A pair of big innings by the Uni-President Lions lifted them past the La New Bears in a 9-1 trouncing at the Kaohsiung County Baseball Stadium last night, avenging an embarrassing 7-0 shutout loss to the Bears the night before for the defending champs.
Hsu Sheng-jeh’s bases-clearing three-run double capped a five-run spurt for the Lions as they broke a scoreless tie wide open in the fourth before tacking on four more runs in the fifth to enjoy a comfortable 9-0 lead.
SOLO HR
Lin Chih-sheng’s solo blast off Lions starter Wang Jing-ming in the sixth gave Bears fans something to cheer about. That was the lone spotlight that Bears hitters enjoyed against the rookie right-hander, however, as Wang held them to three sparse singles over seven strong innings en route to his second win of the season with reliever Lin Cheng-fong tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth to close out the deal.
FIRST LOSS
Suffering his first loss of the season was Bears starter Luis Villarreal of the US who cruised through the first three innings unharmed before surrendering a double and four walks to spark what ended up being a five-run fourth. He would leave the game before finishing the inning with all five of the runs charged to him.
Offensively for the victorious Cats, Chuang Jing-heh also had a big day at the plate in addition to Hsu as he drove in three runs on 1-for-3 hitting, highlighted by a two-run single in the fifth.
The two teams will meet once more in the series-finale this afternoon with each team having won one game apiece. The winners will claim the series by a narrow 2-1 margin.
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
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
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,