Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min tied a league mark for most hits in a single game with five to earn the Brother Elephants a 9-3 win over the Sinon Bulls in Taichung on Tuesday.
The crowd favorite and media darling for the Elephants, who leads the league in hitting with a .393 average, and is expected to add to his record-breaking three straight batting titles (2003-2005) with a fourth one this season, showed why he is one of the most feared players at the plate by going a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBIs against Sinon.
The Elephants jumped to quick 6-1 lead with a pair of runs each during the first three frames before tacking on three more in the seventh to put the game away.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Also starring for the Elephants were sluggers Chen Chih-yuan and Chen Rei-chen who collected a pair of base hits each to help their club win its third in a row and sixth in the past seven games.
With the Elephants playing their best ball for a long time, the hunt for the second-half title could go down to the wire as they trail the second-placed Uni-President Lions by a half-game and the top-ranked Bears by a full game in the standings with 15 games remaining in the regular season.
Picking up the win for the Elephants was Danny Core with three allowed runs on six hits over five -and-two-thirds innings.
BEARS 5, WHALES 4
Lin Chih-sheng’s walk-off single with two outs and the bases loaded scored the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth for the La New Bears as they overcame an early three-run deficit to defeat the Chinatrust Whales in a dramatic win in Kaohsiung on Tuesday evening.
The home Bears fell behind early with three quick runs surrendered by starter Hsu Wen-hsiung in the top of the first, but managed to tie the game up at 3-all by the end of the fourth, highlighted by Tseng Hao-jui’s two-run home run off Whales starter Nee Fu-deh.
Chiang Chih-tsong’s one-run single gave the Bears a brief lead in the sixth only to see the marine creatures fight back with a tying run in the seventh to set the stage for Lin’s dramatic finish in the ninth.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two