Steve Hammond tossed seven innings of one-run ball, despite giving up nine hits, while Lin Chih-sheng drove a pair of runs on a three-for-five effort as the Lamigo Monkeys went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls 4-1 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to clinch the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
It was a big win for Hammond as he bounced back from a disappointing loss in his previous start (on Sunday last week), in which he served up seven runs to improve to 2-1 for the season.
As for Lin, the three hits on the day represented his ninth multi-hit game in the 15 games played thus far, upping his league-best hit total to 30 and counting.
“I guess I have been seeing the ball quite well as of late,” Lin said after the game.
His terrific start to the season has more than silenced his critics, who challenged his contribution to the team after he signed a five-year blockbuster deal with the Monkeys for more than NT$24 million (US$828,000) during the offseason.
The Monkeys trailed the Bulls during the first two innings as Hammond allowed a run in the opening frame on three hits before the Lamigo offense got to Sinon starter Lin Keh-chien with two runs in the third to claim a 2-1 lead.
They would double the lead to 4-1 with a run each in the fifth and sixth, courtesy of run-scoring singles by Kuo Sho-wei and Lin Chih-ping.
This lead stood the rest of the way, with Hammond holding his ground through the seventh before the Lamigo bullpen took over with two scoreless innings of relief to secure the win.
Taking the loss for the Bulls was Lin Keh-chien, who allowed two runs on six hits in four innings of play with minimal run support as he suffered his first defeat of the season.
ELEPHANTS 6, LIONS 2
The Brother Elephants avenged Saturday night’s tough loss to the Uni-President Lions with a 6-2 triumph over the Cats at the Pingtung County Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to take the three-game weekend set by an identical 2-1 margin.
Chang Cheng-wei’s tie--breaking liner to the left off Lion starter Dan Reichert put the Elephants ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second and they never looked back en route to a convincing 6-2 win.
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