Behind seven strong innings of one-run ball by Nelson Figueroa and a two-run home run by Kuo Dai-chi in the bottom of the fourth, the Uni-President Lions took a 5-1 lead through the seventh and held off a tenacious rally by the Brother Elephants to escape with a 5-3 win at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only gave the resurging Cats a 2-1 margin in the weekend series in central Taiwan, but also marked their fifth victory in the past six chances to keep them in the title hunt in the second half.
After three scoreless frames, it was the Elephants who drew first blood against Figueroa in the top of the fourth, when Chou Si-chi led off the inning with an opposite-field double and scored on Huang Shih-hao’s sacrifice fly three batters later to give his team a 1-0 advantage.
The lead lasted less than an inning as the Lions came right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of Kuo’s two-run blast off Elephant starter Lin Yu-ching that made it 2-1.
The Lions would put up three more runs in the next three innings to take a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead, before the Elephants mustered one final offensive in the top of the ninth with a pair of runs off Lion closer Lin Yueh-ping.
Lin calmly registered the final three outs to preserve the win for Figueroa, who improved to 4-3 for the season.
MONKEYS 5, RHINOS 1
The Lamigo Monkeys avoided being swept by the EDA Rhinos with a 5-1 win in their weekend finale at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung last night.
Starter Wang Yi-cheng pocketed his first career win in the league with seven solid innings of work to silence a potent Rhino lineup that had won the previous two games in the series and were looking to sweep the home stand over the weekend.
“It’s an amazing feeling to see so many fans come out to support us, this win is for all of you,” Wang said after learning of his selection to the game-MVP honor.
He had played four seasons with the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s NPB prior to joining the Monkeys at the start of the season.
Offensively for the victorious Primates, the night belonged to cleanup man Lin Hung-yu, who drove in a pair of runs on a 2-for-5 night to anchor a heart of the order consisting of Chan Chih-yao and Kuo Sho-yen, who batted a collective 5-for-14 in the game to drive in four of their team’s five runs.
Taking the loss for the Rhinos was starter Andy Sisco, who fell victim to a lack of run support despite an effort worthy of a quality start with three allowed runs (two earned) on four hits in 6-2/3 innings of play.
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
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
RSS