Tsan Chih-yao’s high chopper to third, which Wilton Veras did not have a chance to field cleanly, scored the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th for the La New Bears as they beat the Sinon Bulls 9-8 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.
The speedy rookie outfielder, whose trademark smile has won the hearts of many young female fans, rose to the occasion with a two-out single to help his club win for the first time in a week, nipping a dreadful four-game slide.
The home Bears jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the opening frame when Lin Chih-sheng and Chen Chin-fong drove in a pair of runs off Sinon starter Shoda Itsuki.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
The lead last less than an inning as the Bulls came back and struck for three runs on run-scoring doubles by Cheng Jau-han and Chang Jien-ming to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the second.
After Shih Chih-wei’s opposite-field single in the bottom of the second tied the game at 3-all, the home Bears doubled their lead in the fourth when Lin went deep against Shoda for a three-run homer, his league-leading 30th of the season.
Sinon managed to get two of the runs back to keep the La New lead at a run, but the Bears claimed an 8-5 lead in the sixth on consecutive RBI singles from Jacob Cruz and Pan Chung-wei for a seemingly comfortable cushion.
Failure to keep the Bulls hitters in check on the part of the La New bullpen allowed the Bulls back in the game with a pair of seventh-inning runs, courtesy of Cheng’s two-run single off Bears reliever Keng Bo-hsuen.
The Bulls eventually tied the game up in the eighth when Hsieh “the Ugly” Jia-shien came through with a clutch two-out single off Hsu Ming-jeh with runners on first and second to send the game into extra innings.
Picking up the win for the Bears was Lee Fong-hua, who tossed a scoreless 11th for his first “W” of the year to beat his counterpart Ricardo Rodriguez, who gave up the game-winning run in the end.
LIONS 5, ELEPHANTS 3
Luther Hackman tossed seven strong innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts to lead the Uni-President Lions past the Brother Elephants at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Tuesday night, extending the Cats’ winning streak to four in a row.
The win cut the Elephants’ lead over the second-place Lions to 4.5 games in the second-half standings as the latter looked to finish out the second half strong in order to gain a first-round bye in the upcoming postseason.
Hsu Fong-bin’s RBI groundout broke a 2-all tie in the bottom of the second for the Lions, who went on to lead it 5-2 before holding off a late-game rally by the Elephants to win by a 5-3 margin.
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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