The Lamigo Monkeys’ Chu Yu-hsien on Saturday broke a 30-year Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) record for half-season home runs after hitting two and pushing the grand total to 22.
The 27-year-old first baseman hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Monkeys to an 11-4 win over hosts the Fubon Guardians at New Taipei City’s Xinzhuang Stadium.
Monkeys manager Hong I-chung called Chu’s performance “monstrous,” while Chu said that he hoped to maintain the momentum in the season’s second half.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The previous record of 21 home runs in a half-season was set in 1996 by Denio Gonzalez of the Dominican Republic, who played for the now-disbanded China Times Eagles.
CPBL teams at the time only played 100 contests per season, whereas today’s teams play 120.
In 2015, the Guardians’ Kao Kuo-hui set the record for home runs in a single season with 39.
Chu also leads the league with a .394 batting average, 95 hits and 73 RBIs — a rare achievement for a player who was a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft.
The Monkeys on Tuesday last week won the CPBL first-half season title, making them eligible for post-season competition.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS