Wang Jin-yong's game-tying two-run double followed by Chen Guan-ren's game-winning single -- all with two out -- capped a three-run ninth inning as the Brother Elephants overcame an eight-run deficit to beat the President Lions by a final score of 10-9 in Sinjhuang on Friday night for their first win in 14 games.
Trailing 9-1 at the seventh-inning stretch, the Elephants began their biggest comeback of the year with a run in the bottom of the seventh and then sent 10 men to the plate in a five-run eighth to cut the once-commanding Lions lead to 9-7 heading into the bottom of the final frame.
After two quick outs, the Elephants were able to draw a pair of walks against Tseng Chih-cheng, the President's top closer, to load the bases for Wang's game-tying swing before Chen clinched it in the end.
The game began with the Elephants jumping to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan's solo homer off Lions starter Hansel Izquierdo. The cats answered with nine straight runs over the next five innings to claim a 9-1 advantage.
Brother reliever Wang Jin-li pitched a scoreless ninth for the win, beating Tseng in a rare blown save as the league's premier closer -- Tseng is tied with the Sinon Bulls' Kuo Yong-chih for the league's lead with 16 saves -- suffered his second defeat of the season.
Winless since Aug. 6, the dramatic triumph by the Elephants might just be what they needed to turn the sinking ship around after netting only 3 wins to go with 14 losses last month.
Lions 4, Elephants 1
Three unearned runs by the Lions in a dreadful seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie as they capitalized on a throwing error by Elephants catcher Kuo Yi-fong to run away with a 4-1 win in Luodong on Thursday evening.
The disheartening loss sent the hapless Elephants to a record-setting 13th straight loss, topping the previous mark of 12 that they shared with the 2004 La New Bears.
Thursday's contest started with each team scoring a run in the third inning via RBI singles by each of the teams' second basemen -- the Lions' Yang Seng and the Elephants' Fong Sheng-shien.
That was all the scoring that either offense managed to produce against the fine pitching of starters Tsao Jung-yang (Lions) and Chuck Smith (Elephants) through six innings of play before the Lions blew it open in the seventh.
Tsao was credited with his third win of the season on six innings of quality work, allowing the lone Elephants run on five hits while fanning three and walking a pair.
Equally impressive in his ninth straight quality start -- defined as allowing three or fewer earned runs in at least six innings pitched -- was Smith, who suffered his fifth loss in a row by allowing four runs (only one earned) on six hits.
Whales 6, Bulls 4
Aided by five rare walks in a four-run fifth, the Chinatrust Whales cooled off the previously red-hot Sinon Bulls with a 6-4 win in Taichung on Friday night to avenge a 10-5 loss in Douliou on Thursday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB