Huang En-tsu’s seventh-inning single with the bases loaded scored the go-ahead runs for the Uni-President Lions as they went on to defeat the Chinatrust Brother Elephants 3-1 at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei last night to clinch the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
The third-year infielder has more than fulfilled coach Chen Lien-hung’s expectations in his first season as a full-time starter with a solid .319 average and nine RBIs to give the bottom of the Lions lineup added punch.
His continued success could make the Cats’ already awesome slugging corp that features future Hall-of-Famer Chang “OEO” Tai-shan, current RBI leader Chen Yung-chi and Deng Chih-wei (third in the league in batting) that bit more dangerous.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“I knew it was a chance for me to shine the minute [the Elephants] walked [Chang] Tai-shan and I’m glad it worked out well for me,” Huang said after the game.
His late-inning heroics also wasted yet another quality start by Elephants starter Lin Yu-ching, who went the distance with three allowed runs on six hits to bring his quality-start total to three straight, but with only a dismal 1-1 record to show for it in a losing effort.
Lin Wei-chu’s run-scoring single off Lions starter Wang Ching-ming in the top of the first got things moving in the right direction for the visitors, but the 1-0 lead lasted less than an inning as the Lions were quick to return the favor with a run of their own in the bottom of the same frame when Kuo Chun-yo beat out a grounder to short for an infield single and scored on Pan “TAKE” Wu-hsiung’s double on the ensuing play to make it 1-1.
That was all the runs that either offense could muster through the sixth inning, with both Lin and Wang holding their ground in a pitchers’ duel, before Huang delivered the game-winning blow in the seventh.
The Elephants made things interesting when Chang Chih-hao led off the top of the ninth with a clean single off Boof Bonser to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs, but the Lions closer managed to retire the next three hitters on three straight fly outs to preserve the victory for Wang.
MONKEYS 2, RHINOS 1
The Lamigo Monkeys continued their mastery of one-run games by topping the EDA Rhinos 2-1 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to sweep the series.
Shoda Itsuki pitched seven scoreless innings of shutout ball to lift the Primates past their foes in their fifth straight win.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
‘BOWLINE’ AND ‘ARCTOS’: Roy Quaden was hit on the head by a boom, while Nick Smith was struck by the main sheet and thrown across the boat amid rough seas Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, officials said yesterday, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas. One of the crew members, 55-year-old Roy Quaden on Flying Fish Arctos, was hit on the head by a boom as the fleet raced down the New South Wales coast, race organizers said. The other man, 65-year-old Nick Smith, was struck by the main sheet aboard Bowline and thrown across the boat, said David Jacobs, vice commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. “Unfortunately, he hit his head on the winch, and
Liverpool on Thursday powered seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as the title favorites survived a scare in their 3-1 win against Leicester City, while Bruno Fernandes was sent off in Manchester United’s dismal 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Erling Haaland missed a penalty as crisis-torn Manchester City failed to end their dismal run with a 1-1 draw against Everton, but it was United’s travails and Liverpool’s remarkable run that took center-stage. Arne Slot’s side were shocked by Jordan Ayew’s early strike at Anfield, but the leaders recovered their composure to equalize just before the interval through Cody
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
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