Chen Chin-fong's run-scoring triple in the bottom of the third put the La New Bears ahead 3-0 as they held off two late-game surges by the Macoto Cobras to win by a slim 3-2 margin in Kaohsiung on Thursday evening.
Taiwan's first US major leaguer proved his worth by drilling a shot to the right-center gap with two outs and runner on third for what turned out to be the game-winning run to help the Bears stay in contention for the second-half title while extending their winning streak to three straight.
Chen's 2-for-3 night also upped his league-leading batting average to an amazing .381 as he looks to challenge the all-time single season record of .387 set by Jay Kirkpatrick of the 1998 Sinon Bulls.
The highly anticipated pitchers duel between Cobras starter Chang Hsien-chih and his Bears counterpart Andrew Lorraine saw the defending champs taking advantage of a wild Chang in the early going with US slugger Kit Pellow sneaking a double down the third-base line to score the runner from first in the bottom of the first for a quick 1-0 lead.
The Bears attack would strike again two innings later when Pellow knocked in his second run of the game with a groundout to short before Chen's one-run triple made it 3-0 in favor of the home hosts.
Trailing by three, despite having placed runners in scoring position in two of the first three innings against Loraine, the Cobras finally came through offensively in the top of the fourth on Wang Chuan-jia's RBI single and Kao Wei's sacrifice fly to cut the Bears lead to one run.
Unfortunately for the serpents, those two runs in the fourth would be all they could muster off the Bears as Loraine pitched himself out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth before a relatively quiet sixth and seventh.
The Bears bullpen then strung together two hitless innings of shutout relief with Jiang Bo-ching, Lee Fong-hua and Huang Jung-chung each recording two outs to preserve the win for Loraine.
Picking up his third win in his fourth quality start in seven chances since joining the Bears in early-August, Loraine pitched seven innings of two-run ball on six hits.
Suffering the tough loss for the Cobras was Chang, whose bid for his 12th win of the season fell short.
It was the second straight complete-game loss for Chang, who gave up three runs on six hits over eight solid innings of work.
He has become the most consistent starter on a team that has had trouble keeping its rotation healthy since winning the first-half title in June.
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
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
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
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS