Both CPBL games on Friday night were close affairs, with the Sinon Bulls holding off a tenacious dmedia T-Rex rally to escape with a 9-8 win in Hsinchu and the Chinatrust Whales edging past the Brother Elephants 7-6 in Sinjhuang.
Chen Chih-wei's grand slam off T-Rex starter Lin Jing-min capped a five-run first for the Bulls before the T-Rex got three runs back with a run in the second on Lin "Wild Hog" Hong-yuan's RBI-single and two runs in the third to make it 5-3.
Three-straight base hits by the Bulls in the bottom of the third produced their sixth run of the game, before Chen made it 8-3 with an opposite-field double for his fifth and sixth runs of the game.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
The Bulls tacked on a run later in the inning to lead 9-3 before the T-Rex rallied in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs that cut the deficit to 9-5.
But although the Bulls sent top closer Kuo Yong-chih to the mound at the start of the ninth to secure what should have been an easy victory, dmedia mustered one final offensive.
Chou Si-chi drew a leadoff walk off Kuo, Deng Shih-yang tattooed a pitch from him on the ensuing at-bat for a two-run shot that brought the visitors to within a deuce and Chen Tsung-hong quickly followed with another run on an RBI-groundout off the Bulls' Lin Chi-wei to make it a one-run game at 9-8.
That was as close as the T-Rex got though, as Lin regrouped and recorded the final two outs of the game to preserve the win.
Sinon starter Yang Jien-fun was credited with the win for allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits over five-and-two-third innings of work, despite the late-game drama that nearly took the win away from him.
Lin Jing-min was tagged with the loss for allowing all nine of the Bulls' runs over the first three innings, even though only three of them were earned.
Whales 7, Elephants 6
The Chinatrust Whales remain undefeated after holding off a fierce Brother Elephants comeback to win 7-6 at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang on Friday.
It is the first time that the Whales have begun a season with three-straight wins. Their potent offense has averaged six runs per game thanks to stellar outings from infielders Chen Jia-hong and Kang Tseh-wei (with eight total hits and four RBIs between them).
Friday night's contest saw the Whales striking first in the bottom of the first, when Lin Yong-kuen led off the game with a clean double and scored on Kang's RBI single up the middle off Elephants starter Kobayashi Ryokan of Japan to give the Whales an early 1-0 lead.
The lead lasted less than an inning as the Elephants answered with a run of their own on Chen Rei-chang's solo homer in the top of the second to tie the game up.
The Whales struck for three more runs over the next two frames to make it 4-1, before the Elephants forced the third tie of the game with a three-run fourth on the strength of a run-scoring double by Huang Cheng-wei, a wild pitch by Whales starter Chu Wei-ming and a sacrifice-fly by Chen Rei-cheng.
The Whales enjoyed a three-run fifth on three consecutive base hits that chased Kobayashi at 7-4, before a resilient Elephants rang up a run each in the sixth and seventh to make it a one-run game.
That was as close as the Elephants got.
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