Kuo Dai-chi’s bases-loaded two-run single capped a three-run spurt as the Uni-President Lions broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth to defeat the La New Bears 5-1 at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night.
Even though neither team had anything to play for as far as the post-season was concerned, since both had been eliminated from the playoffs long before last night, it did not keep the players from showcasing what they do best as they strived to finish the season on a high.
Most notable on the night was the Lions’ Liu Fu-hao, who snagged four stolen bases against Bears catcher Huang Hao-ran to take a two-base lead over the Sinon Bulls’ Cheng Da-hong for the season.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
“The coach gave me the green light all the way tonight, so I went whenever I thought I had a chance,” Liu said after the game.
He made the most of the three walks he drew by going a stunning four-for-five in the stolen base department.
Also starring for the Cats was veteran slugger Chen Lien-hong, who took Bears reliever Hsu Ming-jeh deep for a pinch-hit solo homer to lead off the bottom of the eighth to close out what could be the final season of his 14-year career.
“We are all thrilled to see him swing the bat as well as he did in this game,” Liu said in his post-game interview.
The Lions needed only two at-bats to plate their first run of the game, with Liu drawing a lead-off walk against Bears starter Chen Cheng-da, stealing second and third against the rookie side-armer and scoring on Huang Kang-lin’s single to left.
Chen Cheng-da would regroup in a hurry to shut down the Lions offense through the fourth to give his club a chance to tie the game up at 1-1 in the fourth on three straight singles off Lions starter Pan Jung-rong.
That was the extent the rookie hurler could handle the defending champions as he faltered in the decisive fifth, coughing up three runs (four overall) to end his campaign on a down note.
Pan was credited with his first win of the year in only his second start, allowing a lone run on five hits in as many innings. He had served primarily as a reliever prior to last night’s contest.
Today, the Lions take on the Brother Elephants in Tainan at 2:05pm, while the Bears face the Sinon Bulls in Kaohsiung County at the same time.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set