South Korea's SK Wyverns made it look easy against the President Lions last night with a 13-1 trouncing of the Chinese Professional Baseball League champs to qualify for today's title game against Japan's Chunichi Dragons in the Konami Cup Asia Series in Tokyo, Japan.
The game was so lopsided that the mercy rule was enforced after the top of the seventh inning, when the Lions failed to reduce the deficit to under 10 runs.
The Wyverns wasted little time getting to Lions starter Pete Munro with a pair of runs in the opening frame on RBI singles by Lee Ho-joon and Park Jae-sang.
PHOTO: AP
They roughed up Munro an inning later, with six more runs charged against the American right-hander, highlighted by Park Jung-kwon's leadoff solo home run and Park Jae-hong's two-run single with the bases loaded, to open up an 8-0 lead.
That was more than ample for SK starter Chei Byung-yong, who cruised through the first four innings without giving up a run before ultimately allowing the Lions' only run of the game on Yang Song-hsuen's solo homer in the fifth.
While Chei enjoyed tremendous success against the Lions hitters, the Lions hurlers were in over their head as the SK lineup did as it pleased by racking up a dozen hits over the first four innings for 13 runs, led by Jeong Keun-woo, Kim Jae-hyun, and Park Jae-hong's combined 5-for-9 batting with seven RBIs.
PHOTO: AP
Earning the easy win for the Wyverns was Chei, who allowed a run on five hits with an impressive 48-20 strike-to-ball ratio.
Tagged with the ugly loss was Munro, who managed only three outs in one-plus innings with eight allowed runs on as many hits and four devastating walks.
■ FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAME
Dragons 4, Lions 2
Two devastating errors by the defense led to a pair of unearned runs for the Chunichi Dragons as they toppled the President Lions by a 4-2 margin in Game 2 of the Konami Cup Asia Series in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday evening.
Starter Pan Wei-luen was magnificent off the mound for the Lions with six solid innings of two-run ball (both unearned) while fanning six and walking two.
But that did not stop the opportunistic Dragons from capitalizing on the Lions' miscues by breaking through in the top of the seventh with their third run of the game on an infield single by Ibata Hirokazu. They sealed victory with an insurance run in the ninth after the Lions had gotten to within a run in the bottom of the seventh on Kao Guo-ching's run-scoring single off Hirai Masafumi.
Constant pressure by the Dragons base runners proved too much for the Lions, resulting in three stolen bases and an amazing run-scoring play that saw a Dragons runner score all the way from second on an infield single by Ibata.
In yesterday's other game, it was: Chunichi Dragons 9, China Stars 1.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS