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.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani on Monday wobbled through a 28-pitch first inning at home against the San Diego Padres in his first appearance on the mound since August 2023. Scheduled to throw as many as two innings, Ohtani went a single frame while allowing one run on two hits. He did not issue a walk nor strike out a batter. “Not quite happy with the results overall, but the takeaway for me is that I feel good enough to be able to make the next outing,” Ohtani said of his pitching performance. Ohtani still wound up with a positive impact
Jeremy Lin has etched his name into the history books of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) by being named the nascent league’s Most Valued Player (MVP) in its inaugural season, the league announced yesterday. Lin secured the honor with a weighted score exceeding 50 percent, including 113 points from 18 reporters and five of the league’s commentators and anchors, as well as 18,282 votes from fans, the league said in a statement. The league did not specify in the statement who finished second and third in the MVP vote. This marks Lin’s first regular-season MVP award since he began playing in Taiwan
RSS