Lin Chih-sheng homered twice and Gary Rath pitched deep into the eighth inning to pace the La New Bears to a 4-3 win over the Macoto Cobras in Sinjhuang on Saturday night to salvage a split in the two-game set between the two squads.
The Bears shortstop -- who also knocked in the winning run for Taiwan to take home the gold medal in last year's Asian Games in Doha -- went deep twice off Cobras starter Hsu Chu-jien, including a solo blast leading off the top of the second and a two-run shot in the fourth.
Lin accounted for three of the four runs the Bears scored.
"I just hit them on the sweet spot of the bat, that's all," Lin joked after the game, flashing the big smile that made him famous in Doha last year.
Also doing his part off the mound was Bears starter Rath, who threw six scoreless innings of three-hit ball before giving up a pair of runs in the seventh on three singles and a walk and another run in the eighth.
Rath survived the dicey ending of the game to record his eighth victory of the season.
After Lin's homers put the Bears on top 3-0 in the fourth, it was Shih Chih-wei that batted in the Bears' fourth run in the fifth that ended up being the difference in the game.
The Cobras would rally for two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to cut a once-comfortable four-run lead to just a run.
With runners at the corners threatening to even things up late in the game, Bears reliever Tsai Ying-fong promptly retired the final Cobras hitters in order to preserve the thrilling win.
Suffering the loss was Hsu, who fell to an even 2-2 record after five total innings of work while allowing all four of the Bears' runs on six hits.
Bulls 5, Lions 2
Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan hit his fourth homer in as many games in front of a Taitung crowd on Saturday evening to lead the Sinon Bulls past the President Lions 5-2.
The victory not only extended the Bulls' winning streak to five games, but also kept them in contention for the first-half title.
They trail the league-leading Cobras by one-and-a-half games with eight contests remaining in the first half.
Also starring for the Bulls was Japanese left-hander Kurita Yusuke, who joined the Bulls in the middle of last month.
Yusuke pitched five-and-a-third innings of two-run ball on the way to notching his third win of the season.
Four quick runs by the Bulls in the first two innings, including the Prince's two-run shot in the opening frame, quickly gave Sinon a 4-0 lead against the struggling cats.
The Lions finally made it on the board in the fifth against Kurita's pitching thanks to Chen Lien-hong's solo homer to lead off the inning before Kao Chih-han followed with his third round-tripper of the year to make it 4-2 in favor of the Bulls.
They would tack on an insurance run two innings later in the bottom of the seventh to lead 5-2 and that was how the game ended.
Lions starter Wayne Franklin was tagged with the loss for serving up the four early runs by the Bulls in just one-and-two-thirds innings of play.
He was greatly affected by first baseman Kao Guo-ching's error in the top of the first that led to two unearned runs.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
RSS