Lin Cuen-sheng’s solo blast off Orlando Roman in the bottom of the seventh broke a 2-all tie as the Sinon Bulls held on to top the Brother Elephants 4-3 in a thrilling game at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the first home run for the budding rookie catcher in what many expect to be a promising career, providing a huge morale boost for the last-placed Bulls (12-33-2) as they look to salvage a disappointing first half of the season.
Trailing 2-0 after two innings of play, the Elephants held the Sinon offense scoreless for the next four innings to keep it a close game as Roman retired all but one Sinon batter over the span. The Elephants hitters finally awoke as they plated a pair in the top of the seventh, courtesy of an RBI ground out by Chang Cheng-hao and a two-out single by Chen Jiang-ho that drove in the tying run to make it 2-2.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
That was as close as they got as the Bulls returned the favor in the bottom of the inning with Lin’s tiebreaking solo shot, before they added an insurance run in a hitless eighth as Cheng Da-hong drew a leadoff walk off Elephants reliever Kuo Jien-yu, stole second and then reached third on a ground out, before finally scoring on a wild pitch by Kuo to make it 4-2.
Cheng’s run proved crucial as the Elephants rallied for a run in the top of the ninth and loaded the bases against Shen Yu-jeh, before the lefty closer induced a lazy fly to left to set up Cheng’s game-ending catch in foul territory for the win.
“This was a big win for us because we haven’t been able to win the close ones very often this year,” Sinon skipper Liu Rong-hua said after the game.
His Bulls had been 3-12 in games that were decided by two runs or fewer prior to last night’s contest.
Reliever Tsai Ming-jin was credited with his second win of the year for his two innings of one-run relief, while the loss was charged to Roman, who allowed three runs on six hits over seven solid innings in a quality start, only to drop to a 6-3 mark for the season.
LIONS 2, MONKEYS 0
Dan Reichert tossed eight solid innings of shutout ball to lead the Uni-President Lions past the Lamigo Monkeys at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium last night, upping the top-ranked Lions’ lead over the Monkeys to a season-high three games.
The highly anticipated pitchers’ duel between Reichert and his counterpart Steve Hammond lived up to its billing with neither offense able to produce any runs through the fourth until a fielding error by Monkeys outfielder Chung Cheng-yo led to a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth that ended up making all the difference.
Down by two runs, the Monkeys attempted a comeback in the final two frames as Chung tried to redeem himself with a two-out double off Reichert in the eighth and Tsai Jien-wei doing the same against Lions closer Lin Yueh-ping in the ninth.
Neither Chung nor Tsai managed to cross the plate as the Monkeys came up empty on both occasions on a night where the Monkeys batted a futile 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position in a losing effort.
Reichert picked up the win, improving to 7-1 for the season.
‘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