The red-hot Chinatrust Brothers continued their winning ways by topping the EDA Rhinos on the road in an impressive 7-2 victory earlier this week to cap a three-game non-losing streak.
Despite their disappointing first half, which saw them go 27-33 to top the last-placed Uni-President Lions by a mere half game, the men in their familiar golden uniforms have transformed into a formidable force in the second half, rolling off a 14-5-1 record to lead the league.
“We are just getting the fundamentals down a little better compared with before, that’s all,” interim manager Wu Fu-lien said about his troops’ recent success, which includes three multi-game win streaks.
The former infield standout, who left his mark as one of the top second baseman in league history, has shown off his wizardry around the diamond by guiding the Brothers offense to an amazing 7.3 runs per game in the second half, a 2.4 runs per game improvement over their 4.9 average in the first half.
Doing the damage at the plate for the Brothers are veteran slugging trio Chou Si-chi, Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min and Lin Wei-chu, who lead the team in total RBIs with 47, 41 and 37 respectively. Even though none of the three have big offensive numbers overall compared with other top hitters after a dismal first half, they are clearly the ones opposing pitchers and coaches have singled out as ones to throw around.
Another big reason the Brothers are enjoying tremendous success is the addition of former US major leaguer Jose Contreras, who has gone 3-0 in the starts he has had since joining the team early last month with an earned run average of 3.08.
“[Contreras] has boosted our pitching with his experience and the way he carries himself around the clubhouse,” Brothers pitching coach Huang Chin-chih said of the Cuban native.
The surge of Mike McClendon also spells trouble for other teams, who have not beaten the American in his past three starts.
The Brothers have a three-game home stand this weekend against the second-placed Lions, who trail them by three games and could take the lead with a series sweep.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS