.
The victory not only nipped a two-game slide for the Cats, but also avoided what would have been a three-game sweep at the hands of the first-half champions, who came into the game with a perfect 4-0 in the second half of the season.
Picking up the win was Lion closer Lin Yueh-ping, who did not look sharp at all with an earned run charged against him on two hits in the top of the 10th, while the loss went to the Bulls’ Micheal Tejera, who failed to preserve the win as he allowed a lead-off single to start the Lions’ 10th and surrendered the tying run on a walk before the eventual loss.
‘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