Saving his best for last, Ken Ray pitched a brilliant one-hit masterpiece to lead the Lamigo Monkeys past the Brother Elephants in a 2-0 triumph at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night, clinching the second-half title by a narrow one-and-a-half game margin over the Elephants.
ON THE LINE
With the second-half title and a ticket to this year’s Taiwan Series on the line heading into last night’s contest, the former US big leaguer from Atlanta, Georgia, let it all hang out in the regular season finale for both teams by pitching a no-hitter through the first five innings before surrendering the first hit to the Elephants’ Chen Jiang-ho two outs into the sixth in what was by far his best outing of the season.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
His timely surge promptly gave the Primates the second-half title and the right to take on the Uni-President Lions, who claimed the first-half title in June with a potent lineup that went 37-22-1 on the season, four wins better than the second-place Monkeys.
The highly anticipated showdown between a pair of foreign aces — Ray and compatriot Tyler Lumsden, of the Elephants, lived up to its billing despite a quick two-run first by the Monkeys, courtesy of Lin Hong-yu’s two-out double that drove in the game’s only runs, as the outstanding pitchers dominated by holding the opposing hitters to a collective 5 for 59 (.085) the rest of the way.
“I am glad I was able to continue my success against [Lumsden’s] pitching,” Lin said after the game.
Lin batted .417 against Lumsden during the regular season and got the biggest hit so far this season to clinch a postseason berth for his team.
SCORING
Lamigo jumped all over Lumsden with a single by Tsai Jien-wei to lead off the game and drew a walk from the US southpaw with two outs to set up Lin’s run-scoring double.
That was all the runs the Monkeys needed with Ray at the top of his game to wrap up the victory. He did not allow a single Elephants runner past first base the entire game, making it virtually impossible for the men in the golden uniforms to score.
Taking the loss was Lumsden, who pitched well enough to win, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and as many walks on a night he was simply outpitched by Ray.
‘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