Cheng Jau-han’s walk-off single with a runner on second scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Sinon Bulls broke a scoreless tie with the only run in the contest to win it by a 1-0 margin against the La New Bears at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night.
It was the second time that the veteran infielder has won a game in such dramatic fashion for the Bulls this year as he lined an offering from reliever Geng Bo-hsuan to shallow-right with the game on the line to knock home the game-winner.
“This is the kind of game that will make us tougher with the season winding down,” Cheng said after the game, nearly stealing the show from fellow slugger Chang Tai-shan, who belted a single to left-center in the bottom of the seventh off La New starter Ken Ray for his record-breaking 1,583rd career bases hit.
Chang was properly honored after the game for his tremendous achievement as he received a sign with a large “1,583” on it from the holder of the previous record, former Sinon great and current third-base coach Huang Chung-yi.
It was only fitting that the Bulls celebrated Chang’s career milestone with a dramatic triumph.
Both starters held their ground against an anxious opposing lineup that looked to break the ice early in the game with the Bears’ Ray and Sinon’s Lin Ying-jeh pitching seven innings of shutout ball on four and six hits.
Neither wound up with a decision as the game was not decided until long after both hurlers had left.
Picking up his sixth win of the year was reliever Shen Yu-jeh, who pitched two innings of scoreless relief despite allowing a pair of singles to beat his counterpart Geng, who gave up a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth to set up Cheng’s game-winner.
ELEPHANTS 7, LIONS 3
The Brother Elephants made it two in a row with a convincing 7-3 victory over the Uni-President Lions at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang last night to clinch the weekend series in northern Taiwan against the defending champs by a 2-1 margin.
Jim Magrane received plenty of run support to back up his seven-and-two-third innings of solid play, allowing three runs on five hits in his 11th quality start to beat Lions starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-luen for his ninth win of the year.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s RBI single in the bottom of the opening frame got things moving in the right direction for the Elephants before they added to their 1-0 lead by two three innings later, courtesy of Wang Sheng-wei’s one-run single and a fielding error by the Lions third baseman.
The Elephants put up another run each in the fifth and the sixth that made it 5-0 before the Lions finally got on the board in the top of the seventh with a run off Magrane.
They managed to score two more in the eighth with Liu Fu-hao’s two-run double, but the Elephants sent closer Ryan Cullen to record the last four outs of the game for his league-leading 23rd save of the season.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS