CPBLThe Sinon Bulls made it three straight with a 5-2 win over the Macoto Cobras in Taichung on Wednesday night to remain unbeaten in the second-half action of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League.
At 3-0, the defending champs are the only club without a loss nearly two weeks into the second half of the season with the second-place La New Bears falling to the President Lions in Tainan on Wednesday night in their first setback of the second half.
Wednesday night's contest against Macoto actually had the Cobras striking first in the top of the first when shortstop Kuo Ming-ren drew a leadoff walk and scored two outs later on cleanup man Hsieh "the Ugly" Jia-shien's single up the middle off Sinon starter Jorge Cortez of Panama.
The Cobras' 1-0 lead lasted less than an inning as the Bulls fought back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to claim a 2-1 lead on the strength of outfielder Tseng Hua-wei's one-run single and first baseman Hsu Guo-long's sacrifice fly, both off Macoto's Puerto Rican righty Felix Villegas.
After the Cobras tied things up with a run in the top of the second, the Bulls quickly responded with a run of their own, this time on shortstop Chang "Red Monkey" Jia-hao's opposite-field single that just made it past the left side of the infield grass.
The Bulls would add to their lead by two in the fifth with Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's run-scoring single and veteran infielder Huang Chung-yi's sacrifice fly off Villegas to conclude all the scoring as Cortez and reliever Yu Wen-pin combined for seven strong innings on six hits before closer Kuo Yong-chih wrapped up the win with a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Yu was credited with the win for his four innings of scoreless relief after Cortez was pulled in the fourth due to a sudden injury in his throwing arm.
Taking the loss was Villegas, still searching for that elusive first win of the year. The normal closer for the Cobras did not pitch well in just his second start of the season, allowing all five of the Bulls' runs on 10 hits over six innings.
Lions 6, Bears 4
Luis Ugueto's infield single to short, coupled with an off throw by Bears shortstop Lin Chih-sheng scored the runner all the way from first for the game-winning run, as the Lions broke a 4-4 deadlock with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to win at home (Tainan) by 6-4.
The victory snapped a five-game losing skid for the Lions, who had won a record-breaking 17 in a row during a remarkable first-half run, but have dropped five straight in a recent slump that sank them right to the bottom in the latest standings.
The game began with the visiting Bears greeting the home cats with four quick runs off Lions staff ace Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen on a walk, four singles, and a double in the top of the first.
Trailing by four in a game that seemed ready to turn into another trouncing of the hosts, the Lions were able to regroup in a hurry by plating four runs of their own in the bottom of the second via three walks, a single, a rare triple, and an unusual dead-ball play in which a pitch somehow bounced behind the chest protector of the La New catcher that allowed all runners to advance one extra base.
Spotted an early 4-0 lead by his offense, La New starter Hsu Chih-hua was unable make good of the fast start as he gave back all four runs to the Lions before being pulled just one out into the second in his shortest start of the season.
Claiming his fifth consecutive victory was Pan, with eight solid innings of work, despite a shaky first inning, to finish out strong in a four-run, ten-hit performance.
La New reliever Huang Jung-chung was tagged with the loss for surrendering the tie-breaking runs in the eighth, even though both runs were unearned.
Elephants 7, Whales 1
A four-run eighth by the Brother Elephants broke open an otherwise close 3-1 game against the Chinatrust Whales as the Elephants pulled away with a 7-1 win in Hsinchu on Tuesday night for their first win of the second half.
American righty Chuck Smith allowed a lone run on five hits over seven innings, and Chen Rei-cheng and Lee "Rambo Junior" Chih-jeh drove in two runs each to lead their club past the Whales.
The Elephants took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second when Rambo Junior smashed a liner over the Whales third baseman for a two-run single, followed by Liu Keng-hsuen's RBI base hit to shallow-right.
That was all the run support that Smith needed as he kept the Whales lineup to a run in the third for his second win of the year.
American League
All-Star Kenny Rogers won his seventh straight decision against his former club and Craig Monroe hit a two-run homer, leading the Detroit Tigers over the Oakland Athletics 10-4 to avoid a three-game sweep on Wednesday.
In other AL action it was:
* Yankees 11, Indians 3
* Devil Rays 5, Red Sox 2
* Rangers 9, Blue Jays 3
* White Sox 4, Orioles 2
* Royals 6, Twins 3
* Angels 4, Mariners 0
National League
In NL action it was:
* Mets 5, Pirates 0
* Padres 6, Phillies 3
* Cubs 1, Astros 0
* Marlins 18, Nationals 9
* Braves 14, Cardinals 4
* Rockies 5, Giants 3
* Brewers 6, Reds 5, 13 innings
* Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4
Japan captain Wataru Endo on Thursday was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup with injury and announced his international retirement, three days before his team’s opener against the Netherlands. The Liverpool midfielder pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a foot injury and was replaced in Japan’s squad by Shuto Machino. The 33-year-old Endo said on social media that he was “frustrated” at not being able to play, but backed his team to impress in Group F, where they face the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden. “There will definitely come a time in the future when Japan win the World
FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico, on fans who watched from the concourses. There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 — including FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment
About 100 people gathered at a bar in Taipei to watch the FIFA World Cup kick off in Mexico, despite the early hour of 3am last night. All seats had been reserved before the game started, said a clerk at Brass Monkey, a bar in Taipei where customers can watch live sports broadcasts. The Group A clash between Mexico and South Africa drew supporters from multiple continents to the venue. For Misael Alanis, a Mexican student who has lived in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years, the atmosphere was just as important as the game itself. "There are a lot of Mexicans here and you can
A rotting body was found on Friday in the trunk of a car parked near the stadium where Iran’s FIFA World Cup team is training in Mexico. The gruesome discovery came with games under way in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by Mexico, the US and Canada. Reporters watched as police in Tijuana opened the trunk of the gray Toyota SUV, which had California plates, in the parking lot of a supermarket directly across from the Caliente Stadium, where Team Melli are training as they prepare for three games in the US. Specialists in white protective suits worked
RSS