CPBL
Sweeping their two-game series against the Sinon Bulls in Hualien over the weekend, the Chinatrust Whales kicked off the second half of the season with a bang.
Pitching ace Emiliano Giron allowed a pair of runs in six innings on seven hits and rookie set-up man Shen Yu-jeh added another three innings of hitless relief to preserve the 4-2 win for the defending champions on Saturday.
PHOTO: CHINATRUST WHALES
Whales shortstop Cheng Chang-ming dazzled the Hualien crowd, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while also preventing two runs from scoring while playing defense, earning him game-MVP honors.
Giron improved to 7-3 for the season, while his counterpart Kuo Yong-chih fell to 1-3 with the loss.
Whales 9, Bulls 4
Clinton Hosford's starting debut for the Bulls was a disappointment as the Canadian righty allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in only four innings of work in the Bull's loss on Sunday.
Three different Whales batters had a multi-hit game on a night where all but two starters managed to collect at least one hit.
The Whales offense matched its season-high, single-inning scoring mark, putting up seven runs in the game-deciding fifth inning that sent 12 hitters to the batter's box.
The only other time that the Whales put up seven runs in an inning was on May 8, also against the Bulls, in a 9-2 decision.
Pocketing the win for the Whales was starter Wang Guo-jing, who won for the first time this year after undergoing a surgery to remove one of his kidneys late last season.
Lions 4, Bears 2
The President Lions and the La New Bears played to a 1-1 series split in Tainan in two high-tension matches last week.
Following a hard fought 4-3 loss to the Bears that featured two player ejections and a near bench-clearing confrontation on Friday, the home Lions doubled up the Bears on Saturday in a 4-2 win that helped salvage a series tie.
A sound effort by the Lions bullpen was the difference as Lions reliever Tsao Jung-yang pitched four shutout frames in relief of starter Julio Manon to pick up his first win of the year.
Offensively for the big cats, the heart of the order, consisting of outfielders Lin "Wild Hog" Hong-yuan and Chen Lien-hong, and first baseman Kao Guo-ching, did most of the damage against Bears starter Chris Wright.
Cobras 5, Elephants 4
Another reliever came through in a big way in the Macoto Cobras' 5-4 win over the Brother Elephants at Tienmu on Sunday.
Tsai Shih-chin came out of the pen with minimal warm up one batter into the fourth inning in relief of Cobras starter Yang Chi-jia.
The 29-year-old right-hander responded to the challenge by throwing three scoreless innings of one-hit ball to post his first win in nearly 14 months.
An early 3-0 Cobras lead was quickly reduced to a run in the bottom of the third when Elephants' home-run threat Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-ming unloaded with a two-run homer to deep-center off Yang. It was Peng's 13th home run of the season.
The serpents gained a three-run cushion by knocking in a run in the sixth and seventh innings on RBI singles by catcher Wu Jau-hui and cleanup man Wilton Veras for a 5-2 advantage.
Trailing by three for the second time in the game, Elephants outfielder Chen Huai-shan creamed a two-run shot to make it 5-4.
National League
AP, New York
Dontrelle Willis became the National League's first 13-game winner, pitching a three-hitter to lead the Florida Marlins past the New York Mets 3-0 on Sunday.
Willis (13-3) allowed just two baserunners after the first inning and threw his major league-leading fourth shutout of the season in his 17th start.
He handcuffed the Mets after pitching his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and was never in trouble after that. The high-kicking left-hander also singled and scored in the third.
Willis struck out seven and walked one in his NL-leading fifth complete game, lowering his ERA to 1.89. Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox is the only other 13-game winner in the majors.
Victor Zambrano (4-7) took the loss.
Cardinals 5, Rockies 4
At St. Louis, Abraham Nunez singled in the winning run in the ninth inning, and St. Louis denied Colorado its first road series win of the year.
Albert Pujols had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, and Scott Rolen had two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who split the four-game series.
The Rockies haven't won a road series in 13 attempts this year, and 16 in a row since last September.
Colorado matched a season best with three homers, by Dustan Mohr, Luis Gonzalez and Preston Wilson. The Rockies fell to 7-33 on the road, worst in the majors since the 1982 Twins also started out with that record.
Nationals 5, Cubs 4, 12 innings
At Chicago, Brian Schneider hit a solo homer in the 12th inning, and Washington overcame Chad Cordero's first blown save in more than two months to complete a three-game sweep.
