Lin Chih-sheng (
The La New Bears ended up winning the game by a final score of 9-3 on Wednesday night, but the real storyline for the game was just how good this 22-year-old from Tainan really is. Since joining the team in early June, the first-year pure hitter has put up an impressive .304 batting average, including his team-high, 41-RBI mark in just 41 games. Despite his tender age, the precocious rookie has also shown tremendous maturity at the plate, often taking opposing pitchers deep into the count.
"Patience at the plate will pay big dividends more often than not," Lin said in a recent interview.
Benefiting from his team's recent offensive surge was Bear starter Cory Bailey, who allowed a pair of runs on five hits in eight innings for his tenth win of the season. The American righty is now 10-14 with an 3.22 ERA for the year.
Back-to-back victories by the Brother Elephants quickly brought the Chinatrust Whales back to reality as the team took a beating from the defending champs.
Tuesday night's series opener in Hsinchuang had Elephant starter Wu Jung-yi (
Even though the veteran hurler, known for his patented side-arm delivery, won the game convincingly in the 7-3 final, Wu wished the fastball that he threw to an unforgiving Huang had not caught as much of the plate as it did.
Offensively for the Elephants, second baseman Fong Sheng-shien's (馮勝賢) 3-for-5 night led a frustrated Elephant attack that had averaged less than three runs in its eight previous contests to buzz the Whale staff for a dozen hits.
Whale starter Emiliano Giron suffered his second straight loss to even his record at 2-2 for the year. The Dominican fireballer has watched his ERA rise from under 2.5 in late-July to the 4.50 mark.
Peng Cheng-ming's (彭政閔) two-run blast to deep right in the top of the eighth provided the Elephants some much needed breathing room as it turned a 3-1 Elephant lead into the eventual 5-1 final in Wednesday night's matchup. It was Peng's 15th homer of the season, putting him just one shy of the league leader, Chang "The Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan (張泰山) of the Bulls.
Nakagomi Sin improved his record to 11-6 for the year by allowing a lone run on six hits in seven solid frames for the victory, before reliever Wang Jing-li (
The Elephant organization breathed a collective sigh of relief after the win on Wednesday because it was not too long ago when many wondered if the defending champs were capable of winning even one game during their recent eight-game slide.
Looking ahead into this weekend's matchups, the Bears will look to ride their current six-game winning streak as far as they can in their three-game visit to Taichung against the hosting Bulls, while the Whales attempt to salvage a series tie with a pair of wins.
The league-leading President Lions will do battle against the Macoto Cobras in a three-round affair that could give the Lions a sizable cushion in the standings should they manage to sweep the inconsistent Cobras.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two