The Lamigo Monkeys pulled off a clean sweep in their three-game home stand against the EDA Rhinos by taking the finale 8-6 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to claim sole possession of the lead in the standings.
Lin Chih-sheng’s three-run homer in the bottom of the second gave the Primates a 7-2 advantage which the Rhinos managed to reduce to as few as a lone run in the fourth when Chang Chien-ming doubled and scored on Kao Kuo-hui’s RBI single off Lamigo reliever Tseng Meng-cheng to make it 7-6.
That was as close as the Rhinos got as the Monkeys’ bullpen did its job by shutting down the Rhinos offense from the fifth inning with five innings of scoreless relief to give Tseng just his second victory of the season.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Trailing by two, the Rhinos had their best scoring opportunity against the stellar Monkeys bullpen in the top of the ninth with Hu Chin-lung bounced a chopper through short to bring the tying run to the plate against Lamigo reliever Chen Yu-hsun, but the Primates had the last laugh when shortstop Kuo Yung-wei made a spectacular diving stop on a chopper up the middle by Chang Yung-han, which would have advanced the runner to third, for what ended up being the game-ending out.
BROTHERS 6, LIONS 5
Hsieh Jung-hao tossed eight innings of three-hit ball and Jim Negrych drove in a pair of runs as the Chinatrust Brothers held off a late rally by the Uni-President Lions to escape with a 6-5 victory at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium last night.
It was the first win of the season for the Brothers starter after he came up short on all five of his previous starts, despite two where he allowed three or fewer earned runs over at least six innings of play.
“I am really glad [the win] finally came,” Hsieh said after the game.
Even though one of the three hits he allowed was a three-run homer, his gutsy effort still earned him the game’s Most Valuable Player honor.
Jaime Pedroza’s sacrifice fly following Negrych’s two-run double off Lions starter Wang Ching-ming in the top of the first spotted Hsieh a three-run lead before the Brothers starter faced his first batter of the game.
Hsieh retired all nine of the Lions batters he faced over three perfect frames, before serving up a three-run blast to Kao Kuo-ching in the fourth that tied the game at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth, the men in the golden uniforms struck again against Wang in the sixth by stringing together three straight two-out singles to plate three, chasing the Lions starter.
The three-run sixth proved just sufficient for the visitors to claim the victory as they held off a ninth-inning rally by the Cats, as Kuo Dai-chi hit a two-run homer off closer Chen Hung-wen, before stranding the potential tying run to end the game.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS