Scoring early and often, the Uni-President Lions put up four quick runs over the first three innings, before going on to defeat the Lamigo Monkeys 9-2 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday to sweep the weekend series against their nemeses from Taoyuan.
Starter Yuya Kamada was at his best once again as he cruised through to the seventh inning in a three-hit gem, before the Lions’ bullpen came up with a scoreless eighth and ninth to preserve the Japanese ace’s league-leading 10th win of the season.
Other than a solo shot that he surrendered to the Monkeys’ Chung Cheng-yo and a pair of doubles he served up in a meaningless seventh, the righty was virtually untouchable with a repertoire of pitches that kept the Lamigo hitters off-balance nearly the entire game.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
On the offensive side, the night belonged to Chang “OEO” Tai-shan and Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung, who went deep against the Monkeys’ pitching on combined six-for-eight hitting, with four RBIs.
Also starring was Liu Fu-hao, who drove an offering from newly signed Monkeys starter Ben Moore over the right-center wall to spoil the American right-hander’s CPBL debut.
With the win, Kamada became the fastest player to reach the 10-win mark in league history as he took only 11 games to accomplish the feat.
The Japanese hurler could rewrite the record books for most wins in a season with 26 victories if he maintains his current pace.
ELEPHANTS 2, BULLS 0
The Brother Elephants also took care of business in their contest in Taoyuan yesterday as they blanked the Sinon Bulls at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium to sweep their weekend set in grand fashion.
Luis Gonzalez gave the overworked Elephants bullpen some much needed rest by going the distance for skipper Chen Rei-chen in a complete-game shutout to win his third of the year.
He scattered seven singles to the Bulls, but managed to keep the shutout intact with a season-high 13 strikeouts to strand eight Sinon runners on the night.
Bulls starter Lin Chi-wei matched Gonzalez’s success inning for inning through the fifth with a two-hit effort in a scoreless tie, but his luck ran out in the sixth when the Elephants’ Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min singled in a runner from second with a liner to left to score the game’s first run. That was more than ample for the men in the golden uniforms.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
RSS