The struggling EDA Rhinos bounced back from back-to-back blowout losses to the Uni-President Lions with a 5-2 triumph in the weekend’s finale at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung last night to avoid being swept by the Cats at home.
The win also nipped a five-game slide for the Rhinos, who properly celebrated slugger Kao Kuo-hui’s record-extending 35th homer of the season one day after he had broken the eight-year-old mark for the most homers in a season (33) set by the Lions’ Tilson Brito in 2007.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling and tremendous honor to be able surpass a great player like [Tilson Brito],” Kao said after the game.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
The 30-year-old soft-spoken slugger has his eyes on the 40-homer plateau with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Hu Chin-lung’s two-run double capped a three-run second inning for the Rhinos, who greeted Lions starter Wang Ching-ming with three extra-base hits (all doubles) in the inning to set the tone early in the game.
The Rhinos tacked on another run in the third on the strength of Kao’s solo blast off Wang that made it 4-0, before plating their fifth on a sacrifice fly by Kao in the bottom of the seventh.
Rhinos starter Andy Sisco pitched perfect ball through three and took a one-hit shutout two outs into the eighth, before giving up a two-run home run to the Lions’ Chu Yuan-hsun to lose the shutout bid.
The American lefty earned his fifth victory of the season along with the Most Valuable Player honor for his gutsy effort.
Taking the loss was Wang, who allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits over six frames, while fanning seven and walking none in a contest that would have been closer if it were not for Sisco’s spectacular effort.
MONKEYS 11, BROTHERS 6
Homers by Lin Chih-sheng and Kuo Yen-wen sparked an eight-run scoring spree from the third inning through the fifth for the Lamigo Monkeys as they took a sizeable lead and held off a late-game rally by the top-ranked Chinatrust Brothers to escape with an 11-6 win at a rain-drenched Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night.
The victory gave the Primates a clean sweep in the three-game series that saw them humble the Brothers’ pitchers by plating nearly 10 runs per game to pull within 3.5 games of the league leaders.
Pat Misch made the most of his seventh start with the Monkeys by tossing one-run ball on two hits over six innings to pick up win No. 5.
LEGAL ACTION: The Suns said they were among the first teams approved for this season, but they had been asked to meet a stricter financial criterion afterward The Taichung Suns will not play in the T1 League’s 2023-2024 season after repeatedly failing to meet criteria regarding team finances, the professional basketball league said in a statement on Friday. The T1 League said that following the decision on the Suns, made at the league’s 22nd executive council meeting, it would postpone a planned news conference on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming season. A source familiar with the league’s operations told reporters that the Suns had been asked at two previous meetings of the T1 League’s executive council to provide evidence proving the franchise had the requisite finances. The announcement of the
‘NOTHING HAS CHANGED’: Jenni Hermoso said that the striking players had been ‘caught by surprise’ by the call-ups, saying it was a strategy to intimidate them Striking Spanish internationals called up to the women’s team on Monday reiterated their desire not to form part of the squad in a new blow for the shaken the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). However, they were told by the government early yesterday that those who did not attend the team’s camps when called up would have to be punished. Spanish National Sports Council president Victor Francos said he would have to apply the country’s sports law. “If they don’t turn up, the government would have to apply the law, which is a pity for me, but the law is the
Hong Kong is one of the smaller Asian Games teams by population, but when it comes to fencing the territory is a regional heavyweight with ambitious medal hopes. Edgar Cheung won gold at the Tokyo Games two years ago — Hong Kong’s first Olympic fencing title and first Olympic gold in any sport in 25 years. It turned Cheung into a celebrity overnight and prompted parents across the territory to rush and sign their children up for fencing classes. Cheung’s historic win in the foil competition was a much-needed dose of good news for a territory mired in social unrest and COVID-19 gloom
CHALK AND CHEESE: South Africa and England won in contrasting styles, the Springboks thrashing Romania and the English grinding out an ugly win Fiji on Sunday produced the upset the Rugby World Cup needed, beating Australia to end almost seven decades of rugby pain at their hands, while 2019 finalists South Africa and England made it two wins from two. The Fiji players described as “jackals” by their impressive coach Simon Raiwalui outmuscled the Wallabies to deservedly prevail 22-15 in a thrilling match that blows open Pool C. It was the first time Fiji had ever beaten Australia at a World Cup. Defending champions South Africa and England won in contrasting styles, the Springboks thrashing Romania 76-0 in Pool B, while the English ground out a
RSS