Close plays dominated the three-game series between the Sinon Bulls and the Macoto Cobras last week, as the Bulls pulled off two one-run victories against the new-and-improved Cobras (formerly the Gida) to win the series by a 2-1 margin.
Following their 0-1 series-opening defeat at the hands of the Bulls in Hsinchuang on Thursday, the Cobras were more than anxious to give manager Kuo Tai-yuan (
The anxiety promptly turned into a one-run lead in the top of the third on slugger Hsieh Jia-shien's (
The 2-0 lead was more than enough for the Cobra pitching staff, as it held the potent Bulls' lineup to no runs on seven hits for their first shutout victory of the season.
Lions 1, Whales 2
The President Lions' visit to the Chinatrust Whales at Hsinchuang on Friday ended in another disheartening one-run loss as the Lions continued to struggle at the plate.
The Lions drew first blood in the top of the fourth on a wild pitch by Whales starter Kao Jien-san (
That was the only mistake Kao made all night as he allowed one run on three hits in seven innings of work for his first win of the season.
Elephants 7, Bears 0
Veteran American right-hander Jonathan Hurst went the distance for the Brother Elephants in a shutout win on Saturday night as his hitters busted a 1-0 game wide open in the top of the ninth with six runs against two Bears pitchers.
Elephants 5, Bears 1
The Elephants managed to avenge a series-opening loss against the Bears with two straight victories over the weekend to take the three-game series by a 2-1 margin.
Manager Lin Yi-tseng (林易增) sent Japanese ace Nakagomi Sin to the mound against Bears starter Liang Rue-hao (梁如豪) in Sunday's series finale at Kaohsiung, where the hosting Bears had a chance to take their first-ever series against last year's champs.
The heart of the order for the Elephants took no prisoners against an inconsistent Liang as it went a combined 5-for-11 with four RBIs, capped by Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan's (
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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