Ken Ray tossed 8-2/3 innings of one-run ball, Chung Cheng-yo and Chen Yen-fong drove a run each and the Lamigo Monkeys went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls in a 2-1 final at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The victory not only improved Ray’ season mark to a team-best 3-0, but also upped the Monkeys’ league-leading record to 13-6 to maintain a one-game lead over the second-place Uni--President Lions.
The rain-filled match between the two clubs saw neither starter allow a run through the first five frames, with Ray retiring the side in order in three different innings in a two-hit gem, while the Bulls’ Lin Ying-jeh held his ground and gave up only four hits.
That changed in the sixth as the home Monkeys led off the bottom of the sixth with Kuo Hso-wei’s single and scored three batters later on Chung’s opposite-field single to right to take a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless seventh, the Monkeys tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Chen beat out a bases-loaded grounder for an infield single that scored the runner on third, making it 2-0.
That was the difference in the game as the Bulls rallied for a run in the ninth on the strength of Hsu Guo-long’s two-out single off Monkey closer Hsu Ming-jeh, but failed to score the tying run from third when Lin Cuen-sheng popped out to center to end the game.
Hsu Ming-jeh was credited with his seventh save in as many games for getting the final out to preserve the win for Ray, while Lin was tagged with his fourth loss of the year despite pitching eight innings of two-run ball (only one run earned) in an eight-hit effort.
Failure to come up with a hit with runners in scoring position proved costly for the Bulls as they batted a collective 1 for 5 with men in scoring position, leaving too much on the table to garner a very winnable game.
LIONS 1, ELEPHANTS 0
Liu Fu-hao’s walk-off single to shallow-center with a runner on second broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 11th as the Uni--President Lions edged past the Brother Elephants 1-0 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium last night to even the series with the Elephants at one win apiece.
It was Liu’s first career walk-off hit, adding to the veteran outfielder’s long list of accomplishments over a seven-year span and counting.
Chang “OEO” Tai-shan had the chance to play the hero of the game as he came to the plate with runners at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Elephant starter Orlando Roman.
However, the holder of the new league record for most career games (1,424) hit the ball off the head of his bat, which resulted in an inning-ending flyout, setting the table for Liu’s extra-inning heroics.
Picking up the win with 1-1/3 innings of hitless relief was Hsu Yu-wei, who entered in the top of the 10th to take over for an injured Lin Yueh-ping and retired all four of the batters he faced to beat his counterpart Lee Fong-hua, who pitched a perfect 10th, before surrendering the game-winner in the 11th.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS