Heads-up base-running by Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min on a mishandled relay throw following a fly out to right scored the game-wining run in the bottom of the 10th as the Brother Elephants edged past the Chinatrust Whales 6-5 at the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium on Thursday night.
The veteran slugger challenged the Whales defense with an aggressive move on the base path by trying to reach third on a routine fly out to right. And the move paid off as the relay throw from right was mishandled by the Whales’ second baseman, giving Peng a chance to beat out an off throw at the plate for the game-winner.
Also starring was catcher Kuo Yi-fong, who knocked in four of the six runs for the Elephants on a 2-for-5 night with a home run to pocket the game-MVP honor.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
The win not only snapped a three-game losing skid for the Elephants, but also helped salvage a two-game split in the series after Tuesday night’s tough loss in extra innings to the marine creatures by an identical score.
Kuo’s three-run blast off Whales starter Du Chang-wei gave the Elephants a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second before the Whales got two of the runs back in the fourth to make it 3-2.
The Elephants tacked on a run each in the sixth and seventh to lead it 5-2, only to see the Whales answer with two runs in the eighth before knotting the match up at 5-all with a ninth-inning run off Elephants closer Matthew Perisho.
Bulls 9, T-Rex 6
Scoring early and often, the Sinon Bulls erupted for nine runs on 17 hits to top the previously red-hot dmedia T-Rex 9-6 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium on Wednesday and snuff out the T-Rex’s four-game winning streak.
Homers by Chang “Prince of the Forest” Tai-shan and Lin Tsong-nan off T-Rex starter Chen Jia-hong over the first two innings helped the Bulls build a 7-2 lead which they never relinquished.
That was more than enough for Sinon starter Lin Chih-wei, who pitched five decent innings of four-run ball to earn his seventh win of the year.
Lions 8, Bears 5
The Uni-President Lions needed a four-run burst in the top of the ninth, highlighted by Kao Chih-kang’s RBI-single to left, to top the La New Bears 8-5 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Wednesday to overtake the lead in the latest standings.
With the second-half title at stake and the Bears hanging on to a slim half-game lead heading into the contest, the Lions quickly found themselves down 0-2 when Chung Cheng-yo launched a two-run shot to left off starter Louis Pote.
Kao Chih-kang’s sacrifice fly in the fourth halved the Bears’ lead to 2-1, only to have the home Bears pull ahead again by a deuce in the sixth on a clutch two-out triple by Tsai Jien-wei.
Trailing 1-4, the Lions managed to rally for three runs in the seventh on run-scoring-doubles by Tilson Brito and Liu Fu-hao and an RBI groundout from Kao Guo-ching to tie the game at 4-4.
With the momentum clearly swinging in the Lions’ favor, they struck for four big runs in the top of the ninth and held on to win it 8-5.
Picking up the win for the Lions was right-hander Tsai Shih-chin, who tossed two innings of scoreless relief for his first victory of the year, while his counterpart Huang Jung-chung was dealt the loss for giving up the go-ahead run in the dreadful ninth for his third setback of the year.
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
Ryan Yarbrough picked up a dazzling World Series ring from his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Then he went out and beat them. The New York Yankees starter on Sunday pitched one-run ball over six innings, struck out a season-high five and blanked the Dodgers’ top four hitters in a 7-3 win. “I feel like I’m in a really good place right now and really trying to continue that,” Yarbrough said. “I’m having a lot of fun.” The 33-year-old left-hander made 44 relief appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays last season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on July
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS