Tsan Chih-yao’s clutch single that just beat the outstretched glove of Lions shortstop Kim Sang-su scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Lamigo Monkeys of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League past the Samsung Lions of South Korea’s Korean Baseball Organization in a 3-0 shutout at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea, last night to earn the Monkeys a trip into tomorrow’s title game in this year’s Asia Series.
With the Lions infield drawn in to stop the runner on third from scoring in a 1-0 score, the speedy Monkeys outfielder, who easily won the Most Improved Player of the Year this season, managed to slap the ball through the infield to drive in the runners from second and third and up the Primates’ lead to a comfortable 3-0.
That was more than enough for the Monkeys, with starter Mike Loree of the US holding the defending champs scoreless in a three-hit gem with 11 strikeouts and no walks over nine impeccable innings to assure the Monkeys at least a second-placed finish in this year’s battle to be Asia’s best.
Photo: EPA
Lin Hong-yu’s solo blast off Lions starter Bae Young-soo broke a scoreless the bottom of the fourth to give the Monkeys a surprising 1-0 lead against the favored hosts, after neither offense was able to produce any runs over the first three frames.
The 1-0 advantage remained through the sixth with both starters holding their ground, until Shih Chih-wei led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left. He advanced to third on an error by the Lions defense to put runners on second and third with no outs and to set up Tsan’s game-securing two-run single.
YOMIURI GIANTS 7, PERTH HEAT 1
The Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball scored seven unanswered runs after falling behind by a run to top the Australia Baseball League’s Perth Heats 7-1 in the early game in Busan yesterday afternoon.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
RSS