Not even the hottest soap opera could compete with the drama that was on the CPBL stage last week, as we take a look at three series that had a little bit of something to suit everyone's taste.
The storyline of the week was: Can the 27-year-old Sinon Bulls third-baseman Chang "Prince of the forest" Tai-shan (
Having hit one out of the park on Saturday night in front of a home crowd of over 10,000 against Brother Elephants ace Jonathan Hurst, Chang filled the Taichung Stadium again on Sunday with another sold-out crowd eagerly awaiting the making of baseball history. Unfortunately, he had no home runs and ended up going one-for-five in a 14-4 losing effort against the Elephants, but did bring all those watching to their feet with a fly ball deep to right-center in the seventh, which was caught on the warning track by a back-pedaling Elephants center-fielder Chen Chih-yuen (
Overshadowed initially by the hype related to Chang's approach to the century mark, then by his second defeat of the season, was Bulls starter Osvaldo Martinez's own version of history-making. Martinez retired Elephants second baseman Feng Hseng-shian (馮勝賢) in the third inning to record his 856th career strikeout, surpassing the league record of 855 set by former President Lions pitcher and current Lions manager Hsieh Chang-hehn (謝長亨).
The win clinched the three-game series 2-to-1 for the Elephants against a strong Bulls.
The Makoto Gida did the near impossible in Kaohsiung by winning games three and four against the league-leading Lions, 8-2 and 4-2, respectively, to tie the series at two games apiece.
Down two games to zip going into Friday night's contest, Gida starter Tsai Shih-ching (蔡士勤) held back a powerful Lions lineup, that had averaged nearly seven runs per game, to just two runs on four hits in a complete-game outing.
The Gida continued their winning ways on Saturday against by holding the Lions to just two runs in a 4-2 affair.
Cheng Jing-yi (
The First Securities Agan managed to prevent the three-game series sweep by the ChinaTrust Whales with a 3-all tie on Sunday. Unlike games one and two against the Whales, where the Agan lost both games by a whopping combined score of 26-to-4, Sunday night's game in Hsinchuang went down the wire. The Agan took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, only to see it vanish, courtesy Whale designated hitter Tseng Han-chou's (
"It's one of those games where you wish you could catch a break," Agan starter Greg Bicknell said.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
Yesterday morning in Japan began with a palpable buzz after the Los Angeles Dodgers announced Shohei Ohtani would start Game 7 of the World Series. By the time countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered the final out, Tokyo was erupting with joy. “I am so proud today to be Japanese,” said cab driver Seiichiro Okada, who pulled his car to the side of the road to watch the ending. “To be able to watch these legends in real time is something else.” Ohtani had two hits and also pitched, while Yamamoto earned World Series Most Valuable Player after yet another stellar pitching performance as the
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