The “Post Manny Era” begins with the EDA Rhinos facing the Lamigo Monkeys in a two-game road series at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium that begins tonight.
While the departure of the former major league slugger will undoubtedly deal a blow to an already stuttering Rhinos offense, the real task at hand for coach Hsu Sheng-ming is how to get his team to forget their recent mishaps and distractions and focus their efforts on the game.
Nevertheless, the Rhinos have built a strong enough foundation to find themselves still in the hunt for the first-half title with the Uni-President Lions.
Should Ramirez’s replacement on the roster, Jesse English, become a dependable starter in the Rhinos rotation, Hsu will still have a very good chance of taking the first-half title with a formidable trio of pitchers in Lin Chen-hua (8-2 with a 3.45 ERA), Andy Sisco (6-3 with a 2.16 ERA) and English plus a lineup that features Lin Yi-chuan, Hu Chin-lung, Kao Guo-hui and Chang Chien-ming, whose combined .354 batting average tops any foursome in the league.
With the Lions having dropped two in a row earlier this week, the Rhinos will have an excellent opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the standings with a pair of wins over the Monkeys and the Brother Elephants to set up Sunday’s showdown against the Cats at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
To boost their chances of winning the first-half title, the Lions have acquired the services of former major leaguer Nelson Figueroa, who led them to victory in the 2007 Taiwan Series before leaving for a five-year stint in the majors.
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
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
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
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju yesterday lost 2-4 to South Korea’s Lee Sang-su in the men’s singles semi-finals match at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Incheon in South Korea. Lin, the world No. 14, defeated Japan’s Sora Matsushima 4-1 to reach the semi-finals, where he faced unexpectedly stiff competition from the world No. 45 Lee in front of the latter’s home crowd. The match started out even at 4-4, after which Lin pulled ahead to win the first game 11-5. He then lost the second game by the same score. In the third game, Lin blew an 8-5 lead, allowing Lee
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