Taking advantage of a strong performance from starter Mickey Callaway, the Uni-President Lions baffled the La New Bears in a 5-0 shutout at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Sunday, winning their three-game series 2-1.
The American righty — who played in the Majors and Korea’s KBO for several seasons before joining the Lions at the start of this season — allowed only three hits while fanning six in six-and-a-third innings before his bullpen took over with flawless relief.
It was a particularly sweet win for the Lions not only because it helped them clinch the series, but because it nipped Bears slugger Lin Chih-sheng’s five-game homer streak, keeping Lin from tying the Lions’ Pan Wu-hsiung’s six-game streak record for a Taiwanese player (the league mark is seven, set by former Lions great Tilson Brito).
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Sunday’s contest saw the home Cats jumping all over Bears starter Wu Si-yo in the early going, with three quick runs on a pair of singles and three deadly walks in the second. A balk by Wu with runners at the corners in the fourth scored the Lions’ fourth run of the game.
Huang Kan-lin’s RBI-single off Bears reliever Tsai Ying-fong in the fifth concluded the scoring for the Lions and that was more than ample for Callaway and the Lions bullpen as they kept the Bears offense in check all day.
BULLS 8, ELEPHANTS 6
The Sinon Bulls continued their dominance over the Brother Elephants with an 8-6 win in Kaohsiung on Sunday to sweep the three-game series.
Hsieh “the Ugly” Jian-shien’s three-run homer capped a seven-run second that saw the Bulls send 10 men to the plate as they enjoyed a surprising 7-0 lead against Elephants ace Liao “the Golden Submarine” Yu-cheng.
Even though the Elephants offense got five of the seven runs back in the top of the fourth by batting around the order against Bulls starter Yang Jien-fu and got the go-ahead run on with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh, that was as close as they got as the Bulls bullpen held its ground to preserve the second win of the year for Yang.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
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