Riding on the success of their foreign starting trio, the Brother Elephants shot to the top of the standings by sweeping the President Lions in the four-game series last week.
The defending champions did what no other teams has done all year long by handing the Lions their first four-game losing streak of the season with solid efforts from Japanese righties Yokota Hisanori and Nakagomi Sin, and former American Major Leaguer Jonathan Hurst.
After Yokota's two-hit outing over six innings in Tuesday's 7-2 triumph and veteran submariner Wu Jung-yi's (
The Lions staff that had been brilliant until last week with a league-best 2.84 team ERA was no match for the potent Elephant lineup, led by cleanup man Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-ming's (彭政閔) combined 6-for-9 effort with nine RBIs and two homers over the four-game span.
Part of the reason that the Elephants were able to reclaim the lead in the league standings for a potential shot at an unprecedented fourth title was the poor play by the slumping Sinon Bulls, which lost three of four to the formerly struggling Chinatrust Whales.
After allowing the Whales to come back and steal one from them with outfielder Huang Kwei-yu's (黃貴裕) two-run blast in the bottom of the seventh to complete the comeback rally in the 5-4 series opener on Wednesday, the Bulls managed to even the series at one game apiece in Game 2 on Thursday with a 5-3 victory.
Starter Osvaldo Martinez overcame yielding two home runs to the Whales in a five-hit, eight-inning performance to pocket his ninth win of the year.
The eighth-year veteran from the Dominican Republic was the direct beneficiary of fellow hitter Chang "the Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's (
Third baseman Chen Jia-hung's (
Sinon captain Huang "Brother Tung" Chung-yi's (黃忠義) solo homer in the bottom of the seventh off Whales reliever Liu Jau-hao (劉兆豪) was the only spotlight for the Bulls' offense that was limited to a single run for the second time in as many days in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Whales.
The showdown between the two former Taiwan Major League (TML) clubs went the La New Bears' way as they took the four-game series against the Macoto Cobras in a decisive 3-1 fashion.
Six early runs in the first two innings were plenty on Friday for starter Chris Wright as the American right-hander cruised to his fourth victory of the year to even his record at 4-4.
The 9-3 final not only put the Bears up 3-0 for the series, it gave them their 20th win of the half and their 38th of the year -- two shy of doubling their 2003 winning total of 20 games.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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