Scoring three unanswered runs, the Sinon Bulls overcame a two-run deficit to beat the Chinatrust Whales 5-4 in extra innings in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League at Sinjhuang on Friday night to extend their non-losing streak to six games.
The defending champs have won three straight and five of their last seven (with a tie), to rally from the bottom of the CPBL standings back to the No. 2 spot over the past two weeks, trailing the league-leading La New Bears by 2-1/2 games.
With the game tied at 4-all in the bottom of the 10th, pinch-hitter Cheng Da-hong hit a sacrifice fly to center off Whales closer Dario Veras with one out and the bases loaded to score the game-winner for the Bulls.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CPBL
The game began with the visiting Whales striking first in the opening inning on an RBI double by second baseman Wang Yi-min for a quick 1-0 lead before the home Bulls countered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the same inning on cleanup man Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan's two-run homer off Whales starter Du Chang-wei.
The 2-1 Bulls lead lasted until the fifth when Chinatrust regained a 4-2 advantage on the strength of third baseman Kao Jung-chiang's three-run blast off Bulls starter yang Jien-fu.
Down by a pair, the Bulls got one run back in the bottom of the fifth on outfielder Su Jien-rong's solo blast off Du and tied the game in the sixth with catcher Yeh Jung-chang's opposite-field single, good for another run.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CPBL
Reliever Kuo Yong-chih retired the side in order with a perfect ninth and tenth for his first win of the year, while his counterpart Veras took the loss for surrendering the game-winner.
Elephants 2, Lions 3
Friday night's other contest had the President Lions topping the Brother Elephants 3-2 in Tainan, with Canadian lefty Eric Cyr pitched a brilliant four-hitter for a complete-game victory.
Elephants slugger Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-min broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a solo homer off Cyr.
The home cats fought back with a run in the fifth on designated hitter Chen Jia-wei's RBI single to make it 1-1 and added to took a 3-1 lead in the seventh with Yang Seng's solo shot leading off the inning and right-fielder Kuo Dai-chi following with a run-scoring ground out three batters later.
The Elephants made it interesting in the ninth with designated hitter Chen Guan-ren coming through on a two-out RBI single off Cyr to trail by a run, but that was as close as they came as the poised southpaw managed to get out of the jam by inducing a soft blooper to short for the final out of the game.
Offensively for the Lions, first baseman Kao Guo-ching's 3-for-3 night led an attack that racked up 11 hits against a Brother staff that had allowed over seven runs per game in their last four games.
Whales 1, Bulls 5
The Bulls dealt Whales staff ace Tseng Jau-hao his first loss of the season 5-1 in Thursday's game at Hsinchu that featured eight strong innings from Bulls starter Jorge Cortez of Panama.
After the Bulls went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth on outfielder Yu Hsien-ming's liner up the middle off Tseng, the Whales were able to answer with Yeh Chang-long's two-out, RBI single in the seventh to force a 1-1 tie.
Tseng Hua-wei's line-drive single off Whales set-up man Shen Yu-jeh gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead before they roared for three more runs in the eighth on four singles and a Whales error to put the game away.
The win by Cortez upped his record to 5-2 for the year, tying him with American righty Kenny Rayborn of the La New Bears for a share of the lead in total wins.
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
RSS