Kao Guo-ching’s two-run single with the bases loaded capped a seven-run seventh as the President Lions rallied from four down to top the Brother Elephants 8-5 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.
Trailing 1-5 against a stingy Kobayashi Ryokan, who allowed a lone run to the Lions through the sixth on four hits, the home Lions seemed doomed to suffer their second straight loss of the week.
That was when the Elephants starter began to show signs of fatigue, issuing a pair of walks on top of a single to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh with no outs.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He would leave the game as the candidate for the win before fellow reliever Wu Bao-shien served two more walks and a two-run single to the Lions’ Kuo Dai-chi, cutting the lead to one. Yeh Yong-jeh allowed a game-tying walk and the eventual two-run single to Kao put the Lions ahead for good.
The loss further exposed the Elephants’ weakness in mid-inning relief, as neither reliever was able to keep the Lions in check while squandering the four-run lead.
Picking up the surprising win for the Lions was closer Luther Hackman, who tossed a scoreless final two innings for his first victory since joining the Lions two weeks ago, beating Wu in a game the Elephants should have won.
WHALES 10, T-REX 7
Wilton Veras’ three-run home run off Cheng Yu-liang in the top of the eighth sparked a five-run outburst that helped the Chinatrust Whales beat the dmedia T-Rex 10-7 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Wednesday.
The win not only helped the marine creatures avenge a disheartening 5-6 loss at the hands of the T-Rex the night before, but also salvaged a series-split for them.
The five errors committed by the dmedia defense also contributed to the loss, as half of the 10 runs put up by the Whales were unearned in a game in which the T-Rex actually outhit their opponents by a whopping 18-7 margin.
Setup man Chu Wei-ming was credited with his second win of the season with two-and-one-third innings of one-run relief, thanks to the big bat of Veras, who broke a 5-5 tie wide open in the decisive eighth.
It was fortunate for the Whales that their lead was five runs, as the T-Rex managed to score twice more in the bottom of the same inning to fall within three. They actually had the tying run on deck before Whales closer Lorenzo Barcelo retired the final three hitters in order to preserve the win.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
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