Makeup week continued with the dmedia T-Rex blanking the Chinatrust Whales 2-0 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium and the Brother Elephants downing the La New Bears 7-3 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Friday night in an effort to get all the first-half games in.
Nathan Bland made the most of his first start in Taiwan by tossing 6-2/3 innings of shutout ball before the dmedia bullpen took over with 2-1/3 innings of hitless relief to keep the shutout intact for the American lefty.
Providing the support with his big bat for the T-Rex was Napoleon Calzado of the Dominican Republics who drove in both of his team’s runs in the game by going 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.
Deng Shih-yang’s standup double off Whales starter Nee Fu-deh got things moving in the right direction for the T-Rex as they opened the game with a first-inning run on Calzado’s sacrifice fly to claim a 1-0 lead before doubling it two innings later, this time on an RBI double by Calzado.
Spotted a 2-0 lead, Bland showed no signs of letting up after cruising through the sixth with minimum trouble before turning the game to fellow reliever two outs into the seventh in the eventual win.
Offensively for the marine creatures, none of the half-dozen hits they managed off the dmedia pitchers came with runners in scoring position, leaving them empty-handed on the night.
Suffering the tough loss despite pitching a sound two-run gem was Nee who allowed seven hits and struck out eight to drop his fourth game of the season.
ELEPHANTS 7, BEARS 3
Liao Yu-cheng improved to 7-1 for the year by pitching his second complete-game of the year to lead the Brother Elephants past the La New Bears 7-3 in Kaohsiung on Friday evening.
The fourth-year righty with an underhand delivery who has quietly taken over the distinction as the Elephants staff ace shook off a shaky first in which he surrendered a run on a pair of singles and a well-executed double-steal by the Bears and pitched well the rest of the way en route to his seventh victory of the year.
He also received plenty of run-support from his offense which put up seven early runs through the fourth, highlighted by Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s two-run double in the top of the third on a 3-RBI night to put the game away long before the final out.
With the three hits in the game, Peng surpassed the 700-hit plateau as the eighth active player in the league to accomplish the feat.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
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