Chang “OEO” Tai-shan homered for the first time in nearly five months, while Liao Wen-yang pitched five solid innings of two-run ball as the Uni-President Lions roughed up the Chinatrust Brothers 9-3 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only avenged a tough loss to the Brothers by the same margin in Chiayi the night before for the Cats, but also evened the weekend series between the two squads at one win apiece as they get set to do battle once more in the series finale this evening.
Chang’s resurgence after more than three months of “farm time” in the minors could be just what the Lions need to get back in winning form as they make one final push for the post-season from the last spot in the standings, one game behind the third-place Lamigo Monkeys.
Rookie starter Wang Tzu-an simply could not handle the potent Lions lineup, which rang up five runs on four hits against him in just 2-1/3 innings of work. Even though two of the runs he surrendered were unearned, the sixth start for the righty was a rough one nonetheless.
Following Wang’s early exit, his successor Cheng Chi-hung managed to keep his team in the game with 3-2/3 innings of shutout ball in a 5-2 game. However, that was as close as the Brothers got as reliever Guan Da-yuan served up four more runs in the seventh, highlighted by Chang’s three-run blast, to seal their fate.
Picking up his ninth win of the season was Liao, who improved to a 9-4 mark, while the loss by Wang set him back to a 1-6 record for the year.
MONKEYS 4, RHINOS 2
The Lamigo Monkeys doubled up on the EDA Rhinos in a 4-2 score at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung last night to maintain their slim one-game lead over the last-place Lions in the standings.
Starter Wang Yi-cheng kept the damage to a minimum, despite allowing eight hits over 5-2/3 innings as he gave up only two runs to the Rhino offense before his bullpen came in to bail him out in the sixth.
Offensively for the Primates, the night belonged to Huang Hao-ran and Chung “Yo Yo Man” Cheng-yo, as the hitting tandem homered in the same game for the first time this season to provide just enough fire for the win.
Ace closer Miguel Mejia pitched a perfect ninth for his league-leading 31st save of the season to preserve the win for Wang, who was named the game-MVP for his solid effort off the mound. He is now 6-2 with an ERA of 3.23.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB