Yeh Chu-hsuan’s bases-loaded triple highlighted a six-run eighth that blew an otherwise close 4-2 game wide open for the Lamigo Monkeys as they went on to defeat the Sinon Bulls 10-2 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only completed the sweep in the three-game set between the two clubs in Taichung, but it also gave the red-hot Primates their eighth victory in their past 10 outings, cutting a six-game deficit behind the top-ranked Brother Elephants to a lone game in the latest standings.
Chan Chih-yao’s leadoff homer off Bulls starter Lin Chen-hua set the tone early in the game as the Monkeys jumped to a quick 3-1 lead through two innings of play.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The game then turned into a defensive struggle as the two teams mustered just two runs between them over the next five frames, before the eighth-inning scoring spree by the visitors put the game away for good.
Leading the way for the explosive Lamigo attack were Chan and Yeh, who went a combined five-for-nine with five RBIs to account for half of their team’s total runs.
Matt DeSalvo was credited with the win for pitching seven innings of two-run ball on seven hits to improve to 11-4 for the year, while the loss went to his counterpart Lin, who served up four runs over seven innings, falling victim to an anemic attack that failed to provide much run support.
For the free-falling Bulls, who gave up nearly 40 runs over the weekend and have won just two games in the 14 played so far this month, their troubles continued even after former skipper Liu Rong-hua stepped down earlier this month to take the heat for the team’s recent slide.
Elephants 5, Lions 1
The Brother Elephants overcame a dismal outing in their opener against the Uni-President Lions on Friday with back-to-back wins on Saturday and yesterday to clinch the series by a 2-1 margin.
The Elephants picked up where they left off following Saturday’s 15-5 rout of the defending champions, putting up three runs over the first two innings and going on to defeat the Lions 5-1 in the series finale.
Cheng Hong-chi gave up a run on seven hits in 6-2/3 innings to win his fifth straight, while the loss was charged to the Lions’ Huang Chih-long, who remained winless.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two