Homering for the third time in as many games, Lin Chih-sheng connected for a two-run blast to rally the La New Bears past the Sinon Bulls 6-1 at the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium on Friday evening.
The veteran slugger, who leads the league in total long balls at 23 for the season, also overtook the top spot in total RBIs from Bulls slugger Lin Yi-chuen. Lin Chih-sheng drove his RBI total to a whopping 78 in the 68 games he has played.
“We all get hot from time to time and I am just trying to ride this one out for as long as I can,” Lin Chih-sheng told reporters after the Bears’ fourth straight win.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He also enjoyed a five-game home-run streak earlier this season when he smashed seven homers over a five-game span.
The duel between foreign hurlers Aaron Rakers for the Bears and Ricardo Rodriguez for the Bulls lasted through the sixth, with the only run a solo homer by Bulls batter Wilton Veras in the fourth.
But things went south in the seventh when the Bears came out of hibernation and erupted for six unanswered runs, highlighted by a pair of two-run shots from Lin Chih-sheng and fellow hitter Pan Chung-wei.
Despite belting seven hits off three different La New pitchers — with three of the seven going for extra bases — the Bulls went a futile 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Rakers was credited with his 10th win of the year for allowing one run on five hits over six frames, with two strikeouts and no walks.
He is now 10-3 with a team-best 3.63 ERA — the third best in the league.
ELEPHANTS 3, LIONS 0
Chou Si-chi’s two-out single with a runner on second cracked a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, with the Brother Elephants going on to blank the Uni-President Lions 3-0 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday night.
Also starring for the men in the golden uniforms was starter Mike Smith, who pitched seven-and-a-third innings of five-hit ball, with five strikeouts and no walks.
The Elephant’s Kuo Yi-fong also came through with a rare triple in the seventh to knock in a pair of insurance runs.
The Lions had several scoring opportunities in the game, with runners reaching scoring position in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings on the seven hits they mustered off Smith and the Elephants bullpen. They came up empty on all of them, however, dropping their third in a row in heartbreaking fashion.
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