Tseng Hao-jui’s two-out triple in the bottom of the fourth broke a 7-7 tie for the La New Bears, who went on to defeat the playoff-bound Uni-President Lions 9-7 at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium on Sunday.
The tie-breaking run came on the back of two Lions runs in both the third and the fourth, giving the Bears a much needed morale boost and avoiding what would have been an embarrassing loss in front of a home crowd in their season finale.
The slugfest, which featured 16 combined runs on 27 hits, saw the visitors jump to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first on Cheng Nai-wen’s three-run homer off Bears starter Hsu Wen-hsiung.
The lead lasted less than an inning as the Bears answered by sending a dozen men to the plate for seven runs in the bottom of the first off Lions starter Nerio “N-Rod” Rodriguez.
After Tseng’s go-ahead triple gave the Bears an 8-7 lead, they tacked on an insurance run against the defending champs in the fifth with Tsai Tsong-yo’s opposite-field single off Rodriguez.
That was enough for Bears veteran Chang Chih-jia, who entered in the sixth and delivered four impeccable innings of relief to win his 10th game of the year.
A pair of errors by the Lions defense led to five unearned runs and left N-Rod with the loss.
BULLS 11, ELEPHANTS 5
Seven big runs in the fourth by the Sinon Bulls erased an early deficit as they topped the Brother Elephants 11-5 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium on Sunday to deal the slumping Elephants their fifth straight loss.
Starter Lin Keh-chien was the biggest beneficiary of the seven-run fourth as it gave the rookie a 7-3 lead, allowing manager Hsu Sheng-ming to keep him in the game long enough for his 10th win of the season despite Lin giving up back-to-back homers in the first.
Cheng Da-hong, Chen Chih-wei and Wilton Veras connected for three hits each to account for seven of the Bulls’ 11 runs.
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
RSS