Chang "the Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's (
Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League leader in total RBI, Chang now holds a nine RBI lead over Hsieh Jia-shien (謝佳賢) of the Macoto Cobras and the Brother Elephants Chen "the Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan (陳致遠).
The youngest member of the CPBL's "Century Club" (100 or more career home runs) at age 27, Chang single-handedly defeated a Bears squad that had won two straight and was closing in on its third victory.
PHOTO: CPBL
Chang's stellar performance made a winner out of Bulls starter Yang Jien-fu (
The Bears had just broken a 2-2 deadlock in the bottom of the seventh inning on outfielder Tseng Hern-chang's (
Chang would knock in two more runs on a solid double that bounced off the center-field wall an inning later to make it 6-3 in the top of the ninth.
And the Bulls needed every one of those late-game runs as its bullpen nearly blew the game in the bottom of the ninth by surrendering two runs in a wild finish.
The win momentarily erased the agony associated with the Bulls' 6-2 loss on Tuesday when the Bears embarrassed them with a three-hit gem.
Other than issuing three costly walks that led to a pair of Bulls runs in the third, Bears starter Liang Rue-hao (
It was by far Liang's best outing from the mound as he recorded only the second win of the year.
Offensively for the Bears, first baseman Pan Chung-wei's (
The Elephant's thrilling 3-2 win over the Chinatrust Whales on Tuesday, couple with the President Lions' 2-0 loss to the Cobras on Monday led to a two-way tie Between the Elephants and the Lions at the top of the standings.
neck and neck
at the top
It was the third time in the highly competitive second half that two teams have shared the lead.
Shortstop Chen Rei-cheng's fourth-inning RBI single opened the scoring for the Elephants before the defending champs padded their 1-0 lead with center fielder Chen Chih-yuan's two-run triple in the seventh.
The 3-0 Elephants lead appeared to be enough until trouble hit in the bottom of the ninth.
With two outs and runners at the corners, the Whales attack put up back-to-back singles that scored a pair of runs and had Elephants skipper Lin Yi-tseng (林易增) wondering if his decision to leave starter Nakagomi Sin in for the ninth was a wise one.
Fortunately for Lin, his Japanese ace pitched his way out of the jam by getting the last Whales batter to fly out, giving the defending champs a 3-2 win.
Monday's make-up contest between the serpents and the big cats featured a classic pitchers dual, where neither lineup was able to solve the opposing man on the mound.
Cobras second baseman Deng Shih-yang's (
The Cobras would strike again in the fourth inning, this time on designated hitter Cheng Jing-yi's (
The 2-0 lead stood until the end as Cobras lefty Lin Ying-jeh (
Lin's impressive showing provided some level of comfort for baseball fans, because he had not been particularly strong since being selected to the national team that is set to compete in the upcoming Athens Olympics.
His eight strikeouts for the game boosted his league-best total to 134. That's 21 more than Elephants veteran Yokota Hisanori.
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
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to