Lin Cuen-sheng’s solo blast off Orlando Roman in the bottom of the seventh broke a 2-all tie as the Sinon Bulls held on to top the Brother Elephants 4-3 in a thrilling game at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the first home run for the budding rookie catcher in what many expect to be a promising career, providing a huge morale boost for the last-placed Bulls (12-33-2) as they look to salvage a disappointing first half of the season.
Trailing 2-0 after two innings of play, the Elephants held the Sinon offense scoreless for the next four innings to keep it a close game as Roman retired all but one Sinon batter over the span. The Elephants hitters finally awoke as they plated a pair in the top of the seventh, courtesy of an RBI ground out by Chang Cheng-hao and a two-out single by Chen Jiang-ho that drove in the tying run to make it 2-2.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
That was as close as they got as the Bulls returned the favor in the bottom of the inning with Lin’s tiebreaking solo shot, before they added an insurance run in a hitless eighth as Cheng Da-hong drew a leadoff walk off Elephants reliever Kuo Jien-yu, stole second and then reached third on a ground out, before finally scoring on a wild pitch by Kuo to make it 4-2.
Cheng’s run proved crucial as the Elephants rallied for a run in the top of the ninth and loaded the bases against Shen Yu-jeh, before the lefty closer induced a lazy fly to left to set up Cheng’s game-ending catch in foul territory for the win.
“This was a big win for us because we haven’t been able to win the close ones very often this year,” Sinon skipper Liu Rong-hua said after the game.
His Bulls had been 3-12 in games that were decided by two runs or fewer prior to last night’s contest.
Reliever Tsai Ming-jin was credited with his second win of the year for his two innings of one-run relief, while the loss was charged to Roman, who allowed three runs on six hits over seven solid innings in a quality start, only to drop to a 6-3 mark for the season.
LIONS 2, MONKEYS 0
Dan Reichert tossed eight solid innings of shutout ball to lead the Uni-President Lions past the Lamigo Monkeys at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium last night, upping the top-ranked Lions’ lead over the Monkeys to a season-high three games.
The highly anticipated pitchers’ duel between Reichert and his counterpart Steve Hammond lived up to its billing with neither offense able to produce any runs through the fourth until a fielding error by Monkeys outfielder Chung Cheng-yo led to a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth that ended up making all the difference.
Down by two runs, the Monkeys attempted a comeback in the final two frames as Chung tried to redeem himself with a two-out double off Reichert in the eighth and Tsai Jien-wei doing the same against Lions closer Lin Yueh-ping in the ninth.
Neither Chung nor Tsai managed to cross the plate as the Monkeys came up empty on both occasions on a night where the Monkeys batted a futile 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position in a losing effort.
Reichert picked up the win, improving to 7-1 for the season.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
‘HELLA ENERGY’: Minnesota’s 42-point victory set a club record for points in a playoff game, but the team have to keep up their momentum to stay in the series, Edwards said Anthony Edwards on Saturday night scored 30 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overwhelmed Oklahoma City 143-101 to tighten their NBA playoff series. Edwards added nine rebounds and six assists. while shooting 12-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range as the hosts Timberwolves pulled a game back to be 2-1 behind in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. However, moments after the 42-point win, Minnesota were determined to forget all about it. Such is life in the NBA playoffs. “You’ve got to erase this one,” Edwards said. “This one is over. I know everyone is happy about this one, but we know OKC is
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
RSS