Chen Guan-ren connected for four hits and Danny Core pitched six strong innings of two-run ball as the Brother Elephants stunned the La New Bears with an 8-2 victory at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Tuesday to start the final week of regular-season play with a bang.
It was the sixth time this season in which the Brother slugger had gotten four hits in a game, giving him a total of 136 to lead the league.
“I guess the playoff-like ambiance has really pushed our game up a notch,” Chen said after the game, referring to the fact that they are to take on the Bears in the upcoming first-round postseason action.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Keeping the previously red-hot Bears lineup in check was Core, who worked six quick innings with two runs given up on six hits to earn his ninth victory of the year. His ability to hold the Bears offense to under four runs a game will be essential to their success in this postseason, as skipper Wang Guang-hui has just two other reliable starters — Kobayashi Ryokan and Liao Yu-cheng — to turn to on the Brother rotation.
Taking the fall in a rare home loss for the Bears was Hsu Wen-hsiung. The Bears’ 10-game winner fell victim to a costly error by shortstop Lin Chih-sheng that led to three unearned runs in the top of the first.
BULLS 1, LIONS 0
Tseng Hua-wei’s clutch single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth made all the difference as the Sinon Bulls blanked the Uni-President Lions 1-0 in Douliou on Tuesday to end a six-game losing skid.
The speedy outfielder, who is normally known for his flashy glove work on defense, untied a scoreless gridlock with one big swing to score the runner on second that gave the Bulls a rare 1-0 lead late in the game.
That was enough to make a winner out of Sinon rookie starter Lin Chi-wei, who went the distance on 138 pitches in a five-hit gem to pick up his first career complete-game shutout win.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
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