A pair of untimely walks issued by starter Liao Wen-yang, coupled with some clutch hitting on the part of the Chinatrust Brother Elephants that led to a four-run third, made the difference in the game as the Elephants humbled the Uni-President Lions in a 5-1 final at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night to win their weekend series by a 2-1 margin.
Starter Lin Yu-ching was in a league of his own, pitching one-hit ball through the seventh, before giving up the lone run in the game on three hits to win his second game of the season. Even though he did not have a chance to pick up the complete game, with his pitching count hitting the 110 mark, the victory was equally sweet nonetheless as it gave the battered Elephants pitching staff a tremendous boost of confidence, not to mention some much needed rest.
“I’m glad I was able to get some calls my way at the plate to get ahead on the count, that was big for me today,” Lin said after the game.
Offensively for the victorious Elephants, leadoff man Chang Cheng-wei continued his red-hot streak at the plate with two hits on the night after pounding out five hits to set a new career high the night before to raise his league-best average to .352.
Taking the tough loss in his third quality start in four chances for the Lions was Liao, who allowed five runs (only two earned) on seven hits over 6-1/3 innings to fall to 1-2 for the year.
MONKEYS 10, RHINOS 8
The Lamigo Monkeys nipped a two-game slide with a valiant 10-8 triumph over the EDA Rhinos at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to avoid a road-sweep by the Rhinos.
The slugfest that featured 18 runs on 31 hits and six lead changes saw the Primates lose a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth, with Lin Guo-yu serving up a two-run triple to the Rhinos’ Lin Tsong-nan, before plating three unanswered runs over the eighth and ninth to escape with a 10-8 win.
Chan Chih-yao’s two-out single that turned into a three-bagger with the help of a two-base error by Rhinos centerfielder Kao Hsiao-yi scored the runner from second to tie things up at eight-all in the top of the eighth, before the Monkeys cashed in a wild pitch by Rhinos closer Lin Yi-hao that scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth for the visitors.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife.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
Ukrainian coal miner Andrii’s face lit up when he talked about meeting Oleksandr Usyk. “Wow,” the 36-year-old said in English. Andrii and more than a dozen other war veterans were on hand when Usyk beat Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. It was a rematch of their 2023 bout that Andrii viewed under vastly different circumstances. “I watched this fight on the front line on my phone,” he said through an interpreter during a stop on Friday at the Ukrainian Embassy in London. “We were watching very quietly, but when he won there was loud
Saudi Arabia yesterday were drawn to take on Iraq and Indonesia in the fourth phase of Asia’s preliminaries for next year’s FIFA World Cup, with back-to-back Asian Cup winners Qatar to face the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. The winners of each of the three-team groups, which are to be played in October, would join already-qualified Australia, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Jordan at next year’s expanded 48-nation finals in the US, Canada and Mexico. Saudi Arabia, who are attempting to qualify for a seventh World Cup finals since 1994, are to host Group A and open against Indonesia on
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