Scoring early and often, the MLB All-Stars teed off against Taiwan‘s national team in Game 3 of the Taiwan All-Star Series last night in a 6-2 final at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium to up their lead over Taiwan to a commanding 3-0 in the five-game set.
Other than a scoreless fourth, the All-Stars put up at least one run over the first five frames, starting off with a two-run first that saw the visitors string together two singles and a double off Taiwan starter Cheng Kai-wen to take a 2-0 lead.
Emilio Bonifacio’s (Florida Marlins) two-out single following a double by Drew Butera (Minnesota Twins) scored the All-Stars’ third run of the game in the top of the second, before the hosts finally got a run back off Major League starter Felipe Paulino of the Kansas City Royals on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Kuo Fu-lin to make it 3-1 after singles by Yang Kuan-wei and Lan Yin-lun and a walk drawn by Lin Wang-wei earlier in the inning.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
The 3-1 lead lasted less than an inning as the visitors added to their advantage with a solo blast from Michael Morse of the Washington Nationals off Cheng in the top of the third, before teammates Ryan Roberts and Logan Morrison connected on a run-scoring single and double respectively in the fifth to blow it open to 6-1.
Neither team scored in the next two innings against the stellar relief pitching of Collin Balester (Nationals) and Jose Veras (Pittsburgh Pirates) for the All-Stars and Kuo Chun-lin of Taiwan.
Trailing by five, Taiwan managed to plate their second run of the contest in the eighth when Chen Chun-hsiu belted a two-out single off Phil Coke of the Detroit Tigers and scored all the way from first on a double by Wang Chun-chieh on the ensuing play to make it 6-2.
That was as close as Taiwan got even though singles by Chen Wei-chih and Lin Chih-hsien off All-Stars reliever Mark Melancon of the Houston Astros suddenly brought the tying run on deck with one out in the ninth. Melacom worked out of the jam by retiring the final two batters he faced to strand two to end the game.
Balester was credited with the win for his 1-2/3 innings of one-hit relief, while Cheng took the loss for the hosts. He allowed four runs on seven hits and fanned seven in the four innings he pitched.
The two teams will move to Greater Kaohsiung for Game 4 at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium this afternoon with the opening pitch scheduled for 2pm. Ni Fu-te will get the call from skipper Chen Wei-chen for Taiwan to take on Game 1 winner Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles.
‘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