Hsu Guo-long's walk-off solo home run off reliever Hsu Wen-hsiung in the bottom of the ninth snapped a 3-all tie in Wednesday's game between the Sinon Bulls and the La New Bears to give the home Bulls a 4-3 win in Taichung.
The victory upped the Bulls' slim lead over the second-placed Brother Elephants and the Macoto Cobras back to a full game in the latest standings, following the Bulls' 5-1 loss to the Bears on Tuesday night that had cut their lead down to a-half game over the Elephants and the Cobras in a tight title race.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE BROTHER ELEPHANTS
The classic seesaw battle between the two squads had the Bulls striking first in the bottom of the second on designated hitter Chen Tsung-fu's run-scoring double off La New starter Liang "Birdie" Rue-hao, before the Bears answered with a two-run fourth on slugger Huang Hsiao-wei's two-run homer and a one-run fifth on outfielder Huang Long-yi's RBI liner to center off Bulls ace Lenin Picota to claim a 3-1 advantage.
Down by a deuce, the Bulls would fight back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on shortstop Chang "Red Monkey" Jia-hao's rare triple that chased Liang. La New setup man Hsu Wen-hsiung took over the mound and managed to keep the Bulls at bay with 3-2/3 frames of sound relief until Hsu Guo-long's game-winner in the final inning.
Picota just missed a chance to add to his league-best 15 wins in tossing seven innings of three-run ball, deferring the honor to fellow reliever Kuo Yong-chih, who won for the third time this season.
Bears 5, Bulls 1
Tuesday night's series opener in Taichung starred winning pitcher Bears righty Chris Wright, who bounced back nicely from a dismal start last weekend with seven solid innings of one-run ball for his fifth win of the season.
Led by second baseman Lin Chih-sheng's 3-for-5 night with a solo home run, the Bears hitters rang up a dozen hits between Sinon starter Jorge Cortez and reliever Yang Jien-fu in a game where they led the entire way.
Leftfielder Yu Hsien-ming's RBI double off Wright in the bottom of the fifth was the only thing that kept the Bulls from being shutout, as they stranded a total of six runners, two in scoring position, in a game that could have been much closer than the final score would indicate.
Sinon starter Cortez served up two homers in 6-2/3 innings of work for his first setback since joining the team late last month. The Panamanian native has pitched effectively for the Bulls in five starts and two relief appearances, holding an impressive 3-for-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with an ERA of 1.66.
Cobras 3, Lions 1
Seven strong innings by Macoto righty Hsu Chu-jien, coupled with rookie Lin En-yu's two near-perfect innings of stellar relief, propelled the Cobras to a much needed 3-1 win over the President Lions in Hsinchuang on Monday to help the serpents keep pace with the league-leading Bulls.
The Hsu-Lin duo has quickly emerged to become the most reliable winning formula for skipper Kuo Tai-yuan as he prepares the first-half champs for the upcoming postseason.
The foreign bats did most of the damage for the Cobras with third baseman Wilton Veras and centerfielder Mario Encarnacion accounting for two of the three Cobras runs; the former on a lining double to left in the top of the first and the latter via a solo homer to straight-away center off Lions starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen in the bottom of the sixth for his 17th long ball of the season.
Pan kept his team in the game by allowing only three runs to a potent Cobras offense, but fell victim to a lack of run support, as he came up empty on his second attempt to pocket his tenth win of the season.
Whales 5, Elephants 3
Five unanswered runs by the Chinatrust Whales dealt the Elephants a crucial loss in Tuesday's makeup game between the two clubs at Hsinchuang, as the Whales kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-3 come-from-behind win.
After surrendering three early runs to the Elephants in the second inning, Whales starter Tseng Jau-hao settled in and did not allow another base runner until the top of the sixth. His fine effort off the mound gave the Whales offense a chance to rally, resulting in a valiant comeback victory.
Picking up the win for the Whales was reliever Shen Yu-jeh, pitching a shutout seventh, while closer Dario Veras was credited with the save to up his league-leading save total to 21.
Upcoming games
With just a game separating the top three squads of the league in the latest standings, the remaining three weeks of competition will certainly have a bearing on how the postseason will shape up.
The Bulls can gain some breathing room in the title race if they can beat the Bears in Games 3 and 4 of the series scheduled for Kaohsiung tonight and tomorrow afternoon. As for the second-placed Elephants and Cobras, the Elephants' visit to the Lions in Tainan yesterday, tomorrow and Sunday could mean the difference between a postseason berth or an early offseason. US right-handers Jonathan Hurst and Bronswell Patrick will have to put in a strong showing this week if their team is to keep its playoff hopes alive, since the Elephants bullpen has not been consistent at all.
The Cobras take on the Whales in a three-game set starting with yesterday's series opener at Hsinchuang before tonight's rematch and Sunday's series finale in Tienmu.
COMPLAINTS ABOUND: Long delays, unsuitable accommodation and transport issues have overshadowed the lead-up to the Games, which are to open today The Asian Games in Japan on Friday faced more accusations of poor organization with a world champion gymnast “totally exhausted,” the public drafted in to rescue stranded athletes and South Korea lodging a complaint about a Japanese warlord. The continent’s premier sporting spectacle opens in Nagoya and Aichi prefecture today, but the build-up has been soured by several issues. That includes a shortage of rooms for the more than 17,000 athletes and officials — a bigger number than the Olympics. Some teams have also criticized the quality of the accommodation, including beds that are too short. To save money there is no athletes’ village,
The Hyrox athletics franchise has apologized for allowing an athlete to complete an event in Beijing despite soiling herself midway through, causing an outcry on social media. Posts showed Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk with soiled legs and shoes, continuing to use the mats and equipment at the competition held on Saturday in the Chinese capital. She completed the event without the organizing committee intervening, and went on to win the competition, according to the Hyrox Web site. Users pointed out on social media that other participants had to touch the contaminated mats, handles and running tracks after she had used them, raising concerns
UNDER INVESTIGATION: Taiwan has replaced the damaged banner and more cameras have been installed to protect athletes and staff, the sports ministry said The Ministry of Sports yesterday called for mutual respect after a banner at a training facility used by Taiwanese athletes at the Asian Games was defaced to cover up the Chinese characters for “national” and the English word “Taiwan” in Nagoya, Japan. The banner, displayed at Misono Elementary School in Nagoya, was defaced with ink, the Chunichi Shimbun reported on Wednesday. The orange banner, measuring about 5m long by 1.5m wide, hung near the entrance to the former elementary school. In white lettering it read “National Sports Training Center” (國家運動訓練中心) in Mandarin with the English name “Taiwan Sports Training Center.” The Taiwan delegation
Iran yesterday withstood a late fightback to beat China 79-70 and win Asian Games men’s basketball bronze, an achievement that left their players “speechless” after months of war back home. China led 31-29 at half-time in Nagoya, but Iran took charge in the third quarter to lead 55-46 going into the fourth and held on to spark wild celebrations and an emotional place on the podium. “To be honest with you I’m just speechless,” said 202cm power forward Arsalan Kazemi, who in 2013 was the first Iranian to be drafted in the NBA by the Washington Wizards, but never made
RSS