RBI-singles by Deng Shih-yang and Cheng Da-hong were the winning runs in the top of the 10th for the Sinon Bulls as they topped the Uni-President Lions 10-8 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Sunday afternoon to win their three-game series 2-1.
What should have been an easy win for the Bulls turned into an extra-inning affair as closer Pedro Liriano blew a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into an extra session.
But fortunately for the Dominican native, the Sinon hitters were able to plate two runs in the 10th to give him a chance to win the game. Liriano nearly blew it again by loading the bases before inducing a pop-up fly to short for the game-ending out.
Five third-inning runs by the Lions off starter Yu Wen-pin set the visiting Bulls well behind early in the game. But they were able to chip away at the deficit with four runs during the fourth and fifth — highlighted by Lin Yi-chuen’s solo blast in the fourth — to make it 5-4.
It took Lin’s second homer of the game — this time a three-run shot off Lions reliever Hsu Yu-wei in what ended up being a four-run seventh — to put the Bulls ahead 8-5 at the point.
The three-runner proved to be insufficient as Liriano served up a run in the ninth on two singles and a walk before allowing a two-out single to Kao Guo-ching that scored the tying runs to send the game into extra innings.
Liriano was credited with the win, but his role as closer for the Bulls might have been put in jeopardy as it was the second blown save in seven chances for him.
ELEPHANTS 10, BEARS 1
Liao “the Golden Submarine” Yu-cheng tossed seven shutout innings of three-hit ball to help the Brother Elephants past the La New Bears 10-1 in Douliou on Sunday.
The win nipped a two-game slide for the last-place Elephants, but also avoided a three-game sweep by the Bears.
The Elephants also tied a club record for most doubles in a game by drilling eight on a 16-hit outburst to back up the brilliant effort by Liao, who is now 4-1 for the year.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but