Winning both contests in their day-night doubleheader against the dmedia T-Rex at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium in convincing fashion on Saturday, the La New Bears reclaimed sole possession of the lead in the standings in search of the second-half title.
Mike Johnson started off the day with a terrific 8-0 complete-game shutout win for his league-leading 18th victory of the season, allowing only three runners on over the course of the game via a lone single to dmedia’s Jose Leon and a pair of harmless walks. The Canadian native became the first 18-game winner in the league since John Burgos of the Uni-President Lions did it in 2001 and could be in line to finish with 20 “W’s” for the year with two more starts scheduled before the end of the regular season.
Leading the attack with three RBIs on the night was Bears slugger Shih Chih-wei who picked up his 200th career RBI in the process.
Game two of the doubleheader on Saturday night also saw the home hosts striking first with a quick run off T-Rex starter Chiang Bo-ching in the opening inning en route to a 7-4 triumph.
Rather than a one-man show by Johnson in game one, skipper Hong Yi-chung of the Bears needed six different hurlers to the mound in a group effort to hold the dmedia offense to four runs on seven hits.
LIONS 6, BULLS 2
The Uni-President Lions also won their respective home game in Tainan by topping the Sinon Bulls 6-2 to trail the Bears by a half-game in the standings as the race for the second-half title heats up.
Newcomer Aaron Fultz bounced back from a disappointing loss in his Taiwan debut a week ago with seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball.
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