Homers filled the sky on Saturday evening as the Uni-President Lions went deep against the Brother Elephants, pitching with three dingers on the night to capture a 7-1 win at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu.
After a Lions defensive error on what should have been an inning-ending out scored the Elephants’ first run of the game in the bottom of the first, it was all the Lions as Kuo Jung-yo sparked a seven-run rally with a solo blast in the fourth that promptly tied things up at 1-1, before Enrico Washington and Chuang Jing-heh followed with a three-run shot each in the fifth and sixth respectively to give their team a commanding lead.
Taking the mound in his second start of the season was Lions starter Christopher Gissel of the US who allowed an unearned run in a one-hit gem with five strikeouts over as many innings to beat his counterpart Tseng Jia-min, who served up six runs on six hits, including two of the three homers in a losing cause.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
The win marked Lions skipper Lu Wen-sheng’s 100th, making him the fastest local manager to reach the 100-win plateau as he beat out the previous record of 174 games by reaching the mark in only his 156th contest.
BULLS 4, BEARS 0
The Sinon Bulls continued their stellar start with a convincing shutout win over the La New Bears in Taichung on Saturday to grab sole possession of the lead in the standings.
After a disappointing season-opening loss to the Bears on the road last Sunday, the new improved Bulls have rolled up four straight wins thanks to the solid hitting of Lin Yi-chuen, Cheng Jau-han, and Chang “Prince of the Forest” Tai-shan, as well as the stingy pitching of starters Lin Ying-jeh, Lin Keh-chien, and Shoda Itsuki.
Saturday’s contest began with the home Bulls plating a run in the opening inning on Lin Yi-chuen’s RBI-single off Bears starter Chang Chih-jia for a quick 1-0 lead.
After three scoreless frames, the Bulls offense would roar again with three more runs in the fifth, this time on the strength of a rare two-run triple by Chang Jien-ming and Deng Shih-yang’s run-scoring single.
Yesterday’s CPBL results:
• Elephants 6, Lions 3
• Bulls 3, Bears 1
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care