Chuang Ching-heh’s single in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on third drove in the winning run as the Uni-President Lions twice overcame a multi-run deficit to defeat the Brother Elephants 8-7 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday to take the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
While Chuang might have won the game for the Cats, the real hero of the day, and perhaps the series, was Liu Fu-hao whose walk-off single broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 11th to win it for the Lions on Saturday night, before yesterday’s game-tying double that scored two runners and set up Chuang’s game-winner.
“It was definitely a big weekend for me,” Liu said after the game.
He celebrated the game-winner on Saturday night, the first of his career, with the game-tying hit to fend off the defending champs.
What should have been an easy win for the Elephants turned into a dogfight in the eighth as Kao Guo-ching went deep against Brother reliever Phillip Barzilla with two outs for a three-run blast to cap a four-run rally that erased a 5-1 lead for the Elephants.
Although the men in yellow scored twice in the top of the ninth on Chang Chih-hao’s RBI-double and Chou Si-chi’s solo home run to retake their second multi-run lead, the Lions had the last laugh.
“Chou’s homer should have driven in two runs for us,” Elephants skipper Chen Rei-chen said, as Chang was thrown out at third after he tried to stretch his RBI-double into a triple, taking a potential run off the board when Chou hit his home run.
The game between the Bulls and Monkeys was rained out.
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
Ryan Yarbrough picked up a dazzling World Series ring from his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Then he went out and beat them. The New York Yankees starter on Sunday pitched one-run ball over six innings, struck out a season-high five and blanked the Dodgers’ top four hitters in a 7-3 win. “I feel like I’m in a really good place right now and really trying to continue that,” Yarbrough said. “I’m having a lot of fun.” The 33-year-old left-hander made 44 relief appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays last season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on July
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a