Kuo Yi-feng’s clutch double with two-outs scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth as the Brother Elephants held on to beat the Sinon Bulls 5-4 at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Trailing 2-4 in the bottom of the sixth against a pretty stingy Bulls squad that had taken a two-game series from the dmedia T-Rex last weekend, the Elephants strung together consecutive singles off Sinon reliever Tsai Ming-jin after drawing a leadoff walk to score their third run of the game before Kuo turned the game around with his two-run double down the third-base line.
That was all it took as Yeh Yong-jeh and Ma Jia-rei combined for nearly three innings of scoreless relief to preserve the victory for game-winner Wu Bao-shien.
The Bulls did have two more scoring opportunities in the seventh and eighth with runners in scoring position and two outs in the seventh and one out in the eighth, but failed to come up with the timely hit necessary to tie the game.
BEARS 9, WHALES 6
The La New Bears needed a solo blast from Lin Chih-sheng to spark a three-run burst in the top of the 10th to top the Chinatrust Whales 9-6 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.
The hero of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar who drove in the game-winning run in the title game for Taiwan broke a 6-all tie in the top of the tenth with his ninth blast of the season before the Bears tacked on two more runs in the same inning to make it 9-6.
Closer Jermaine Van Buren made sure the lead stood this time by pitching a scoreless tenth for his second win of the year after he had allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a single and a double to force the game into extra-innings in a blown save situation.
Also starring for the Bears was slugger Pan Chung-wei who drove in a season-high four runs on three hits.
LIONS 10, T-REX 9
Tilson Brito’s RBI double saved the day for the President Lions as they went 12 innings against the dmedia T-Rex before earning a 10-9 win at the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium on Tuesday.
In a game that featured five lead-changes, it was dmedia who had the upper hand in the early going with a seemingly comfortable 7-4 lead through the sixth.
The Lions roared back with two runs each in the seventh and eighth to lead 8-7 before T-Rex tied it up at 8-8 in the eighth on a key double by newcomer Jose Leon.
The two teams traded a run each in the 10th before Brito’s extra-inning heroics delivered the emotional victory.
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and