Hsieh “The Ugly” Jia-shien homered for the second-straight game in an 8-6 win at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium on Sunday to help the dmedia T-Rex sweep the two-game series against the Chinatrust Whales.
The veteran slugger, who also went deep against the Whales in last Friday’s series opener, got hold of a pitch from Whales starter Nee Fu-deh and deposited it into the right-field stands in the bottom of the fourth for a two-run blast that cut the Whales’ lead to 3-2.
The Whales added another run in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice-fly by Carlos Villalobos to make it 4-2, but the T-Rex picked up five unanswered runs over the next two innings. They scored four in the fifth inning on the strength of three singles, two doubles and a rare triple off Nee and a single run in the sixth on an RBI-single by Lin “Wild Hog” Hong-yuan to claim a 7-4 lead.
The Whales managed to close within a run of dmedia with a pair of runs in the eighth on an opposite-field triple by Lu Jung-hsiung and a run-scoring single from Chen Jia-hong.
That was as close as they got, however, as the T-Rex put up an insurance run in the bottom of the same inning courtesy of a lining single to right by Kuo Ming-ren to seal the game.
Venezuelan lefty Leavildo Pargas was credited with his first win of the season in his Taiwan debut thanks to a potent offense that provided him with eight runs to cover the four he allowed (three earned) on as many hits over five-and-a-third innings, including Chen’s home run.
For the Whales, who have lost five in a row, Nee was tagged with his second defeat of the year for allowing seven runs on 11 hits in five innings of work.
Offensively for the T-Rex, six different players recorded multiple hits, led by Kuo’s 3-for-5 effort with two RBIs. Lin, Hsieh and newcomer Napoleon Calzado of the Dominican Republic each had two RBIs on two hits.
Lions 15, Bulls 7
Seven late runs by the Lions offense broke a 5-5 stalemate in the top of the seventh and the Lions went on to beat the Sinon Bulls 15-7 on the road in Taichung to tie the series at one apiece.
Eleven Lions batters made their way to the plate and teed off against three different Sinon hurlers for five singles, two doubles and a pair of walks to deliver the knockout punch in the seventh inning.
The Bulls struck first in the bottom of the second with three runs, but the Lions soon made it 4-3 as Kao Guo-ching’s bases-clearing three-run triple capped a four-run fourth for the Lions.
The Bulls evened it up at 4-4 thanks to Cheng Da-hong’s RBI-double in the fifth. In the following inning, the teams traded another run each before the Lions took control in the seventh.
Picking up his first win of the season with one-and-a-third innings of one-run relief was second-year southpaw Pan Jung-rong.
Suffering the loss for the Bulls was Katayama Fumio of Japan, who served up six of the seven seventh-inning runs on five hits and a walk in his first loss of the year.
DOUBLE: Harry Kane has now netted 12 goals in six games, scoring his second hat-trick this season after Bayern’s opening Bundesliga match against Leipzig last month That man again. Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the season on Saturday to steer Bayern Munich to a 4-1 win at Hoffenheim for the best Bundesliga start any team has made after four rounds. The England captain scored before the break and converted two penalties after it to take his club tally to 12 goals in six games across all competitions — 13 goals in seven games including the German Supercup. Kane’s other hat-trick was in the Bundesliga-opening 6-0 rout of Leipzig. Bayern’s record of 12 points with a goal difference of 15-plus is the best after four rounds of the Bundesliga
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
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
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
RSS