Back-to-back road wins over the President Lions in Tainan upped the La New Bears' league-best record to 14-1-7 as they maintained a two-game lead over the second-place Brother Elephants in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League standings.
Friday night's 9-1 rout of the big cats began with the hosts striking first in the bottom of the first inning when shortstop Luis Ugueto of Venezuela drew a leadoff walk from Bears starter Wu Si-yo, and then scored on a defensive error after advancing to third base on an infield single by Lin Hong-yuan with two outs.
The 1-0 Lions lead lasted less than an inning as the Bears responded with a two-run second on Tseng Hao-ju's two-run homer to deep left field off Lions starter Lin Yueh-ping for a 2-1 Bears lead.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CPBL
The Bears made it 4-1 with Todd Betts' one-run single in the third inning before the Canadian slugger knocked in another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to the opposite field.
Consecutive singles by the Bears brought on set-up man Cheng Bo-ren. But that didn't stop the explosive Bears lineup from ringing up four hits and four walks in what turned out to be a five-run inning.
Wu (2-0) pitched seven strong innings of three-hit ball for the win, allowing a lone unearned run in the first inning before settling down.
Lin, the former first-round pick for the Lions never seemed comfortable on the mound -- allowing six runs on eight hits en route to his third setback of the season.
Bears 3, Lions 2
Shih Chih-wei's run-scoring chopper to second, despite hitting into a double play, broke a 2-all deadlock in the top of the seventh as the Bears ran away with a 3-2 win over the Lions Thursday.
The hosts outhit the Bears 10-6, collecting at least one base hit in all but one inning, but their poor 0-for-4 batting with a runner in scoring position brought in no runs.
Bears starter Kenny Rayborn picked up his fourth victory of the season after allowing two runs on nine hits, a walk and seven strikeouts in eight innings of work. The American right-hander escaped a two-hit fourth without giving up a run by fanning Shih Jin-dien on a called third strike.
Veteran Lions reliever Tsao Jung-yang took the loss.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and