CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Huang "Easy" Long-yi batted three-for-four, including a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, and stole a key base with two outs in the seventh to set up the winning runs to carry the La New Bears past the Macoto Cobras in a 4-3 win in Kaohsiung on Sunday evening.
The veteran outfielder shook off an awful defensive error that led to the Cobras's game-winning run on Saturday and redeemed himself with his 10th three-hit game of the season to help his club salvage a one-game series split against the Cobras over the weekend. He also stole a crucial base with two outs in the seventh that put him in position to score what ended up being the game-winning run for the Bears.
"Being able to help out our club especially after my two-run error from the night before was truly sweet for me," said the easy-going Taipei County native, who got his nickname because of his personality.
It was his drop on a fly ball that scored the winning run for the Cobras in Saturday night's contest.
After Huang's leadoff homer gave the Bears a quick 1-0 lead in the first, the serpents were able to fight back with a run of their own in the fourth on Chou Si-chi's RBI single to knot things up at 1-1.
Neither team managed to produce offensively over the next couple innings until the Bears strung together three base hits in a row, capped by Lin Chih-sheng's two-run homer off Cobras starter Jeremy Hill in the bottom of the seventh to claim a 4-1 advantage at that point.
Even though the Cobras would rally again in the top of the eighth with a pair of runs on Hsieh "the Ugly" Jia-shien's two-run blast off Bears reliever Jiang Bo-ching to make it 4-3, that was as close as they got as Lee Fong-hua retired the final five Cobras hitters in order to earn his second win of the season.
Dealt with his sixth loss of the season was Hill, who pitched well enough for a win by allowing four runs on eight hits in six-and-two-thirds innings of work, but was hurt by the two homers that he served up.
Whales 18, Bulls 4
Scoring early and often, the Chinatrust Whales roughed up the Sinon Bulls in an 18-4 blowout in Taichung on Sunday for a clean sweep of the slumping Bulls, losers of four straight and eight of their last 10.
The 18 runs by the marine creatures tied a club record for most runs scored in a single game while the seven pitchers that Sinon used also tied the league mark for most pitchers used in a contest.
Wasting no time against the Bulls, the Whales put up three first-inning runs on the board on RBI singles by Kao Jung-chiang, Wang Hsin-min and Kuo Dai-yong to take an early 3-0 lead.
Run-scoring drives by the Bulls' Lin Tsung-nan and Tseng Hua-wei in the bottom of the second promptly cut the deficit to a run in a 3-2 game before the Whales erupted for eight more in the third, the highlight being a pair of two-run triples from Wang and Kao to break the game wide open at 11-2.
The Whales would tack on seven more runs over the final two frames against three different hurlers from the Sinon Bullpen while the Bulls scored two meaningless runs en route to their worst loss of the season.
Six Whales batters collected multi-hit games on the night with Kao, Kuo and Carlos Villalobos leading the way with three apiece for ten combined RBIs.
Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's 14th homer of the season was the lone spotlight for the Bulls on a night not much went their way.
Whales starter Shen Yu-jeh was credited with his third win of the year for his six innings of play, allowing three runs on seven hits while fanning four and walking one.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
Yesterday morning in Japan began with a palpable buzz after the Los Angeles Dodgers announced Shohei Ohtani would start Game 7 of the World Series. By the time countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered the final out, Tokyo was erupting with joy. “I am so proud today to be Japanese,” said cab driver Seiichiro Okada, who pulled his car to the side of the road to watch the ending. “To be able to watch these legends in real time is something else.” Ohtani had two hits and also pitched, while Yamamoto earned World Series Most Valuable Player after yet another stellar pitching performance as the
RSS