A stellar effort by the Brother Elephants bullpen helped protect a slim lead as they held off a late-game rally to defeat the Sinon Bulls 4-3 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu on Sunday evening.
With a 4-3 lead and the Bulls hitters rallying for more, Elephants reliever Wang Jing-li was able to induce an inning-ending pop-out with runners at the corners in the sixth. He then retired the side in order in the seventh before Matt Perisho and Mai Jia-rei combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth to preserve the win for starter Liao “the Golden Submarine” Yu-cheng.
The Elephants’ Chen “the Golden Warrior” Chih-yuan and Wang Jin-yong both had RBIs to cap a three-run fourth for a 4-1 lead.
The Bulls attempted a comeback, but failure to come up with timely hits ultimately cost them as they batted a disappointing 2-for-11 with runners in scoring positions.
Hsieh Jia-shien’s leadoff double off Perisho in the top of the eighth was wasted as the next three Sinon hitters came up empty against the American lefty, while Chang “Prince of the Forest” Tai-shan’s game-ending groundout to short with runners on first and second added another pair of stranded runners — for a total of nine for the Bulls.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he