CPBLWinning his second start over a six-day span, President Lions lefty Bill Pulsipher pitched his team to a 9-1 victory over the Sinon Bulls in Tainan Sunday to extend the Lions' record-setting winning streak to 14 in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League.
The former major leaguer from Fort Benning, Georgia remained undefeated at 4-0 with an ERA of 1.35 as he continued to dominate the hitters in this league with pin-point control (26 strikeouts and four walks in 40 innings pitched) and an exceptional understanding of the hitter's mentality.
What he lacks in velocity, with a fastball topping out in the low 140kph, he more than makes up with throwing first-pitch strikes and keeping the ball low in the strike zone.
Pulsipher was spotted a 2-0 lead from his offense after the first four innings before it was increased to 9-0 after the seventh, highlighted by outfielder Yang Song-hsuen's three-run homer to deep-right, on a night that the Lions buzzed the Bulls staff with a dozen hits.
It took a sharp double from the Bulls' Chang Jien-ming to score Lin Song-nan, who had reached on an infield single in the top of the eighth to break up Pulsipher's bid for a shutout. But that was as close as the Bulls had gotten to Pulsipher before he was relieved after 102 pitches in eight innings of six-hit ball.
Offensively for the big cats, leadoff man Yang Seng and leftfielder Kuo Dai-chi also had multi-hit games to complement Yang Song-hsuen's 3-for-4 night with three RBIs.
Taking the loss for the Bulls was Panamanian righty Jorge Cortez, who allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits in 5-1/3 innings of play to drop to a 5-4 record for the year.
Cobras 5, Whales 4
Hsieh "The Ugly" Jia-shien's three-RBI game, including a two-run homer in the opening inning, helped the Macoto Cobras build an early 5-0 lead as they held off a fierce Chinatrust rally to win the game by a 5-4 final in Luodong yesterday afternoon.
The make-up game for Sunday's rainout had the serpents jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Hsieh's monstrous shot to right-center off Whales starter Du Chang-wei for his ninth homer of the year.
The Cobras would add to its lead by three with a three-run third, thanks to a walk by Du and a defensive error by Whales first baseman Chen Jien-wei that scored an unearned run for the Cobras after Hsieh collected his third RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to the opposite field.
With staff ace Lin "Little Chick" En-yu on the mound, the 5-0 lead appeared more than ample for the Cobras through the first five innings against the Whales until a leadoff single by the Whales' Wang Yi-min and a pair of walks by Lin suddenly loaded the bases for designated hitter Tseng Han-chou with two outs in the sixth.
Tseng's bouncer to short that would have ended the inning was mishandled by the Cobras' Hsu Sheng-jeh for a two-run error that made it 5-2 in the sixth before the Whales tacked on two more runs in the seventh to cut the once comfortable Cobras lead to just 5-4.
That was as close as the Whales would get with Cobras relievers Lee Ming-jin, Felix Villegas and Chang Chih-shien combining for three innings of one-run relief to preserve the win for Lin.
Major Leagues
Ryan Zimmerman tossed off his batting helmet and jumped into the bouncing crowd of Washington Nationals teammates waiting at home plate, celebrating a second consecutive comeback victory over the New York Yankees.
Zimmerman hit a game-winning, two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth Sunday to lift the Nationals over the Yankees 3-2 Sunday.
The drive to left, the rookie third baseman's 10th homer of the season, came on the 107th pitch from Wang Chien-ming (
Alex Rodriguez put the Yankees in position to win, giving them a 2-1 lead with his double in the eighth. He's been slumping and rejoiced after his hit by pounding his hands together in exaggerated applause while standing on the bag at second. He drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Gary Majewski (3-2), a 93mph (150kph) offering, to left, and Melky Cabrera slid in ahead of the tag on the throw home.
Cabrera was walked by Majewski leading off the eighth. The reliever then struck out Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi -- both swinging at 94 mph (151 kph) fastballs -- before Rodriguez came through. But Majewski got through the ninth without trouble.
White Sox 8, Reds 1
At Cincinnati, Jon Garland allowed only four singles while pitching into the ninth inning Sunday, and hit the first homer by a White Sox pitcher in 35 years, leading Chicago to an 8-1 victory and a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.
Garland's two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Esteban Yan was his first career homer and the first by a White Sox pitcher since Steve Kealey's on Sept. 6, 1971, against Minnesota.
Alex Cintron singled home the go-ahead run, and Rob Mackowiak matched his career high with four singles. Jermaine Dye also homered.
The White Sox moved a season-high 19 games over .500 with yet another sweep of the Reds. Chicago has won nine straight against Cincinnati, and leads their interleague series 12-2 overall.
Garland (6-3) retired 13 in a row before Brandon Phillips singled to start the ninth.
Aaron Harang (7-4) matched Garland through five scoreless innings, having fully recovered from a virus that limited him in his last start. The White Sox finally broke through in the sixth, when Jim Thome walked, Dye singled and A.J. Pierzynski sacrificed for the first out. Cintron singled to score Thome for a 1-0 lead.
Mets 9, Orioles 4
At New York, David Wright hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, Tom Glavine became the first 10-game winner in the major leagues and the New York Mets avoided a three-game sweep.
Ramon Castro also homered and knocked in two runs for the Mets, who won the final eight games of a 9-1 road trip before dropping the first two in this series against Baltimore.
Glavine (10-2) lasted six-plus innings, improving to 8-0 in his past 10 starts and earning his 285th career win. Detroit's Kenny Rogers and Boston's Curt Schilling also went into their scheduled starts Sunday with nine victories.
Wright hit his grand slam in the fifth off rookie Adam Loewen (0-2), who became the first pitcher to face a former Cy Young Award winner in each of his first four major league starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Tigers 12, Cubs 3
At Chicago, Kenny Rogers won his 200th game and the Detroit Tigers tied a club record with eight home runs, ruining Mark Prior's season debut for Chicago.
Chris Shelton and Brandon Inge homered twice for Detroit, which hit four of its homers off Prior. Rogers (10-3) pitched eight innings, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out two.
Prior (0-1), who missed the first two-and-a-half months of the season with a strained right shoulder, lasted 3 2-3 innings and allowed eight runs, matching a career high set May 1, 2005, against Houston. The four home runs tied a career high set against Philadelphia on July 30, 2004.
Curtis Granderson led off the game with a home run for the first time in his career, Carlos Guillen added a three-run shot and Shelton hit a two-run homer. Vance Wilson knocked Prior out with a two-run drive in the fourth that made it 8-1.
The eight homers tied a Tigers record set June 20, 2000, at Toronto. Rogers became the ninth active pitcher with at least 200 wins.
Mariners 5, Giants 1
At Seattle, Adrian Beltre homered and singled in another run, and Jamie Moyer stymied fellow 40-something Barry Bonds and the rest of the Giants.
Seattle swept the three-game series by keeping Bonds homerless in 10 plate appearances following his home run Friday night. The slugger remained 37 home runs behind Hank Aaron's major league record.
Moyer (4-6) allowed Jason Ellison's home run leading off the game and then five singles in eight innings. He walked none and struck out four -- including Bonds twice. J.J. Putz worked the ninth and struck out Bonds on a 97mph (156kph) fastball to end the game.
Giants starter Jamey Wright (5-7) left after he loaded the bases on walks in the seventh.
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