Powered by Liu Fu-hao’s grand slam on a five-RBI night, the Uni-President Lions roughed up the EDA Rhinos 11-2 at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium yesterday to even the weekend home stand at one win apiece.
The speedy outfielder made his anticipated return from injury, giving his club an 11-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. His team went on to bag the victory and snap a three-game losing skid.
Kao Guo-ching’s two-out double off Rhinos starter Andy Sisco scored the runner all the way from first in the bottom of the first to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The lead would last just an inning as the Rhinos quickly answered with a run of their own when Chen Kai-lung led off the third inning with a single off Lions starter Chiang Cheng-yen, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Hu Chin-lung’s RBI single.
That set up what turned out to be a six-run third for the Cats, who sent 10 men to the plate to ring up four singles and a pair of doubles off a struggling Sisco to put the game away long before the final out.
Picking up the win was Chiang, who remains unbeaten at 3-0 with two allowed runs on five hits over seven innings, while Sisco was charged with his second loss of the season, allowing seven runs on as many hits over three frames.
BROTHERS 5, MONKEYS 3
Chen Tzu-hao’s sly RBI-triple on a bluffed bunt attempt broke a three-all tie in the top of the seventh as the Chinatrust Brothers defeated the top-ranked Lamigo Monkeys at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium to even their weekend set.
It was by far the biggest hit of the season for the second-year slugger, who executed one of baseball’s toughest plays to perfection by drawing in the Lamigo infield with a sacrifice bunt before pulling back to connect on a liner to the right-center gap for a clean triple.
Even though the win stopped a two-game losing skid for the men in gold, the Monkeys still clinched the first-half title, with the second-placed EDA Rhinos’ loss dropping them out of title contention.
The Monkeys and Brothers traded three early runs over the first two innings of play before turning the contest into a defensive struggle, as neither club managed to score again until the top of the seventh.
Chinatrust starter Cheng Kai-wen also saw his personal-best shutout streak end at 18 innings by allowing the three first-inning runs (only one earned) to the Primates. He escaped the loss, as the Brothers offense bailed him out with the bat to keep his season record at 8-3.
Reliever Chiou Ping-rei was credited with his first win of the season for his two innings of scoreless relief, while the loss was charged to Monkeys starter Tseng Meng-cheng.
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