Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s comebacker with runners on second and third that deflected off Warner Madrigal for an infield single broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth inning to spark what turned out to be a late-game surge as the Chinatrust Brothers went on to defeat the Uni-President Lions 13-4 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night to take the weekend series 2-1.
What had been a classic defensive struggle between the two most storied clubs in the league that had been deadlocked at 2-2 through the seventh was anything but close, with the men in the golden uniform plating nine in the top of the ninth to blow it wide open.
Chiang Chih-hsien’s bouncer up the middle with runners on first and second gave the Brothers a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first, before the Cats fought back with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth when Kuo Hu-lin doubled off Brothers starter Lin Yu-ching and scored on Chang “OEO” Tai-shan’s single to right.
Photo: Huang Chi-yuan, Taipei Times
The two teams traded runs in the sixth that made it 2-2 until the Brothers blew it wide open in the final two frames.
Picking up the win with 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief was Hsieh Rong-hao, while the loss was charged to his counterpart, Zach Segovia, who tossed a solid seventh before allowing the first two Brothers hitters to reach safely in the game-deciding eighth for his second setback of the season.
MONKEYS 10, RHINOS 9
The Lamigo Monkeys avoided what would have been a deflating loss which would have seen them squander leads as large as six runs before escaping in a 10-9 thriller over the EDA Rhinos at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night
Lan Ying-lun’s clutch single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth put the Primates ahead for good as they redeemed themselves for blowing an early 6-0 lead by rallying from two down with three runs in the seventh to eke out the narrow victory.
Chen Chun-hsiu’s grand slam off Rhinos starter Gaby Hernandez highlighted a six-run first which saw the hosts send a dozen to the plate and they led 6-1 after two innings of play and held it through the sixth, before a seven-run seventh by the Rhinos actually set them back by two in the bottom of the seventh.
With the game on the line, the hosts looked to none other than Chen and Lan, who drove in a run each with a double and single respectively in a three-run seventh to set up Lan’s eighth-inning heroics, putting his team ahead for good.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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