Ho devastated by Whales' offense

CPBL

Ho Chee-shien (何紀賢) started for the Sinon Bulls in pursuit of his fourth-straight win this month, but instead took his seventh loss this season as the Chinatrust Whales ran out 8-3 winners.

The Whales offense collected six runs on five hits and three walks at the bottom of the second inning to make the score 6-0.

In all, Ho gave up six runs, five hits and issued two walks in one-and-two third innings last night in Taichung.

Although the Bulls struck back at the bottom of the same inning, Whales' starter Nakayama only allowed two runs while giving up three hits.

At the bottom of the seventh, Hung Chee-feng (洪啟峰) belted his 10th home run of the season off Bulls reliever Yang Ren-ming (楊仁明) to further the lead.

The Bulls' Chang Tai-shan (張泰山) also hit a solo home run to knock in the third run of the game.

"I was not on top of my game tonight," said Ho after the match. "When I gave up the first two runs I thought of stepping down because I thought if we could keep the game close our bats could do the job of rallying back."

It did not turn out that way as the Whales scored six runs to knock Ho down.

The two teams will play the last game of their three-game series tonight.

COURTESY OF CPBL, TAICHUNG

TML

Chiayi Luka overcame a two-run deficit by tying the game in the bottom of the sixth and eventually winning it in the 11th for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the visiting Kaohsiung Fala last night.

The game featured a rare triple play by Luka on the top of the ninth to prevent what would have been the go-ahead run by the Fala.

Offensively for the Luka, the night belonged to Chuen Chuang-cheng, who knocked in all three of the Luka runs.

Chuen's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth tied the game at two apiece and his blooper single in the bottom of the 11th won the series opener for the Luka.

Luka reliever Tsai Su-chin got the win for his two-plus innings of relief duty, while his counterpart Jason Lakman took the loss for putting the game-winning run on base.

The two teams will meet again today in Chiayi for the second game of the three-game series.

COURTESY of TML

Major league

In Detroit, Mike Cameron singled in two runs in a three-run sixth inning as Seattle beat Detroit 4-2 to split the four-game series.

Cameron was 7-for-11 in the series, including hits in six consecutive at-bats, after arriving in Detroit in an 0-for-21 slump.

Ryan Franklin (5-3) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in his sixth start in the major leagues. Japan's Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 37 tries.

Mark Redman (7-12) lost for the third start in a row, allowing four runs on eight hits in eight innings.

Red Sox 12, Rangers 3

Manny Ramirez had two homers and six RBIs, and Dustin Hermanson won his official debut as a Red Sox starter as Boston beat the Texas Rangers 12-3 on Thursday.

He got plenty of support as Manny Ramirez had two homers and six RBIs to spark Boston to a 12-0 lead after four innings. But Hermanson (1-0) was sharp with four shutout innings before giving up two runs in the fifth.

Athletics 9, Indians 3

In Cleveland, Mark Mulder completed Oakland's first four-game sweep of Cleveland as the Athletics won their season-high ninth straight game.

Twins 8, Royals 6

In Kansas City, Missouri, Jacque Jones hit a home run to lead off a game for the third time in four days, and Cristian Guzman and Luis Rivas also homered.