A five-run second, highlighted by Tilson Brito's bases-clearing three-run double, paved the way for the President Lions, as they downed the Macoto Cobras by an 11-5 margin at Sinjhuang on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Dominican slugger who had been limited to just one RBI during his team's five-game losing skid, knocked in four by going 3-for-5 on the night to champion an 18-hit attack that dealt the Cobras their second loss of the season.
The contest began with the Lions greeting Cobras starter Diegomar Markwell with a five-run second that saw first baseman Kao Guo-ching lead off the inning with a solo home run before Wang Tsu-song's one-run single and Brito's three-run double quickly made it 5-0.
Even though the Cobras fought back by scoring the next four runs to come within one of the Lions by the end of the fifth inning that was as close as they came as the Lions piled on six more runs to run away with a convincing win.
Lions starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen earned his first win of the season, allowing four runs on seven hits in 5-2/3 innings. He was not particularly sharp, but still managed to pick up the win with the double-digit run-support.
Pocketing the loss for the Cobras was a wild Markwell, who was responsible for all of the five runs scored by the Lions in the second while allowing five hits and walking four in the two innings he pitched.
Offensively for the Lions, seven different players had multi-hit nights, led by Brito and Wang's three-hit outings.
Whales 4, Bulls 1
Back-to-back scoring singles by Chen Jien-wei and Cheng Chang-ming for the Chinatrust Whales in the bottom of the eighth helped them overcome a slow start to top the Sinon Bulls 4-1 in Tianmu on Saturday.
Trailing 0-1 through the first six frames of the game, the Whales finally got on the board in the seventh on Wang Hsin-min's RBI groundout to second with the base loaded to force a 1-1 tie before Chen and Cheng broke it wide open with singles that drove in three runs in the eighth to lift their team past the Bulls.
A classic pitchers' dual saw the Bulls' Alfredo Gonzalez and the Whales' Lorenzo Barcelo silence the offenses with 13 combined innings of one-run ball. Other than Yu Hsien-ming's solo homer off Barcelo in the top of the first that gave the Bulls a 1-0 which lasted until the seventh, both starters were well in total control of their game.
Things changed in a hurry in the bottom of the seventh. Bulls reliever Yu Wen-pin entered the game at the expense of Gonzalez following a leadoff single by the Whales' Chen off Gonzalez and gave up consecutive walks to load up the bases with one out to set up Wang Hsin-min's game-tying RBI groundout in the Whales win.
Setup man Nee Fu-deh was credited with his first win of the year for the Whales for retiring all four of the Bulls hitters he faced after the rookie took the mound at the start of the eighth with Miguel Saladin getting the final two outs of the game to wrap up the win.
Taking the loss for the Bulls was Shibakusa Hiroshi who bailed out the Bulls in the seventh by fanning Kao Jung-chiang on an inning-ending strikeout with runners at the corners, but failed to replicate his success in the eighth by leaving a couple of pitches up for the Whales to knock in the game-winning runs.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
RSS