Players in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) yesterday participated in the Home Run Derby and Skills Challenge, after playing in an All-Star Game on Saturday in which the White Team prevailed over the Red Team by one run.
For the first time, Australian players were invited to the Home Run Derby, with Andrew Campbell and Logan Wade coming from the Australian Baseball League’s (ABL) Brisbane Bandits.
After a preliminary round between six contestants, it came down to a duel between Campbell and defending titlist Yang Yao-hsun of the Lamigo Monkeys.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Campbell won in the final, hitting four homers, while Yang knocked out three.
“The pressure was on as I faced Taiwan’s big stars, but it was an enjoyable experience,” Campbell said. “I hope that my participation helped to build up a closer working relationship between Taiwanese and Australian baseball.”
In Saturday’s All-Star Game, the Red Team, sponsored by the Bank of Taiwan, scored in the opening frame, then surged in front 2-1 going into the third inning.
The White Team, sponsored by Mercuries Life Insurance, went on the defensive.
Outfielder Su Chih-chieh from the Uni-President Lions drove in two players with a double, accounting for two of the White Team’s three runs to make it 4-2, and helping the White Team to hold on to the lead until the clock ran out.
Although the opposition scored three late runs in the ninth, the White Team hung on for an 8-7 victory.
Su had two hits, which put his side in front for good and for which he was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP).
“It was a surprise for me to get the MVP honor. My Lions team had only a few days rest and I did not get much batting practice over the past week, so I was a bit rusty,” Su said after the game.
“I thought that other players did well tonight. It was not just my effort — the win belonged to everyone on this squad who made a contribution,” he added.
The big numbers were posted by the Red Team’s Hu Chin-lung from the Fubon Guardians, who hit a solo homer against Brothers pitcher Chen Hu to open the scoring in the first inning.
Hu, who had a brief stint in the US’ Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but returned to Taiwan to join the EDA Rhinos in 2013, went 2-for-4 and finished the contest with four RBIs.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS