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.
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SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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