Chen Bo-cheng’s two-out single with men on first and second scored the tiebreaking run in the top of the eighth inning and the Sinon Bulls went on to top the Lamigo Monkeys by a 2-1 margin at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to sweep the three-game weekend series.
The win not only upped the Bulls’ win streak to a season-high four games, but it brought them out of the cellar briefly as they traded places with the Brother Elephants for third spot in the standings before moving back down after the Elephants won the night cap of their doubleheader against the Uni-President Lions yesterday.
The red-hot Bulls wasted little time getting to Monkeys starter Leonard DiNardo as they led off the game with a single by Yu Hsien-ming, who scored on the next at-bat on a double by Su Jien-rong to take a 1-0 lead.
DiNardo regrouped in a hurry as he retired the next three batters to get out of the inning without further damage.
The Bulls’ 1-0 lead lasted through the fourth as starter Lin Chi-wei had given up just two hits to a potent Monkeys lineup before an error by his defense in the fifth allowed the leadoff man to score for the Monkeys’ first and only run of the contest, tying the game at 1-all.
That was all the runs either team scored against the dominant pitching of DiNardo and Lin before Chen’s clutch single turned the tables in favor of the visitors.
Leading by a slim run going into the bottom of the ninth, the Bulls looked to Lin Keh-chien to close the door on the hosts, which the righty promptly delivered despite allowing the leadoff man to reach on another error by the Sinon defense.
Picking up his first win of the year was Lin Chi-wei, who went eight innings strong to beat DiNardo, whom despite taking the loss, pitched a complete game.
Lions 7, Elephants 3, Game 1
Elephants 10, Lions 3, Game 2
The Uni-President Lions clinched their three-game series against the Brother Elephants, winning the day game of the day-night doubleheader at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon.
Reliever Liao Wen-yang took advantage of a 4-1 lead that the Lions lineup provided him in relief of injured starter Chen Yi-huan and tossed four decent innings of two-run ball to lift the defending champs past the Elephants.
Leading the Lions lineup, which rang up 16 hits off the Elephants’ pitching, was Liu Fu-hao, who went a team-best 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two