Powered by Chen Chiang-ho’s first home run of the season, the Chinatrust Brothers erased an early deficit with a three-run sixth and went on to defeat the EDA Rhinos 8-4 at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night to jumpstart their makeup week.
The win came after the most-storied franchise in the league’s history announced the signing of former US Major League player Jose Contreras of Cuba.
The resumption of a rain-suspended May 24 contest in Hualien began in the top of the third, in which the visiting Rhinos scored three runs on the back of an RBI groundout by Lin Yi-chuan and a two-run single by Yang Guan-wei to turn a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
Photo: EPA
EDA’s slim lead lasted into the sixth, with Andy Sisco holding his ground from the third through the fifth before the American lefty served up Chen’s three-run blast that ended up being the game-winning hit.
Chinatrust kept the EDA hitters at bay with starter Mike McClendon pitching shutout ball on six hits over 6-2/3 innings of work for his third win of the season.
Taking the loss was Sisco, who allowed five runs on as many hits over 5-1/3 frames, his third setback of the season since rejoining the Rhinos earlier in the month.
LIONS 1, MONKEYS 8
The top-ranked Lamigo Monkeys roughed up the Uni-President Lions at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to lift their league-best mark to 36-22.
The Monkeys have shown no signs of slowing down since clinching the first-half title two weeks ago, taking eight of their past 10 to give their supporters something to cheer about.
Lin Chih-sheng’s two-run blast off Lions starter Pan “Du Du” Wei-lung in the bottom of the first got things moving in the right direction for the Primates, who rang up three off the Lions starter in the opening frame to set the tone early.
After three scoreless innings in which neither offense could do much against the effective pitching of Du Du and Lamigo starter Wang Yi-cheng, the home team struck again in the fifth, when Chan Chih-yao led off the inning with a single and scored three batters later on Lin’s sacrifice fly, followed by Kuo Yung-wei’s run-scoring single with two outs that knocked out Du Du.
Even though the Lions finally got on the board in the top of the sixth with Chou Kuan-sheng’s sacrifice fly to avoid the shutout, the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
The Monkeys quickly added to their lead with a three-run seventh to put the game away long before the final out.
Picking up his eighth win of the year was Wang, who improved to a career-best 8-2 with seven innings of one-run ball despite giving up six hits, while the loss was charged against Du Du, who fell to 5-5 with five allowed runs on nine hits in 4-2/3 innings of play.
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue