Clutch hitting on the part of the Brother Elephants, coupled with two devastating errors by the La New Bears defense, lifted the Elephants past the Bears in a 3-1 win at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night, giving the Elephants a clean sweep in the weekend series against their archrivals from Kaohsiung.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s two-out single after a fielding error by the Bears shortstop that allowed the runner to reach second put the Elephants ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, while an erroneous throw by the Bears second baseman scored the Elephants’ second run of the game in the third.
That was more than enough to give the men in the golden uniforms the win as starter Carlos Castillo cruised through to the eighth inning with a lone allowed run on six hits to improve to 7-2 for the year.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“It was a big win for us because it meant a clean sweep,” Elephants coach Chen Rei-chen said after the game.
Chen is in the process of guiding the Elephants back to prominence after the game-fixing scandal prior to the season that nearly dismantled his team.
Failure to come up with the timely hits ultimately cost the Bears the win as they batted a dismal one-for-10 with runners in scoring position, including two double-plays, in a game in which they outhit the Elephants by a 7-5 margin.
Tagged with the tough loss despite having gone seven strong innings was Bears starter Ken Ray, who gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits as he fell back to an even 4-4 record for the season.
Lions 4, Bulls 3
Miscues by the defense also played a key role in the contest between the Sinon Bulls and the Uni-President Lions at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night in a come-from-behind win in extra innings for the Cats.
Shortstop Yang Dong-yi’s high throw to first with the bases loaded and two outs was off target, allowing the runner on third to score the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th in a dramatic finish for the Lions.
The play capped a two-run rally for the Lions after they had allowed a go-ahead to the Bulls in the top of the 10th on a fly-ball to shallow-left by Hsu Guo-long that was ruled a single to break a 2-2 tie.
The victory not only nipped a two-game slide for the Cats, but also avoided what would have been a three-game sweep at the hands of the first-half champions, who came into the game with a perfect 4-0 in the second half of the season.
Picking up the win was Lion closer Lin Yueh-ping, who did not look sharp at all with an earned run charged against him on two hits in the top of the 10th, while the loss went to the Bulls’ Micheal Tejera, who failed to preserve the win as he allowed a lead-off single to start the Lions’ 10th and surrendered the tying run on a walk before the eventual loss.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB