Randy Keisler tossed one-run ball on eight hits over six innings, while Deng Chih-wei drove in three runs on a three-for-four night as the Uni-President Lions roughed up the EDA Rhinos in a 12-2 blowout at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to take the weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
The lefty out of Louisiana State University, who spent several seasons in the majors before joining the Lions earlier this month, received plenty of run support from his offense as he was spotted a 6-0 cushion in the first two innings of play en route to a big win on his Taiwan debut.
Even though the eight hits he allowed might have been a tad too many, Keisler was able to escape with minimal damage thanks to a stingy defense that turned three double plays in the first five innings to deny the Rhinos at least three runs in the game.
Offensively for the Cats, Deng joined fellow infielder Liu Yu-chen with three hits each to knock in five combined runs. Other than leadoff man Liu Fu-hao, every Lion hitter had at least one hit and scored a run on the night.
Three uncharacteristic EDA errors that led to five unearned runs for the Lions set starter Lai Hong-cheng six runs back in the first two innings. He also served up a pair of homers to the Lions’ Deng and Liu Yu-cheng that added insult to injury in the seven innings he worked. The loss by Lai marked his fourth of the year as he falls to an even 4-4 record.
ELEPHANTS 1, MONKEYS 0
Huang Shih-hao’s sacrifice fly after Kuo Chien-yu’s leadoff triple scored the lone run in the game as the Brother Elephants blanked the Lamigo Monkeys 1-0 at the Douliou County Baseball Stadium last night to sweep the weekend set.
Starter Lin Yu-ching turned in his fourth quality start in five chances with seven innings of two-hit ball, while fanning eight and walking three to improve his season mark to 4-3. The second-year hurler has won three in a row after beginning the year with a dismal 1-3 record.
After being held to two hits through the eighth, the Primates made one final serious push for their first run of the game by collecting a pair of singles off Elephants closer Brad Thomas. However, the lefty from the Land Down Under ended the Monkeys’ scoring threat by retiring the final two hitters on a pair of ground outs to strand two and preserve the victory.
Monkeys reliever Hsu Ming-jeh was charged with the loss for serving up Kuo’s triple. He is now 1-2 after being relieved of his closer’s duty a week ago for failing to pick up any saves in five opportunities.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set