Homers by Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min paved the way for a Brother Elephants victory as they edged the red-hot EDA Rhinos 3-2 at the Hualien County Baseball Stadium in Hualien City yesterday afternoon to split the weekend series on the east coast with one win apiece.
It was the seventh time the veteran slugger has belted multiple homers in a game in his 13 seasons in the league, leading an anemic Elephants offense that is dead last in nearly every offensive category with a league-worst 2.93 runs per game in 32 games this season.
“It’s about time [the Elephants’ hitters] get something going on offense,” renown commentator Yang Ching-lung said after the game.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
None of the Elephants’ regular starters are hitting above .300 in what many consider as the worst offensive year for the men in the golden uniforms.
The rain-delayed contest that lasted nearly five-and-a-half hours with a 140-minute stoppage in the middle saw the hosts strike first with Peng’s first homer of the night, a solo shot off Rhinos reliever Lai Hong-cheng leading off the top of the fourth.
After a scoreless fifth, the Elephants struck again in the sixth when Peng went deep against Lai for the second time on the night with another solo blast off the Rhinos southpaw that made it 2-0.
Trailing by a deuce against sharp Elephants starter Chen Hung-wen, the Rhinos finally broke through in the seventh with back-to-back singles by Lin Yi-chuan and Kao Guo-hui to set up Cheng Jau-han’s sacrifice fly that knocked home their first run of the game, before a fielding error by Elephants shortstop Wang Sheng-wei scored a runner from third and tied the game 2-2.
The tie would last less than an inning, though, as the opportunistic Elephants took advantage of a wild pick-off attempt to first by Rhinos reliever Lin Cheng-fong that allowed the runner to advance to second and set up Chen Wei-ju’s RBI single that scored the go-ahead run.
That was all the runs that either team would plate as the bullpens did their jobs and kept the opposing hitters at bay the rest of the way to net the Elephants a narrow one-run victory.
Picking up his first win in a starting role was Chen Hung-wen, who pitched seven strong innings of two-run ball (only one earned) on five hits to beat Lin Cheng-fong, who gave up the decisive run in the seventh that nipped his team’s three-game winning streak.
Lions 11, Monkeys 3, 5 innings
The Uni-President Lions put up nine runs over the third and fourth innings to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 10-2 lead as they went on to defeat the Lamigo Monkeys 11-3 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium in five rain-shortened innings to sweep the two-game set over the weekend.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put