Kobayashi Ryokan pitched eight solid innings of one-run ball and Chen Guan-ren went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs as the Brother Elephants trounced the Sinon Bulls 6-1 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday night.
The Japanese hurler, who improved to 7-6 for the season with the win, took a four-hit shutout two outs into the eighth before surrendering a walk and back-to-back singles for the lone Sinon run in the game.
Chen set a new career mark for most four-hit games in a season with his fifth four-hit outing of the year so far, making the ball look as big as a grapefruit on a night he could do no wrong.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lin Ming-hsien’s bases-loaded groundout got the Elephants on the board in the bottom of the second before Chen’s RBI-single made it 3-0 in favor of the Elephants.
They would add to the lead by two in the fifth on a two-run single by Chen Rei-chen before Chen Guan-ren’s liner to left in the sixth scored the Elephants’ sixth run of the ball game.
That meant more than enough run support for Kobayashi as the Elephants cruised past the Bulls for the win.
T-REX 13, LIONS 9
Hsieh “the Ugly” Jia-shien’s grand slam blew an otherwise close game wide open in the top of the ninth as the dmedia T-Rex topped the President Lions 13-9 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Friday.
Before all was said and done, the rain-delayed contest — which ran more than five-and-a-half hours and did not end until early yesterday morning — featured 22 combined runs on 28 hits between the two clubs.
Trailing 8-13 following Hsieh’s grand slam, the home Lions managed to score a run without getting a hit when dmedia closer Hector Almonte walked three to load up the bases before Kuo Dai-chi drew the fourth walk of the inning off Hsu Chu-jien to force in a run.
That was as close as the Lions got as Chen Lien-hong, who represented the tying run at the plate, popped a lazy fly ball to right with the bases juiced for the game-ending out.
Picking up the wild win was dmedia reliever Lee Ming-jin, who gave up a run on two hits over three innings of work to beat the Lions’ Kao Jien-san. Kao allowed a run on three hits over two innings for his third loss of the season.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who