Scoring early and often, the EDA Rhinos roughed up the Lamigo Monkeys 8-2 at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium last night to take the weekend series on the road by a 2-1 margin.
Coming into the contest after an 11-4 blowout loss to the Primates the night before, which cost them the top spot in the standings, the Rhinos had only thing on their mind — win big to clinch the series.
And that was what exactly what they did as they teed off against Lamigo starter Zach Miner with three runs in the opening frame on the merit of three singles and a walk on top of a sacrifice fly.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
That was just the beginning of what turned out to be a seven-run spree for the roadsters as they plated at least one run over the next three innings, highlighted by a pair of homers off Miner to chase the Lamigo starter while jumping to a commanding 7-0 advantage.
Rhinos starter Yang Chien-fu did not disappoint his generous teammates as he held the Monkey offense scoreless over five innings of three-hit ball before turning the game over to his bullpen.
Even though the Rhinos bullpen lost the shutout bid by allowing a pair of runs in the sixth on three straight base hits off reliever Tsai Ming-chin, it did not amount to much as Huang Po-yang promptly induced three lazy flies to freeze a runner on second and dampen the Monkeys comeback attempt.
The two runs in the sixth were the only runs that the Primates could muster off the Rhinos bullpen as Huang followed his immaculate sixth with a scoreless seventh, before Lin Yi-hao and Rommie Lewis chipped in a scoreless eighth and ninth respectively to keep the Monkeys at bay.
Picking up the win was Yang, who improved to 3-0 for the season, while the loss was charged to Miner, who allowed seven runs on 10 hits over four innings of play to remain winless at 0-2 in the four starts he has had.
Rhino slugger Kao Guo-hui also stretched his home-run streak to four games with a pair of blasts to give him 14 for the year, two shy of the Monkeys’ Lin “Chubby Kid” Hung-yu’s league-best 16.
Meanwhile, the Uni-President Lions and the Chinatrust Brothers played to a 7-7 tie over 12 innings at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium to end the three-game weekend with two rare ties.
The Brothers scored five unanswered runs in the eighth to erase a 2-7 deficit, which sent the game into extra sessions.
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS