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.
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
RSS