Two straight ugly defeats at the hands of the Macoto Cobras ended the Brother Elephants' first half on a down note as the coaching staff looked to find some answers in a hurry for the defending champs. Already out of the title hunt with the crowning of the President Lions in Taichung last Thursday night, the second-placed Elephants had nothing but their pride to defend in the three-game series against the Cobras in the last weekend of competition for the first half.
The 6-2 decision in favor of the Elephants in Game 1 was dampened by the news that the Lions had clinched the first-half title with their 9-0 thrashing of the Sinon Bulls on Thursday.
PHOTO: CPBL
A towering shot to deep left by leadoff man Chen Rei-cheng (陳瑞振) jumpstarted the Elephant offense as it built a 4-0 lead after five, highlighted by power hitter Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan's (陳致遠) two-run, opposite-field blast off Cobra starter Kleber Ojima in the fifth.
Hsieh Jia-shien's (
Game 2 of the series on Saturday was a foregone conclusion by the fifth inning as the serpents took no prisoners in building a 10-0 lead before the 11-3 final. Elephant starter Nakagomi Sin surrendered eight runs over four innings in his shortest outing of the season.
The Japanese veteran has allowed 15 runs (10 earned) in the past four games, including three losses in a row, after starting the season at 6-1.
Offensively for the Cobras, centerfielder Huang Kao-jung (
Elephant ace Jonathan Hurst did not have his best stuff in Sunday's series finale as he blew the 4-1 lead in the fifth in allowing four Cobra runs.
The 37-year-old former Major Leaguer was denied his ninth victory of the season in the 4-5 loss as he settled for an 8-6 mark before this week's mid-season break. Hurst shares the lead for most wins (8) with Lion second-year man Pan Wei-luen (
The La New Bears sent their departing skipper Ohda Takushi off with a pair of strong finishes against the Chinatrust Whales to close out the first half.
Ohda's resignation was finally accepted by the Bear officials after their futile attempt to convince the headman who nearly matched the team's total number of wins for last season (20) by the mid-season mark with 18, to reconsider his decision.
After losing the first two contests in the four-game series earlier last week, the Bears managed to hold off a feisty Whale rally to win Game 3 by a narrow 6-5 margin, thanks to pinch hitter Tsai Hung-tseh's (蔡泓澤) two-run single in the eighth that put his team up for good and closer Claudio Galva's valiant effort in a scoreless ninth.
A four-run ninth propelled the Bears to triumph in a dramatic 6-3, come-from-behind win on Saturday.
Consecutive triples by Bear pinch hitters Wang Jung-wen (
Needing a tie or better to clinch their first first-half title in three years, the Lions easily accomplished the mission by bagging the title in a 9-0 total annihilation of the Bulls on Thursday.
Starter Joe Davenport scattered six hits in eight scoreless innings before handing the game to ace closer Michael Garcia in the ninth.
In an incredibly efficient manner, the newly crowned Lions made every one of the nine hits count as they produced nine runs (all earned) for the title clincher.
"First and most, I'd like to point out the amazing job that Mike [Garcia] has done for us. He has basically shortened the game to seven innings for our offense; as long as we can get a lead after seven, it is as good as a win," Lion manager Hsieh Chang-hern (謝長亨) said after his troops swarmed the ribbon-covered field in joy after the title clincher.
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