After losing three straight to the last-place La New Bears by a combined margin of four runs, the frustrated Brother Elephants put up six early runs on the board in the four-game series finale and managed to hold on for a 7-5 victory in Kaohsiung on Saturday night. The win snapped the Elephants' longest losing streak of the season at three and avoided what would have been an embarrassing series sweep for them at the hands of the cellar-dwelling Bears.
The game began with the Elephants scoring three quick runs in the top of the first that chased Bear rookie starter Wu Se-yeo (
Retiring the side in order through the first five frames, American veteran Jonathan Hurst took a no-hitter two outs into the sixth before surrendering a single to Bear catcher Chen Jau-ying (沉昭穎). The right-hander would eventually allow a run in the seventh before being relieved by set-up man Wang Jing-li (王勁力). Wang, who did not have his best stuff, then allowed four ninth-inning runs to give the Bears some signs of hope before closer Hsiao Ren-wen (蕭任汶) got the last two outs to record his first save of the year. The win made Hurst the league's first eight-game winner and kept Wu winless for the season at 0-2.
Two run-scoring doubles by Chinatrust Whale sluggers Huang Kwei-yu (
Game 1 starter Benj Sampson allowed no runs on three hits while fanning six in 6-1/3 innings in his best effort yet since joining the Lions in early-May. The victory promptly ended the Whales' seven-game winning streak and helped the Lions widen their standings lead over the Elephants a full game.
Offensively for the league-leading Lions, timely hitting was the key to their efficient attack as they made the most (five run) out of their seven hits against a decent Whale pitching staff.
Heavy downpours might have delayed Sunday afternoon's series finale for an hour, but it did not cool off the red-hot Lions as they beat the Whales once again behind a stellar performance by second-year righty Pan Wei-luen (潘忠韋). The Rookie of the Year last season yielded a lone run on five hits in seven strong innings en route to his seventh win of the season, second only to Hurst's league-high 8.
Lion first baseman Kao Guo-ching's (
The 2-1 thriller in favor of the Sinon Bulls in Game 2 of the three-game series against the Macoto Cobras highlighted the series play between the two squads as Bull righty Yang Jien-fu (
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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