The EDA Rhinos made it two shutouts in a row by blanking the Chinatrust Brother Elephants 4-0 at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to take the weekend set by a 2-1 margin.
Fresh off a 5-0 shutout win over the Elephants in the night game of Saturday’s day-night doubleheader, the Rhinos picked up where they left off by plating a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead, thanks to Hu Chin-lung’s two-run homer off Elephants starter Lin Yu-ching.
It was the former Los Angeles Dodgers player’s first long ball of the season, despite his solid .317 average heading into the contest.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth, the hosts struck again with Kao Hsiao-yi bouncing a chopper through the left side of the Elephants infield to score a runner from second, before Lin Kuen-sheng came up big on a two-out single which not only drove in his team’s fourth run of the game, but also chased Lin Yu-ching.
The 4-0 cushion was ample for the Rhinos pitching as starter Hsiao Yi-chieh kept the Chinatrust hitters at bay, despite allowing a runner to reach safety in three of the five innings he pitched before handing a 2-0 lead to his bullpen at the start of the sixth inning.
An inability to produce any runs off Hsiao with six hits off the right-hander on the part of the Elephants hitters proved costly as his successors, Lai Hung-cheng and Lin Yen-fong, combined for three innings of one-hit relief, before closer Esmerling Vasquez retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to keep the shutout intact.
Picking up the victory was Hsiao, who improved to 3-2 for the season, while the loss was charged to Lin Yu-ching, who allowed all four of the Rhinos runs on seven hits over 6-2/3 frames of work to fall to 2-4 this season.
MONKEYS 16, LIONS 8
Scoring early and often, the league-leading Lamigo Monkeys topped the Uni-President Lions 16-8 at home at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to avoid being swept by the Cats.
The victims of a pair of tough losses in front of their home crowd, the normally potent Primates, who had been held to only three runs in their previous two games, were quick to strike as they jumped to a 6-2 lead after three innings of play en route to the blowout win.
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