Close series play dominated last week's Chinese Professional Baseball League action as the President Lions and the Brother Elephants earned series splits against the Macoto Cobras and the Chinatrust Whales, respectively.
Regular season play will be suspended in the CPBL until Aug. 31, as 12 of the league's stars depart for Italy to join the national team in a series of exhibition games against Cuba, Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy in preparation for the upcoming Athens Olympics.
Lions 5, Cobras 4
Following their 1-1 split in the first two contests of the four-game series, the Lions took on a resilient Cobras squad in Taichung Friday night, where the serpents overcame two-run deficits twice before falling to the big cats in the bottom of the ninth in a dramatic 5-4 loss.
The game started with the Lions taking a 2-0 lead in the third inning on right fielder Wang Chuang-jia's (王傳家) two-run single up the middle.
The Cobras answered in the fourth with two runs of their own on designated hitter Cheng Jing-yi's (
The feline attack would strike again in the bottom of the fifth on first baseman Kao Guo-ching's (
The Cobras' luck ran out in the bottom of the ninth when third baseman Lin Yi-shiang's (
Cobras reliever Kleber Ojima (7-5) took the loss.
Cobras 3, Lions 0
Down 1-2 in the series, Cobras skipper Kuo Tai-yuan (郭泰源) went with his ace lefty Lin Ying-jeh (林英傑) on Sunday's series finale, who ended up turning in his second complete game shutout of the week.
The southpaw, who will also represent the national team in the Athens Olympics, blanked the Lions with a blazing fastball that was clocked in the high 140km region and a nasty slider that broke sharply and late.
June's Pitcher of the Month winner Jose Alberro lost for the second time in the week to Lin by allowing three runs on nine hits in six innings. The Dominican native was solid in the two games that could have easily qualified for wins if it had not been for Lin's two consecutive masterpieces.
Elephants 6, Whales 3
The Brother Elephants had to reach deep into their bag of tricks to salvage a 2-2 series split with the Whales last week.
After beating the Whales on Tuesday in a 3-2 thriller, the Elephants found themselves on the losing end of a 5-4 decision where the Whales scored three unanswered runs to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 victory.
Designated hitter Wang Cheng-hao's (
Whales newcomer Emiliano Giron of the Dominican Republic was solid in his first starting assignment as he allowed two runs on five hits in six frames for the win in Game 3. A four-run sixth, capped by Wang Cheng-hao's two-run double was the difference, as the Whales tripped up the Elephants in the 6-4 final.
Back in his starting role for the Elephants, veteran righty Jonathan Hurst extended his league-high mark for wins to 13 in Sunday's 6-3 triumph over the Whales with five innings of sound pitching. He yielded two runs on six hits, before reliever Wang Jin-li (王勁力) wrapped up the game for his 10th save of the year.
The victory, coupled with an earlier Lions loss, not only kept the Elephants one game behind the first-place Lions, it also salvaged a 2-2 series split with the Whales.
Bulls 5, Bears 3
The Sinon Bulls took no prisoners in their four-game showdown against the La New Bears by avenging their series-opening loss with three straight wins.
After earning a 1-1 split with the Bears in Pingtung in their first two contests, the Bulls nearly shutout the Bears in Game 3 in a 4-1 decision on Friday, before rounding out the week with 5-3 win on Saturday. The three wins for the week kept the Bulls in stride with the second-place Elephants, as they now trail the Elephants by a half game in the standings.
US 4, Japan 2
AP, Taipei
Outfielder Robert Stubbs smashed a two-run triple to left field Sunday as the US beat Japan 4-2 in the World University Baseball Championship in the southern city of Tainan.
Japan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before going hitless in the next four innings. The Americans tied up the game in the fourth and took the lead in the fifth when Stubb's triple drove in two runs.
Right-hander Luke Hochevar earned the win for the US team, and Japan's Yasuhiro Ichiba got the loss.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
RSS