Lin Yi-chuan’s three-run blast to deep-right off Lin Jia-wei capped a four-run eighth to help the Sinon Bulls turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead as they held on to defeat the Lamigo Monkeys 4-2 at the Greater Kaohsiung Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the eighth time that the third-year slugger has gone deep for the Bulls, adding to his team-leading seven home runs, while improving his RBI total to 48 for the year, second to teammate Cheng Hong-da’s team-high 58.
“I know he [Lin Jia-wei] had to come with something over the plate because there were already two runners on, so I was sitting on a fastball all the way,” Lin said after the game.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
His game-turning homer spoiled what would have been a great win for Monkeys’ starter Cheng Cheng-hao, who had pitched a shutout through seven innings, before being relieved by Lin Jia-wei after he issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth.
The win not only clinched the weekend series for the Bulls against the top club in the league, but also brought them out of the cellar in the standings as they traded places with the Brother Elephants, who lost yesterday on the road to the Uni-President Lions in Tainan.
Chung Cheng-yo’s two-out double off Bulls starter Luo Cheng-long with two runners on base scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first for the Primates, in what looked to be a high-scoring affair.
However, that was not the case as Luo quickly settled in and allowed just one more run during the next six innings in a classic pitchers duel that saw the Monkeys take a 2-0 lead.
Other than a solo shot to the Monkeys’ Lin Hong-yu in the third that he wished he had not thrown, the rookie left-hander was on top of his game as he kept the Primates’ offense at bay long enough for the Bulls bats to come alive just in time to back him up for his fourth win of the year.
As for the Monkeys, their failure to come up with the timely hits ultimately cost them the win in a game where they actually outhit the Bulls by a sizable 8 to 5 margin.
Taking the loss was Lin Jia-wei, who managed to record only one out against the four batters he faced as he fell to an even 2-2 mark for the season.
Lions 6, Elephants 2
Homers played a big part in the Uni-President Lions’ win over the Brother Elephants at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night, accounting for five of the Big Cats’ six runs in the contest.
Kao Kuo-ching’s two-run shot off Elephants starter Tyler Lumsden got things moving in the right direction for the Lions, as they took a 3-0 lead in the fourth after three scoreless frames.
The 3-0 lead stood through the sixth with Lions starter Hsu Yu-wei pitching two-hit ball over the same span, before the Elephants spoiled his shutout bid with a run in the top of the seventh, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Huang Shih-hao following a leadoff double by Shih Yen-wei.
That was when the Lions’ Chen Lien-hong decided to take matters into his own hands as the veteran slugger got a hold of an offering from Elephants reliever Yeh Yong-jeh and deposited into the left field bleachers to blow the game wide open en route to a convincing 6-2 triumph.
‘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