Hsieh Ming-tsong’s walk-off single with two outs and runners at the corners scored the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth as the Sinon Bulls rallied for two runs to edge past the Uni-President Lions 8-7 at the Yilan County Baseball Stadium in Luodong on Saturday evening.
The win not only set the hapless Lions further back in the standings with their sixth straight defeat, but also nipped Lin Yueh-ping’s recent streak of consecutive innings without allowing a run at 11-and-one-third as the normally sure-handed closer blew just his third save in 15 chances to lose the heartbreaker.
It was the third one-run loss that the defending champs had suffered in their last five games, leaving many wondering if they could ever regain the winning form that led to back-to-back titles in the last two seasons and a first-place finish in the first half of this season.
The Lions needed a two-run single by Chen Lien-hong to turn a 5-6 deficit into a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh and thought they had the game wrapped up when Lin took the mound with the narrow lead to start the fatal ninth.
But that would not be the case as the Bulls rose to the occasion one final time in a game that featured four different lead changes to prevail in the end.
BEARS 3, ELEPHANTS 1
Homering for the second time in as many games, Lin Chih-sheng led the La New Bears past the Brother Elephants at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu on Saturday.
Even though the Bears did not score 15 or more runs in the game like they had done in their previous two contests — missing an opportunity to set a new league record for three straight games with 15 or more runs scored — it was a solid win for them nonetheless. The Bears rang up a pair of runs off Elephants starter and former Major Leaguer Tsao Chin-hui in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead and held on for their sixth win in a row.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
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