The long awaited first victory for new First Securities Agan skipper Tsai Rong-tsung (
Agan starter Liang Rue-hao (
Reliever Lee Fong-hua (
Tsai Chung-nan's (
The most anticipated matchup of the week was the three-game series between the second-placed Chinatrust Whales and the third-placed President Lions, with the series ending 1-1-1.
A whale of a time
The series began with the favored Whales taking the first game in Hsinchuang in a 4-1 win on Thursday. Four costly Lions errors led to three unearned runs against Lions starter Joe Davenport, denying the pitcher a chance to win his ninth game of the season.
Game two of the series on Saturday in Tienmu was a 2-2 affair until Whales first baseman Hung Chi-fong (
Led by second baseman Yoshimi Hiroaki's bases-loaded two-run single, the Lions came back by scoring three runs of their own in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
With the bases loaded, Yoshimi told reporters after the game that all he wanted to do was hit the ball to deep right to bring in at least one run.
"I am glad though, it turned out to be a two-run hit," he said.
The 5-5 tie got Lions starter Pan Wei-luen (
Similar to game two of the series, the Whales lost the lead late in the game, giving up just one run too many.
Whales starter Nakayama Hiroaki cruised through seven scoreless innings with a 4-0 lead before giving up five runs eighth inning, ending Nakayama's 23-1/3 innings of scoreless play. Lions closer Tsao Chun-yang (
Although the series ended in a 1-1-1, it was a moral victory for the slumping Lions.
The Brother Elephants fell to the Makoto Gida 5-3 in Tienmu on Sunday, preventing and Elephants sweep in the series. The last time the Elephants lost a series was in mid-April against the Gida.
Elephants starter Nakagomi Sin fell victim to some poor fielding as two of the five runs were unearned. Along with three Elephants errors, an unsuccessful attempt to tag out a runner at second and a wild pitch during a suicide squeeze sealed the Elephants fate.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set