Wang Jing-yong's two-out, tie-breaking single off Chinatrust Whales reliever Nee Fu-deh in the top of the 10th scored the winning run for the Brother Elephants as they beat the Whales 5-4 in Sinjhuang on Thursday evening to snap a three-game losing streak.
Brother closer Chuang Pei-chuan cost fellow starter Nick Bierbrodt a big win by blowing his second save of the season as he allowed the Whales to score the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth when Chen Jie-wei drew a leadoff walk off Bierbrodt. Chen then took second on the ensuing walk by Elephants reliever Wu Bao-shien before reaching home on Wang Hsin-min's opposite-field single off Chuang to make it 4-3 and knotting things up at 4-all on Huang Kwei-yu's sacrifice-fly.
Chuang would go on to earn his first win of the year thanks to Wang's clutch single that delivered the game-winner in extra innings.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The game began with the Elephants wasting no time against Whales starter Shen Yu-jeh by taking the lefty deep with Chen Rei-cheng's two-run homer in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead before ringing up three singles in the second to make it 3-0.
Down by three, the Whales would get two of the three runs back in the third on Chen Jien-wei's two-run double off Bierbrodt to make it 3-2 after three innings of play.
The score remained 3-2 over the three innings until the Elephants were handed their fourth run of the game when the Elephants' Huang Cheng-wei drew a one-out walk off Whales reliever Liu Yu-chan, stole second, and reached third on a wild pitch by Liu before being waived home on a grounder by Liu Gheng-hsin in a 4-2 game.
Bierbrodt pitched brilliantly for the Elephants with eight-plus innings of three-run ball on four hits and a season-high 13 strikeouts. Had it not been for his bullpen's late-game collapse, the American southpaw would have easily won his second game of the year.
Taking the loss for the Whales was Nee, who was brought in with minimal warm-up in an attempt to pitch his club out of a jam. He is now 1-4 for the year.
Bulls 8, Cobras 6
Five deadly errors by a sloppy Macoto Cobras that resulted in six unearned runs for the Sinon Bulls lifted the Bulls past the serpents in a wild 8-6 win at Chiayi on Thursday night.
The loss by the self-destructing Cobras nipped a three-game winning streak for the league-leaders as they missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead over the second-placed La New Bears who now only trail the Cobras by a half-game in the latest standings.
"Anytime you commit five errors in the game, you know you are in for a long night," Cobras manager Wu Fu-lien said after the game.
His crew had been playing fundamentally sound baseball for the most part in the early going this year before Thursday's forgettable outing.
Offensively for the victorious Bulls, outfielder Yu Hsien-ming was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle with an infield single in the first, a double in the second and a rare triple in the eighth.
Picking up the win for the Bulls was Iba Tomokazu of Japan, who allowed four runs (only one earned) on ten hits over six innings for his league-best third win of the season.
Compared to Iba, Cobras starter Kim Jebin of South Korea was not nearly as fortunate as his defense dug a five-run hole through the first four innings for him, a deficit proved too much to overcome.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Travis Hafner hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 on Thursday, sending Cleveland back to Jacobs Field with a victory in its homestand away from home.
Orioles 2, Royals 1
At Baltimore, Jay Gibbons, who fouled out with two runners on base in the eighth, lined an opposite-field single to left with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th off Jason Standridge (0-1).
Tigers 5, Blue Jays 4
At Toronto, Brandon Inge homered and drove in three runs, and Mike Maroth (2-0) limited Toronto to two runs and nine hits in six innings as Detroit won for the fifth time in six games.
Twins 3, Devil Rays 2
At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau homered off Brian Stokes (0-2) leading off the bottom of the ninth to give Minnesota the win.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Ronnie Belliard hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning off John Smoltz, and the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Thursday night to stop a six-game losing streak.
Ryan Zimmerman also hit an RBI single for the Nationals (2-8), who had never before led a game this year at the time a pitch was thrown. Their only previous win was on April 4, when Dmitri Young hit a game-ending single that capped a three-run ninth inning in a 7-6 victory over visiting Florida.
Mets 5, Phillies 3
At New York, Tom Glavine (2-1) beat Jamie Moyer (1-1) in the oldest matchup of left-handed starters in major league history, getting his 292nd win.
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
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
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
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
RSS