Capitalizing on four costly errors by the Uni-President Lions’ defense that led to five unearned runs, the La New Bears topped their foes 8-3 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Saturday night.
The win kept the Bears’ hopes of a first-half title alive as they trail the top-ranked Cats by just half a game in the standings, adding even more drama to the tight race between the two clubs.
Saturday night’s contest began with the visiting Lions striking first in the top of the first when Jose Castillo got a hold of a pitch from Bears starter Chang Chih-jia and deposited it into the left-field seats for a two-run blast.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The hosts hit back with a solo homer of their own from Lin Chih-sheng in the bottom of the same inning off Lions ace Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen that cut the lead by half. They tied the game up in the third when Chen Chin-fong lined an opposite-field single to the right to score a runner from third.
Neither offense would score again over the next two innings until a throwing error by Yang Dong-yi on what would have been an inning-ending double play with runners on first and second, scoring a runner from second to give the Bears a 3-2 lead in the sixth.
Miscues on the part of the Lions defense would prove costly in what ended up being a five-run seventh for the Bears as Castillo misfielded a sharp grounder to third by Huang Hao-rang with the bases loaded that scored all three runners after the Bears had struck for two more runs earlier in the inning.
Trailing by six, the Lions managed to plate a run in the ninth, but it was too little too late.
Picking up the win for the Bears was Chang who improved to 6-4 for the year as the former hurler for the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League allowed two runs on nine hits over six frames.
Taking the loss was “Du Du,” who surrendered seven runs (only two earned) on 10 hits over six-and-a-third innings of work to drop to 7-5 for the year.
Yesterday’s results:
• Lions 10, Elephants 7
• Bulls 13, Bears 5
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
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS