Starting pitcher Elih Villanueva of the Brothers Baseball Club made Taiwanese professional baseball history when he pitched a no-hitter against the Lamigo Monkeys for a 1-0 win in Taichung on Friday.
The right-hander from Florida showed his skill as he sailed through nine innings on 10 strikeouts, allowing only two Lamigo Monkeys to get on base, one on a hit and one on a walk.
With the bases loaded in the first inning, the Brothers got one run against Lamigo pitcher Zeke Spruill — from Virginia and in his second Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season — when designated hitter Chou Ssu-chi earned a walk, squeezing in the runner on third.
Photo: CNA
It would be the only run the Brothers needed on the night, as Villanueva took control on the mound and dismissed the Lamigo’s power hitters one by one at the plate.
The shutout ended a 10-game winning streak for the table-leading Lamigo Monkeys and, as of Friday, lifted the Brothers into second place at 4-1/2 games out.
“Today went smoothly — according to our game plan — so I must thank the Brothers coaches and players for placing their trust in me... It felt like things were really working with our catcher. When we got into the fifth inning, I could feel that this was going to be something special,” Villanueva was quoted as saying after the game.
“This is my first season here, so it’s important for me to get to know the league and the conditions, and to do my job as a pitcher. The last time that I faced the Lamigo Monkeys, we didn’t do well, so this time I got back at them,” he added.
Villanueva entered the CPBL record books with only the eighth no-hitter in league history. The Brothers have bragging rights after being the only team to have two shutouts in the same season.
The Brothers’ first shutout of the season came on June 9 when left-handed starter Nick Additon did not allow the Uni-President Lions to get a hit in nine innings.
Also at Taichung’s Intercontinental Stadium, the Brothers cranked out 17 hits during that match-up, steamrolling over the Lions for an 11-0 victory.
Just the seventh no-hitter in the CPBL’s 29-year history, the win came as Additon struck out seven and walked six, although no damage was done.
Brothers catcher Huang Chun-sheng also entered the record books as the first CPBL catcher to call pitches from behind the plate for two no-hitters.
Asked about his contribution, Huang laughed modestly and said: “I had luck on my side. The pitchers had outstanding performances.”
Brothers teammates and fans celebrated the special accomplishment, as the two no-hitters had not come easily. They had previously just missed record status due to a late-inning single.
Prior to Additon’s shutout, there had been a drought of 10 years. Uni-President all-star pitcher Pan Wei-lun went the distance without yielding a hit for a 7-0 victory against the Chinatrust Whales on July 10, 2008, at Tainan Municipal Stadium.
In Saturday match-ups, outfielder Lan Ying-lun smashed a two-run homer, leading the Lamigo Monkeys to a 4-2 win over the Brothers in Taichung, while right-hander Mike Loree from New Jersey registered his ninth win of the season for the Fubon Guardians.
Loree pitched eight innings for six strikeouts. He only gave up two runs on three hits and two walks, enabling Fubon to double up 6-3 over the Uni-President Lions at Sinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS