The Chinatrust Brothers rode the right arm of Wang Tzu-an, who tossed seven shutout innings of four-hit ball to blank the Lamigo Monkeys 6-0 at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only gave Chinatrust a 2-1 edge in the north’s weekend series, but it also improved their season record to 4-3, good enough for second place in the standings.
After the Monkeys missed a golden scoring opportunity in the top of the first in which they stranded two at the corners, the hosts went to work against Ramon Garcia by plating three off the Monkeys starter in the bottom of the second to grab an early 3-0 lead.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
The men the golden uniforms made it 4-0 in the bottom of the third on the strength of Chou Si-chi’s two-out double, a score that stood through the sixth with neither lineup managing to produce offensively against Garcia and his counterpart Wang.
Chinatrust finally strung together a single and a double to set up Lin Wei-chu’s two-run single in the seventh that extended their lead to 6-0, before the bullpen took over, with Lin Keh-chien pitching a scoreless eighth and closer Guan Da-yuan following up with a perfect ninth to keep the shutout intact.
Picking up his first win of the season was Wang, while Garcia was charged with the loss for serving up all six of the Brothers’ runs on 13 hits over seven frames in his first loss of the year.
LIONS 6, RHINOS 5
Kuo Dai-chi’s clutch single off Lo Chia-jen with a runner on second scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth for the Uni-President Lions as they rallied from as many as three down with four unanswered runs to top the EDA Rhinos 6-5 at Kaohsiung’s Chengching Lake Baseball Stadium last night.
In a game that was all-Rhinos for the most part through the sixth inning, the visitors finally roared back with two runs in the eighth when Mai Chia-yi and Chen Yung-chee connected on RBI singles off setup man Lin Yi-hao and closer Lo respectively to tie the game at 5-5.
That was the game-breaker as Kuo managed to rise to the occasion by delivering the knockout blow in the ninth to keep the Rhinos from sweeping the three-game home stand over the weekend.
Pan “Du Du” Wei-lun was credited with his first win of the year after allowing five runs (only two earned) on nine hits over eight solid innings, while Lo was tagged with the loss for coughing up the lead in the eighth, before allowing the game-winner in the ninth.
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,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day