The Nationals have won six straight to reach 50 wins faster than any season in franchise history. It was the first three-game sweep at Wrigley Field for the club since the Montreal Expos did it June 1994.
Brad Wilkerson hit a two-run double in the 11th inning, and after the Cubs tied it again, Schneider hit his sixth homer with two outs in the 12th off Cubs reliever Sergio Mitre (2-4).
Washington led 2-0 in the ninth before Aramis Ramirez hit his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Cordero that ended the closer's streak of 26 consecutive saves. It was Cordero's first blown save since April 21 at Atlanta.
American League
AP, Oakland, California
Barry Zito pitched eight solid innings, and Oakland scored four times in a sloppy sixth inning in the Athletics's 7-2 win to send Chicago's Mark Buehrle to his first loss in nearly three months.
Jason Kendall drove in the go-ahead run with a single for the A's, who won for the ninth time in 10 games. Mark Kotsay's RBI double capped a sixth-inning rally that included three unearned runs, thanks to Buehrle's first error of the season.
Buehrle (10-2) hadn't lost in 15 starts since April 10, but Chicago's star left-hander never got comfortable in the Coliseum, where he's winless in 10 career appearances. He allowed a season-high 14 hits in 6 1-3 innings, and the A's finally broke through in the sixth to snap his career-best nine-game winning streak.
Zito (5-8) gave up early solo homers to Frank Thomas and Jermaine Dye, but mostly stayed in control. With his curveball dipping, Zito allowed six hits and finished by escaping an eighth-inning jam.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2
At Boston, Roy Halladay pitched eight strong innings for his 12th win, leading Toronto over the Red Sox.
The Blue Jays took two of three in the series and have beaten first-place Boston eight times in 11 meetings this year.
Halladay (12-4) held the highest-scoring team in the major leagues to one run and five hits. He walked two and struck out six in lowering his American League-leading ERA to 2.33.
Scott Schoeneweis earned his first save since August 2002.
Boston's Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to a career-best 19 games with a first-inning single.
Bronson Arroyo (6-5) took the loss, giving up three runs and eight hits in eight innings.
Mariners 2, Rangers 1
At Seattle, Willie Bloomquist singled leading off the eighth inning and scored on an infield grounder, leading Seattle over Kenny Rogers and Texas.
Jamie Moyer (7-3) won a matchup of starters in their 40s as Rogers (9-4) allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings, his first game since attacking two cameramen last Wednesday and prompting a police investigation.
Moyer gave up one run and four hits in eight innings and struck out five, allowing his only run when Gary Matthews Jr. homered on his first pitch of the game.
Twins 3, Devil Rays 2
At Minneapolis, Matthew LeCroy homered and Joe Mays pitched seven strong innings for Minnesota's victory.
Mike Redmond drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for Minnesota, which has won six of its last seven games. The Twins are 6-0 against the Devil Rays this season and have won the last eight meetings.
Carl Crawford had three hits and Travis Lee homered for the Devil Rays, who have lost five straight and eight of nine.
Mays (5-3) allowed seven hits and two runs, walked two and struck out three. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 10th straight save and 23rd in 25 chances.
Rookie Scott Kazmir (3-6) gave up just four hits and three runs -- two earned -- while striking out six and walking two.
Indians 9, Orioles 4
At Baltimore, Ben Broussard homered in a five-run first inning against Sidney Ponson (7-6) and Travis Hafner added a two-run shot in the seventh for Cleveland.
The Indians improved to 12-5-1 in their last 18 series. Hafner went 2-for-3 with two walks and scored three runs.
Cleveland starter Cliff Lee (9-3) allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings to improve to 7-1 on the road.
Three-time All-Star second baseman Bret Boone was cut by the Seattle Mariners on Sunday after a half-season of struggles at the plate.
The 12-year veteran, who has 252 homers, was designated for assignment. Seattle has 10 days to trade him or put him on waivers.
Boone, 36, is hitting .231 with seven homers and 34 RBIs. He was benched for four games two weeks ago to work on his swing with batting instructor Don Baylor. On his return, he played well during a three-game series in San Diego, but manager Mike Hargrove said recently "he has reverted back to where he was before."
Seattle is responsible for the remainder of his US$8.25 million salary this year.
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