All three mid-week games this week were decided by one run, suggesting that this season's level of competition could be more intensive than that from last season.
Following Tuesday night's washout at Hsinchuang (rescheduled for March 8), the Chinatrust Whales opened their season against the President Lions in Hsinchu with a 4-3 win on a chilly night.
The game began with the visiting Lions jumping to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on catcher Kao Cheng-hua's (
Two costly throwing errors by Whale shortstop Cheng Chan-ming (
The Whales were not done as they tagged on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles by Tsai Kuen-shiang, new third baseman Juan Sosa and catcher Shih Chin-sho's (
Down 4-1, the Lions' comeback began with second baseman Wang Tse-song's (
The Lions would make it 4-3 in the top of the ninth on rookie reserve third baseman Liu Fu-hao's (
That was as close as the Lions would get, because Veras then retired the side for his first save of the season. Whale starter Figueroa got his first win of the season, while his counterpart Pan Wei-luen (
Thursday night's matchup between the Macoto Cobras and the Sinon Bulls in Hsinchuang also made it into the record books as Bull starter Osvaldo Martinez became the first pitcher to pass the 1,000 mark for career strikeouts. Needing seven to reach the milestone, Martinez fanned nine in just five innings of work to up his career strikeout total to 1002.
As for the game, it was a classic pitching duo where neither team was able to generate much offense throughout the entire contest. Bulls slugger Chang Tai-shan's (
Lin pocketed the tough loss because none of the seven hits by his fellow hitters resulted in a single run to help him avoid the defeat.
La New Bears' (formerly the First Securities Agan) 20-game non-winning streak against the Brother Elephants (dating back to last season) finally ended on Thursday night in Kaohsiung, thanks to Bears first baseman Tsai Hung-tseh's (蔡泓澤) leadoff homer in the bottom of the 10th that broke a 2-2 tie.
The Bears got off to a good start as the offense spotted starter Phillip Bailey a 2-0 lead after the first two innings.
Then the bats would quiet down for both teams as they traded zeros on the score board until the top of the seventh when the Elephants managed to cross the plate on designated hitter Lee Chih-jeh's (李志傑) single that knocked home the runner from first with the help of a fielding error by Bears centerfielder Chen Kai-fa (陳該發).
Down 1-2, the Elephants would strike again in the top of the ninth on first baseman Tsai Fong-an's (
Upcoming Games
The Whales will finish off the four-game series against the Lions in Hsingchuang on Friday and today, while the Bulls were to take on the Cobras in Hsinchu yesterday and Hsinchuang this afternoon.
The Bears were to try and make it two in a row in yesterday's game against the Elephants at Kaohsiung before the two clubs meet again in today's series finale.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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