Back-to-back homers by Chen "The Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan and Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-min helped the Brother Elephants beat the top-ranked President Lions 7-3 in Hsinchu on Wednesday night to split the two-game series.
The Elephants pair, who played a key role in the team's legendary "threepeat" from 2001 to 2003, showed that the Elephants offense could still crush any pitching staff in the league -- despite having suffered three straight losing seasons due to a lack of strong pitching -- by going a combined 4-for-8 with three RBIs to win the game.
The solo blast by Peng in the bottom of the third was especially sweet, because it left him just one homer short of joining the elite club of six players who make up the 100 home run club.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I try not to let that affect my game, but I'd be lying to you if I said I don't think about it at all," Peng said after the game.
He will have roughly 20 more at-bats in the Elephants' four remaining contests to get that 100th homer.
The Elephants wasted little time getting to Lions starter Brian Reith, earning a pair of first-inning runs on Chen Chih-yuan's RBI double and a run-scoring single by switch-hitter Chen Huai-shan.
The Lions returned the favor in the top of the second through a sacrifice fly by Kao Chih-kang and an infield single by Hsu Sheng-jeh.
But that was all the Lions hitters could produce offensively because Chuang Wei-chuan pitched four shutout innings of two-hit ball after relieving Yeh Yong-jeh.
While Chuang was busy keeping the Lions hitters in check, the Elephants offense had a field day facing Reith. Two homers in the third made it 4-2, and three more runs came via Cheng-wei's two-run shot and Wang Jin-yong's RBI single in the fourth for a commanding 7-2 lead.
Trailing by five, the Lions managed to score once more in the seventh inning against the Elephants' Todd Moser. But that was as close as they got, as the Elephants closer quickly settled in and tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth to secure the win for Chuang with his league-leading 13th save of the year.
Picking up the loss after a three week-long break from action was Reith, who looked rusty with seven runs allowed on as many hits over three-and-a-third innings, including three homers, in only his second setback of the year.
Cobras 7, Bears 3
Failing to take advantage of the Lions' loss, the La New Bears went down by the same 7-3 margin to the Macoto Cobras in Kaohsiung on Wednesday. They remain a game behind the Lions with five games left in the regular season.
RBI doubles by Wang Chuan-jia and Chou Si-chi on top of a two-run homer by Hsieh "The Ugly" Jia-shien capped a four-run fifth that turned a 1-2 deficit into a 5-2 lead for the Cobras as they went on to beat the defending champs in an impressive road win.
Cobras starter Chang Hsien-chih was credited with his 12th win of the year to snap a two-game losing streak with six solid innings of three-run ball on eight hits to match his total wins from last year.
Tagged with the loss in his first start of the year was Suzuki Macoto. The Bears pitcher failed to deliver the performance his skipper was looking for, surrendering five runs on eight hits.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
New Zealand yesterday basked in “amazing” athletics glory after winning two gold medals in as many days at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Geordie Beamish on Monday claimed New Zealand’s first track gold in history with a shock victory in the 3,000m steeplechase, while high jumper Hamish Kerr followed with gold on Tuesday to make it an unprecedented double success for a country much better known for rugby than its prowess in track and field. Before this week, the country had won only six golds in total at the championships. Yesterday morning New Zealand were in the giddy position of fourth on
Rwanda is to take center stage from today as the first African country to host the cycling world championships, in its latest use of sports to improve the country’s reputation. As it prepares for 5,000 cyclists and 20,000 spectators, Rwanda has spruced up its roads, created a network of cycle lanes and run multiple police drills. A poor, landlocked country in east Africa still widely associated with a horrific genocide in 1994, Rwanda has used various sports to revamp its image, attract tourists and impress investors with its organizational efficiency. It has spent lavishly on soccer sponsorship deals with clubs
After Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday pitched five hitless innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Rafael Marchon hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Blake Treinen with two outs in the ninth inning for a 9-6 win. Brandon Marsh had a two-run homer and Max Kepler added a solo shot in a six-run sixth for Philadelphia. Ohtani’s 50th homer leading off the eighth helped the Dodgers tie the game 6-6. The Phillies erased a 4-0 deficit against Justin Wrobleski in another stunning collapse by the Dodgers bullpen. Philadelphia rallied for four runs in the seventh and eighth innings and another in the
RSS