Clutch hitting by Seichi Uchikawa coupled with brilliant outings by four different hurlers lifted Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks past Australia’s Perth Heat in a 4-0 shutout in this year’s Asia Series at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The veteran slugger who led the Pacific League in hitting during the regular season was at his best when it counted most as he went a solid 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position and two outs, to drive in three of his team’s four runs in the game.
The two wins by the Hawks earned them a spot in tomorrow night’s title game, when the winners will go home with a hefty NT$15 million (US$495,000) check in prize money.
Photo: Reuters
Starter Sho Iwasaki allowed lead-off singles to the Australians in the first and second innings, but managed to get out of trouble on both occasions before turning the game to his bullpen mates, who combined for seven innings of one-hit ball to keep the shutout intact.
The decision to go with a group effort on the mound proved wise for Hawks skipper Koji Akiyama, who should have all his pitchers available for tomorrow’s title game because the most that a single pitcher had pitched was reliever and game-winner Shingo Tatsumi’s four innings.
Miscues on the defensive side hurt the Heat as three of the four runs allowed by starter Trevor Caughey were unearned because of a pair of errors by his defense. They committed three errors to make it virtually impossible to win against any team, let alone the top club in Japan.
SAMSUNG LIONS 6,
UNI-PRESIDENT LIONS 3
Choi Hyung-woo’s two-run blast off reliever Ryan Glenn broke a 3-all tie in the eighth as South Korea’s Samsung Lions defeated Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions 6-3 in Taoyuan last night for a chance to take on the Hawks in tomorrow night’s title game.
Samsung took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the third against Uni-President starter Seth Etherton and made it 3-0 an inning later before the hosts finally got on the board in the bottom of the four on the strength of Yang Song-hsuan’s RBI single off Samsung starter Bae Young-soo.
Trailing by two, Uni-President managed to tie the game at 3-all, with Kuo Chun-yo’s pinch-hit homer off Samsung reliever Kwon Oh-joon in the bottom of the sixth, setting the stage for Choi’s game-winning swing.
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
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
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