Chou Guan-sheng’s tie-breaking sacrifice fly with a runner on third scored the go-ahead run for the Uni-President Lions in the bottom of the seventh inning, as they held on to defeat the Brother Elephants in a 2-1 final at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night.
The win not only gave the Lions a 2-1 margin in the three-game set in northern Taiwan over the weekend, but also brought them to within a game of the top-ranked Lamigo Monkeys in the overall standings, whose scheduled contest against the Sinon Bulls in Taichung was suspended because of heavy rain.
The opportunistic Lions made the most of a hitless seventh inning when Chu Yuan-hsun reached first base as he was hit by a pitch and then took second on an ensuing sacrifice bunt, before getting to third on a passed ball by the Elephants catcher to set up Chou’s game-winner.
That was not the only mistake that could have changed the outcome of the game as the Elephants committed a run-negating play on offense in the top of the seventh when Chang Cheng-wei failed to make contact with the ball on a suicide-squeeze attempt that allowed the Lions to easily tag out the runner at third base for the second out of the inning.
Chang then slapped a single to right-field in the same at-bat following the out at third for what could have been a go-ahead run to give his team a 2-1 lead at the point.
That was all the boost that the Lions’ pitchers needed to clinch the win as starter Dan Reichert retired the side in order in the eighth inning, before closer Lin Yueh-ping tossed a perfect ninth inning to preserve the narrow victory for the American hurler’s fifth win of the year.
Taking the tough loss for the Elephants in a game where they outhit the Lions eight to four was starter Yeh “Ding Ding” Ding-ren, who pitched two-run ball (only one earned) on a three-hit gem over seven frames, leaving them little to cheer about after Wang Sheng-wei’s fourth-inning single that became the 100,000th hit in league history.
MONKEYS 1, BULLS 1, SUSPENDED
(RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 15)
The contest between the Sinon Bulls and the Lamigo Monkeys at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung was suspended last night because of heavy rain after the two clubs managed to fit an inning in after a near two-hour rain delay.
The game was stopped with the score 1-1.
The rain-induced suspension drew more attention than usual because it was ordered ahead of the contest between the Lions and the Elephants, preventing the Monkeys and Bulls from entering the record books with the historical 100,000th CPBL hit.
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
RSS