The top-ranked Uni-President Lions needed three unanswered runs over the final two innings to defeat the Brother Elephants 9-5 in Pingtung on Sunday and maintain their slim one-game lead over the Lamigo Monkeys in the standings, but it was a costly victory for the Lions as their top RBI specialist, Chen Yong-chi, suffered a fractured left tibia after he fouled off a pitch that nailed him in the most vulnerable part of his left leg.
In the 45 games that the Lions’ No. 1 pick has played this season, he has amassed an amazing 34 RBIs to lead his team in RBIs, hits (62) and batting average (.341).
“We definitely won’t be the same team without him [Chen], that’s for sure, but that’s part of the game,” Lions manager Lu Wen-sheng said earlier this week.
Chen could be out for as long as three months pending a second opinion from the Lions medical staff, leaving the CPBL leaders without his invaluable services in a tight pennant race with the Monkeys.
Without Chen in the lineup to lead the offense, the Lions lost the only game they have played since Sunday, a 5-1 defeat as the heart of the order batted a combined one-for-11 with one RBI. He will definitely be sorely missed.
Chen’s misfortune is not the only injury a high-profile player suffered in the league this week. The Monkeys also lost their top slugger, “Mr Everything” Lin Chih-sheng, to a stress fracture of his ribs, curbing the current home run leader and the two-time defending home run champ’s playing time for at least a week.
“He [Lin] is the kind of player who gives his all every time he steps into a batter’s box. We hope to see him in action sometime next week,” Monkeys skipper Hong Yi-chung was quoted as saying yesterday.
While injuries have affected the Lions and the Monkeys, the Elephants are excited about the return of their top gun Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min, who will return to action after being sidelined for nearly two months nursing a hand injury. Chia Chia will most likely play as a pinch hitter this week, before a full return to the lineup.
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
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
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS