Behind an outstanding effort from starter Tsao Chin-hui, the Brother Elephants blanked the Sinon Bulls in a 2-0 decision at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu on Saturday night to take Game 2 of the three-game weekend series against the Bulls.
The former Major Leaguer who began the season in a Brother uniform after spending five bumpy seasons with three different teams in the majors pitched 7-1/3 shutout innings of five-hit ball before leaving with a cramp in his calves to win his third game of the year.
Equaling the task with 1-2/3 innings of perfect relief was an Elephants bullpen that got a great outing from setup man Matt Perisho to finish the eighth before Lee Hao-ren retired the side in the ninth to keep the shutout intact.
Offensively for the victors, Chu Hong-seng claimed his second straight game-winning RBI with a clutch two-out single in the second that scored the runner from third to give the Elephants a 1-0 lead.
Taking the loss for the struggling Bulls, who have lost five in a row, was starter Alfredo Gonzalez who lasted just one batter into the second and was forced to leave with some discomfort in his throwing hand. He was charged with the loss nonetheless for allowing the Elephants’ the first run in the game.
LIONS 5, BEARS 3
The Uni-President Lions made history on Saturday night by topping the La New Bears in a 5-3 decision to become the first team in the league to collect 1,000 wins.
Slugger Wang Tzu-song got hold of an offering from Bears starter Wu Si-yo and tattooed it over the leftfield wall for his first homer of the season, a three-run shot that capped a four-run second of the home Cats.
That was more than ample for Lions starter Chu Wei-ming, who tossed 5-1/3 innings of two-run ball (only one earned) on four hits before his bullpen came to the rescue with 3-2/3 innings of one-run relief to preserve the fifth win of the year.
Trailing 2-4, the Bears rallied to fall within a run of the Lions in the top of the eighth with Chen Chin-fong’s league-leading 14th homer of the season, a solo shot off Lions reliever Tseng Yi-cheng, which made it 3-4. But that was as close as they got as the Lions answered with an insurance run in the bottom of the same inning to keep the margin at two all the way to the end.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
RSS