The Lamigo Monkeys doubled up on the Sinon Bulls in a 4-2 decision at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon in their season opener thanks to a four-run second powered by Kuo Yen-wen’s three-run blast.
The second baseman out of Tainan’s Nan Ying Vocational High School, who spent three seasons in the Cincinnati Reds’ minor league system before returning to Taiwan two years ago, got hold of an offering from Sinon starter Lin Chi-wei and deposited it over the left field wall for an opposite-field homer to put his team ahead 3-0.
Fellow outfielder Hsieh Hsuan-ren followed with an RBI double two outs later in the same inning to account for all the runs the Monkeys scored in the game.
Spotted an early 4-0 lead, starter Ken Ray pitched shutout ball through the fifth in a three-hit effort, before he was relieved in the sixth after giving up a run on a leadoff triple and a run-scoring single.
Down by three with time -running out, the Bulls mustered one final run in the ninth off Lamigo closer Hsu Ming-jeh, but it was too little, too late as they fell short by a couple in a losing cause.
Ray was credited with the win for allowing a run on five hits over 5-1/3 frames, while the loss went to Lin, who was responsible for all four of the Monkey runs in just 3-1/3 innings of work.
LIONS 6, ELEPHANTS 2
The Uni-President Lions also put up four runs in the second inning on the strength of a two-run shot by Kuo Jung-yo and a slew of walks off reliever Lu Shou-yu that led to a pair of runs to baffle the Brother Elephants 6-2 at the -Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night.
The win not only put the Cats into the win column, but also avenged an opening day loss to the Elephants for the defending champs.
Yuya Kamada of Japan pitched well into the seventh in a shutout bid to pick up the win in his Taiwan debut, even though his mates in the bullpen were unable to keep the shutout intact.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was