Seven quick runs over the first two innings set the tone early in the game as the La New Bears trounced the Sinon Bulls by a 10-4 margin in Kaohsiung on Friday evening to kick off the weekend series with a splash.
The win not only extended the Bears’ win streak to six straight, but also helped them to take the lead in the standings, with a loss by the Uni-President Lions to the Brother Elephants in Tainan meant the Bears and the Lions swapped places in the standings in a tight race for the first-half title.
Lin Chih-sheng’s two-run double off struggling Sinon starter Yang Jien-fu got the hit parade started in the top of the first to spot Bears starter Hsu Wen-hsiung a four-run lead.
They would tack on another three against Yang that made it 7-0 in the second before the Bulls got on the board against Hsu with a run in the third.
After the Bears scored their eighth run of the game in the third, the Bulls would get two runs back and that was as close as they got en route to the 10-4 defeat.
Picking up the win to even his record at 5-5 was Hsu, who was not at his best as he allowed four runs on nine hits over seven frames, but benefited from an offense that has averaged 8.5 runs per game during a six-game winning streak.
ELEPHANTS 2 LIONS 1
Mike Smith pitched seven strong innings of one-run ball, while Liu Geng-hsin showed off his blazing speed around the base paths and the Brother Elephants went on to top the Uni-President Lions 2-1 in Tainan on Friday to hand the Cats their third straight loss.
Despite allowing a solo homer to the Lions’ Tu Chuang-hsun that put the Lions ahead 1-0 in the third, Smith was in control the entire way, retiring the side in order in four of the first six innings.
That kept the slow-to-warm Elephants in the game long enough to finally get to Lions starter Chris Gissell in the fifth with a run on Wang Sheng-wei’s RBI-groundout after Gissell issued back-to-back walks to start off the inning.
Liu then made his mark in the sixth by racing home all the way from second on a wild pitch by Lions reliever Hsu Yu-wei with two outs to put his team ahead 2-1, a score that would stand 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Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife.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,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
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Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father