Chang Chih-hao’s walk-off single off Tsai Ming-jin in the bottom of the ninth broke a 2-2 tie as the Brother Elephants edged past the Sinon Bulls 3-2 at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night.
It was the first time the rookie standout for the Elephants had a chance to play the hero this season and he made the most of it by clearing an opposite-field single just over the outstretched glove of the Bulls shortstop to knock in the game-winner.
“I knew I had the chance to get him [the runner on second] as long as I made good contact on the ball,” Chang said after the game.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The win not only made it three in a row for the Elephants this week, but it also marked their eighth straight victory over the Bulls as they continued to dominate the first-half champions after coming up empty in their first eight meetings in the second half to even their record at eight wins apiece.
A wild throw by Bulls starter Lin Ying-jeh on a pickoff attempt with runners at the corner scored the first run of the game for the Elephants in the bottom of the first inning, before the visitors returned the favor with an equalizer in the top of the second when Chang Tai-shan led off with a double off Elephants starter Orlando Roman and scored three batters later on Deng Shih-yang’s RBI single.
Neither offense would score again over the next four innings against the solid pitching of Roman and Lin until the Bulls’ Lan Shao-bai came up with a two-out single to break the deadlock, only to see the Elephants answer in the bottom of the same inning, also on a two-out single by Yeh Jung-chang.
The Elephants would have tacked on another run in the inning if it had not been for a base-runner error by Chen Guan-ren that helped the Bulls defense nail him at the plate for an inning-ending out, bringing the tie into the ninth and setting the stage for Chang Chih-hao’s game-clincher.
Picking up his 12th win of the season was Roman, who went the distance for his team with nine innings of two-run ball (one earned run), while the loss went to the Bulls’ Shen Yu-jeh, who pitched a scoreless eighth despite giving up a pair of hits, but finally ran out of luck in the ninth.
LIONS 4, BEARS 1
Chuang Jing-heh’s RBI single capped a three-run sixth that helped the Uni-President Lions overcome a 0-1 deficit to defeat the La New Bears 4-1 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday evening.
The three-run sixth nipped a 28-inning scoring drought for the Cats.
Wang Ching-ming was credited with the win for his seven-and-two-third frames of one-run ball, while the loss went to his counterpart, Ken Ray, who allowed four runs on six hits and tied a season-high with five walks.
In today’s games, the Lions face the Bears in Liudou at 5:05pm, while the Bulls and Elephants square up in Tianmu again at the same time.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS