The struggling EDA Rhinos snapped an eight-game slide with a solid 8-4 win over the Chinatrust Brothers at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night to keep their second-half title hopes alive.
Even though they are not likely to catch the top-ranked Lamigo Monkeys, who also won their contest against the Uni-President Lions at the same time, it was still a big win for the Rhinos, who desperately need anything positive to carry them past their dire situation.
Cheng Da-hung’s two-run single with the bases loaded got things moving in the right direction for the Rhinos, who ended up plating four in the opening frame to spot starter Gabriel Hernandez a rare multi-run lead.
After the visitors managed to up their lead to 5-0 in the second inning, the Brothers finally broke through in the bottom of the third with two runs off Hernandez on Jim Negrych’s RBI single and Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
That was as close as the Brothers got, with Hernandez tossing shutout ball from the fifth through the seventh, before being pulled after surrendering his third run of the game in the eighth. He went on to pick up win No. 2 of the season in just his fourth start.
Tagged with the loss for the Chinatrust Brothers was starter Lin Yu-ching, who allowed seven runs (five earned) on nine hits in 3-2/3 innings to fall to a 1-6 mark for the year.
MONKEYS 6, LIONS 3
The Lamigo Monkeys won their fifth straight game by defeating the Uni-President Lions 6-3 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night, thanks to Chan Chih-yao’s clutch single that jump-started a three-run seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie wide open.
The game-breaking three-run surge in the seventh came right after the Primates had scored two, with Lin “Chubby Kid” Hung-yu going deep against Lions starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-lung in the bottom of the sixth for his 14th blast of the year.
Picking up his league-best ninth win of the season was Monkeys starter Jared Lansford, who fell behind in the third after coughing up an early1-0 lead, but kept the Lions’ offense at bay just long enough to give his offense the necessary time to bail him out.
He allowed three runs on eight hits while fanning six and walking a pair to improve to a 9-1 record.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
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
RSS