Kobayashi Ryokan tossed six innings of three-run ball and Chen Rei-cheng went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs as the Brother Elephants doubled up on the Uni-President Lions 6-3 in Tainan on Friday night for their second win of the week.
Capitalizing on a shaky start by Lions starter Lin Cheng-fong, the visitors jumped to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening frame on the strength of two singles, a double and a rare two-run triple by Chen.
Even though the home Cats struck back with a run each in the first and second to halve the lead to 4-2, the Elephants returned the favor with a run in the fourth and fifth, highlighted by Wang Jin-yong’s run-scoring double in the fifth, to maintain a four-run cushion.
The Lions managed to plate their third run of the night in the bottom of the fifth when Jose Castillo hit a sacrifice-fly off Kobayashi to score the runner from third that extended the Venezuelan slugger’s recent RBI-streak to three in a row. But that was as close as they got against the stingy Elephants pitching as Kobayashi finished the inning without further damage and cruised through the sixth before the Brother bullpen took over with three hitless innings of solid relief to preserve the fifth win of the season for Kobayashi.
As for the Lions, the four-run hole that Lin dug early in the game proved costly as they dropped the second game in three chances in a not-so-auspicious start for the second half.
Bears 7, Bulls 3
The La New Bears bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to the Elephants on Thursday with a 7-3 win over the Sinon Bulls at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday evening to pick their first win of the second half.
Chen Chin-fong led an attack that ripped 14 hits off the Sinon pitching by going 3-for-4 with an RBI to earn the game-MVP honor.
La New sent nine men to the plate to face Bulls starter Shoda Itsuki in what ended up being a five-run first. The Bears never looked back, as the 5-0 lead was more than ample for starter Chang Chih-jia, who recovered from a wild second that saw him surrender three runs by holding his ground over the next four frames to win his seventh game of the year.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
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