Chen Chin-fong raised his arms in joy the minute he hit the pitch. Because he knew it was gone.
It was his monstrous, out-of-the-ballpark, two-run homer off the Lions' Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen that tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth to spark what turned out to be a six-run rally as the La New Bears overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the President Lions 7-3 in Game 4 of the 2006 Taiwan Series at Tainan on Wednesday night for their first ever league title.
After Chen's game-tying blast that revived a lineup that had been held to just one run on three hits through the first five innings by Pan, the momentum suddenly shifted to the Bears. And with Huang Long-yi's bases-clearing three-run double off Lin Yueh-ping that broke the 3-3 tie wide open in the top of the ninth, the Bears knew they were well on their way to the promised land.
PHOTOS: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The clean, 4-0 sweep of the Lions in this year's Fall Classic put a storybook ending to the Bears' remarkable season that saw last year's last-place finisher transform itself from the laughingstock of the league into a powerhouse that won both halves during the regular season before their crowning on Wednesday night.
"I knew we had what it takes to win it [the title], but not that it would be by a clean sweep, because they [the Lions] are a great team," a champagne-drenched La New manager Hung Yi-chung said after the game.
His troops had rallied back from deficits as large as three runs in three of the four wins against the Lions, treating fans around the nation to some of the best late-game finishes in postseason history.
With their backs to the wall in a do-or-die situation, the Lions opened Game 4 on their home turf with Tilson Brito's opposite-filed single off Bears starter Wu Si-yo that scored leadoff man Yang Seng in the bottom of the first for a quick 1-0 advantage.
They would tack on a pair of runs in the fourth to make it 3-0 with outfielder Liu Fu-hao's RBI single and catcher Kao Chih-kang's sacrifice fly off Wu that chased the La New lefty.
Bears right-hander Anthony Fiore of the US threw 4-1/3 inning of shutout ball in relief of Wu to earn the win, beating Lin Yueh-ping, who gave up the final four Bears runs in the ninth, all unearned, for his second loss in the series. It was an error by Lions second baseman Yang Seng on a routine play that allowed the leadoff runner to reach in the top of the ninth to ignite the Bears' four-run ninth.
Asia Series
The newly crowned Bears will represent Taiwan in the annual Asian Series in Tokyo next month.
The Bears will do battle with the champions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization and China's Chinese Baseball Association all-stars for the bragging rights of being crowned Asia's best.
First-round action will begin on Nov. 9 in a three-game, round-robin format, with the top two teams playing in the title game on Nov. 12.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS