Chung “Yo-Yo Man” Cheng-yo’s two-out single with the bases loaded scored the tying runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Yu Teh-lung followed with the go-ahead hit to lift the Lamigo Monkeys past the red-hot Brother Elephants 6-4 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only avoided a clean sweep against the Elephants at home over the weekend, but also gave them a much needed win after they lost nine of their previous dozen to drop out of contention for the first-half title.
Three first-inning runs off Lamigo starter Huang Chin-chih by the Elephants got the visitors off to a great start as they led 3-1 after the opening frame and upped their lead to 4-2 through the seventh with the help of the solid pitching of starter Lin Yu-ching.
However, with the team down by a deuce, the hosts rallied for four runs against top Elephants setup man Guan Da-yuan by batting around the order in the bottom of the eighth to turn a 2-4 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
The Elephants made things interesting in the top of the ninth by loading the bases with two outs on a pair of singles against Guan, but the poised hurler got pinch-hitter Chen Chih-hong to ground out to third to preserve the win.
RHINOS 11, LIONS 4
Lin Wei-en’s fourth-inning single with runners at the corners broke a 2-2 tie and the EDA Rhinos never looked back as they trounced the Uni-President Lions at Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to sweep the weekend series.
The win also widened the top-ranked Rhinos’ lead over the second-placed Lions, who dropped their seventh straight to trail the Rhinos by 3.5 games in the standings.
The hosts, who celebrated Manny Ramirez’s birthday by posing for a photo session wearing long braided wigs to resemble the former major league player’s trademark hairstyle prior to the game, roughed up the Lions pitching in the middle innings by piling on eight runs between the sixth and the eighth to blow the game wide open.
Even though Ramirez was hitless on the night for just the second time in the past 15 games, his teammates more than made up for it by pounding out 15 hits to dominate the Lions’ pitching.
Picking up the win was starter Lai Hong-cheng, who allowed two runs, despite giving up nine hits over five frames.
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
RECORD WINNERS: The Catalan club, who are still in contention for a historic quadruple this season, are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final Barcelona are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final after Ferran Torres secured them a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, progressing 5-4 on aggregate from the semi-final tie. Record 31-time winners Barca had the better of the clash at the Metropolitano after the wild 4-4 first-leg draw. The defeat leaves Diego Simeone’s Atletico with little to play for in the rest of the season. By contrast, the Catalans are on the hunt for a potential quadruple and are unbeaten this year, stretching their run to 21 games without defeat. Atletico were the last team to triumph
RSS