Uni-President Lions outfielder Lin An-ko on Tuesday blasted two homers to set league and club records, and lead the Lions to a 14-1 rout over the CTBC Brothers as the CPBL heads into the final month of the season.
Over the past two seasons, Lin has churned out star performances for the Lions, attracting media attention for his skill as an outfielder, batter and left-handed pitcher, along with his good looks and multi-ethnic background, with a Taiwanese father and Argentine mother.
In Tuesday’s action at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium, Lin supported the Lions hitting lineup with two solo homers in the second and fifth innings, and a double with bases loaded in the third inning for a total of five runs batted in.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The Taiwanese-Argentine star set a league record for the youngest player — at 23 years and 133 days — to reach 30 home runs in a single season, beating Wang Po-jung’s 2017 record — at 24 years and 12 days — when Wang played for the Lamigo Monkeys.
Lin also became the first Taiwanese player at the Uni-President Lions to tally 30 homers, and with one month left in the season, he is expected to surpass Dominican slugger Tilson Brito’s 2007 club record of 33 home runs.
“When the season started, I wanted to pitch and hit, and my goal was to hit 10 home runs,” Lin said after the game. “I did not expect to reach 30, break Wang’s record, and close in on Brito’s club high of 33.”
“I want to thank my coaches, who let me have freedom in batting and helped the team to win the game,” he added.
Lin was in 2018 drafted by the Lions, after he pitched left-handed on Taiwan national youth teams, at the high-school and university levels.
He surprised everyone with his batting prowess after he got injured, and his coaches had him play in the outfield and focus on hitting.
Although in his second season, Lin is in the running to be named Rookie of the Year.
Last season, he only played in 29 games and had 121 plate appearances, falling short of the cutoff of 124 plate appearances.
Pundits and fans have pointed to Lin’s outstanding performance this year, saying that he is on pace to become the league’s Most Valuable Player for this season.
Lin leads the league with 30 homers and tops the RBI chart with 94.
He is expected to hit the 100-RBI plateau before the season ends, which has only been achieved by three other CPBL players since 2016.
Lin and teammates Chen Chia-hsien and Su Chih-chieh have been dubbed the Lions’ Handsome Outfield Trio — and all three have been hot all season with key hits leading the team to victory.
After Tuesday’s win, the Lions are locked in a tight race for the CPBL second-half title, only trailing the Fubon Guardians by half a game.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS