Yang Guan-wei’s opposite-field single with men at the corners scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh and Cheng Da-hung followed with an RBI groundout on the ensuing play, leading the EDA Rhinos to defeat the Lamigo Monkeys 5-3 at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to take the weekend series at home.
The red-hot second-year catcher out of the Chinese Culture University continued his recent surge at the plate with the second of his two hits on the night to carry his team past the top-ranked Primates.
It was the fourth multi-hit game that Yang has turned in since taking over the starting catcher’s role 10 days ago, providing skipper Dallas Williams of the US some much-needed depth in offense.
Setup man Tsai Ming-chin tossed a perfect eighth before closer Lin Yi-hao followed with a perfect ninth to preserve the second win of the season for fellow reliever Hsiao Yi-chieh, who dodged a couple of bullets in a scoreless seventh despite allowing two Monkeys hitters to reach safety.
The Monkeys drew first blood in the top of the third when Chan Chih-yao singled off Rhino starter Lin Chen-hua, stole second and scored on Lin Chih-ping’s single up the middle that made it 1-0 in favor of the visitors.
However, the Rhinos would get the run back, and some more, in a two-run fourth on the strength of a two-run triple by Cheng Jau-han to make it 2-1.
After the Monkeys managed to claim a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, the Rhinos tied the score with a run in the bottom of the same inning, which lasted until the decisive seventh inning.
Taking the loss for the Monkeys was reliever Chen Yu-hsun, who fell victim to a fielding error by himself that allowed a runner to reach second on a sacrifice-bunt attempt that ultimately led to the Rhinos’ go-ahead runs.
LIONS 6, ELEPHANTS 3
Back-to-back doubles by Chen Yung-chi and Kao “Green Tank” Guo-ching in the top of the 10th broke a 2-all wide open and the Uni-President Lions held off an all-out rally by the Chinatrust Brother Elephants, who loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, to come away with a 6-3 win at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night.
Elephants leadoff man Chang Cheng-wei went a perfect five-for-five at the plate on the night, but it was not nearly enough to translate into a win for the men in the golden uniforms, as Chen Yung-chi stole the show on a four-hit night of his own to lift his club past their foes.
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