Yeh Chu-hsuan’s bases-loaded triple highlighted a six-run eighth that blew an otherwise close 4-2 game wide open for the Lamigo Monkeys as they went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls 10-2 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only completed the sweep in the three-game set between the two clubs in Taichung, but it also gave the red-hot Primates their eighth victory in their past 10 outings, cutting a six-game deficit behind the top-ranked Brother Elephants to a lone game in the latest standings.
Chan Chih-yao’s leadoff homer off Bulls starter Lin Chen-hua set the tone early in the game as the Monkeys jumped to a quick 3-1 lead through two innings of play.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The game then turned into a defensive struggle as the two teams mustered just two runs between them over the next five frames, before the eighth-inning scoring spree by the visitors put the game away for good.
Leading the way for the explosive Lamigo attack were Chan and Yeh, who went a combined five-for-nine with five RBIs to account for half of their team’s total runs.
Matt DeSalvo was credited with the win for pitching seven innings of two-run ball on seven hits to improve to 11-4 for the year, while the loss went to his counterpart Lin, who served up four runs over seven innings, falling victim to an anemic attack that failed to provide much run support.
For the free-falling Bulls, who gave up nearly 40 runs over the weekend and have won just two games in the 14 played so far this month, their troubles continued even after former skipper Liu Rong-hua stepped down earlier this month to take the heat for the team’s recent slide.
Elephants 5, Lions 1
The Brother Elephants overcame a dismal outing in their opener against the Uni-President Lions on Friday with back-to-back wins on Saturday and yesterday to clinch the series by a 2-1 margin.
The Elephants picked up where they left off following Saturday’s 15-5 rout of the defending champions, putting up three runs over the first two innings and going on to defeat the Lions 5-1 in the series finale.
Cheng Hong-chi gave up a run on seven hits in 6-2/3 innings to win his fifth straight, while the loss was charged to the Lions’ Huang Chih-long, who remained winless.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,