After losing three straight to the last-place La New Bears by a combined margin of four runs, the frustrated Brother Elephants put up six early runs on the board in the four-game series finale and managed to hold on for a 7-5 victory in Kaohsiung on Saturday night. The win snapped the Elephants' longest losing streak of the season at three and avoided what would have been an embarrassing series sweep for them at the hands of the cellar-dwelling Bears.
The game began with the Elephants scoring three quick runs in the top of the first that chased Bear rookie starter Wu Se-yeo (
Retiring the side in order through the first five frames, American veteran Jonathan Hurst took a no-hitter two outs into the sixth before surrendering a single to Bear catcher Chen Jau-ying (沉昭穎). The right-hander would eventually allow a run in the seventh before being relieved by set-up man Wang Jing-li (王勁力). Wang, who did not have his best stuff, then allowed four ninth-inning runs to give the Bears some signs of hope before closer Hsiao Ren-wen (蕭任汶) got the last two outs to record his first save of the year. The win made Hurst the league's first eight-game winner and kept Wu winless for the season at 0-2.
Two run-scoring doubles by Chinatrust Whale sluggers Huang Kwei-yu (
Game 1 starter Benj Sampson allowed no runs on three hits while fanning six in 6-1/3 innings in his best effort yet since joining the Lions in early-May. The victory promptly ended the Whales' seven-game winning streak and helped the Lions widen their standings lead over the Elephants a full game.
Offensively for the league-leading Lions, timely hitting was the key to their efficient attack as they made the most (five run) out of their seven hits against a decent Whale pitching staff.
Heavy downpours might have delayed Sunday afternoon's series finale for an hour, but it did not cool off the red-hot Lions as they beat the Whales once again behind a stellar performance by second-year righty Pan Wei-luen (潘忠韋). The Rookie of the Year last season yielded a lone run on five hits in seven strong innings en route to his seventh win of the season, second only to Hurst's league-high 8.
Lion first baseman Kao Guo-ching's (
The 2-1 thriller in favor of the Sinon Bulls in Game 2 of the three-game series against the Macoto Cobras highlighted the series play between the two squads as Bull righty Yang Jien-fu (
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but