The Uni-President Lions defeated the CTBC Brothers 7-4 to win the Taiwan Series in Game 7 at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium last night.
The Lions made an improbable comeback after trailing 3-1 in the series, but delivered in the clutch with three straight wins in the pressure-packed CPBL championship finals.
It was a sweet victory for the Lions, as it was seven years since they last won the series, and was their 10th championship title in the franchise’s history.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The result also kept alive a rumor that Taiwanese teams operated by banks and large financial corporations are cursed, as none have ever won a CPBL championship title.
Cuban lefty pitcher Ariel Miranda took the mound for the CTBC Brothers, in a duel against the starting pitcher for the Lions, US right-hander Teddy Stankiewicz.
It was fitting that Miranda opened the season final, as he also opened the CPBL campaign in Taichung on April 12, when Taiwan become the first nation in the world to launch its pro baseball season this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused all major sports to be shut down.
In the opening frame, the Lions pounced on outfielder Chen Chieh-hsien’s double to drive in one run, and followed up in their next turn at bat, taking another run when catcher Lin Yo-le hit an RBI single.
In the third frame, with men at the corners, third baseman Chen Yung-chi slapped a bouncer for a ground-out, but it brought one runner home, taking the Lions to 3-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, CTBC’s offense woke up, with outfielder Chen Tzu-hao opening the account to chalk up one run on an RBI single.
CTBC then scored three more runs, to nose ahead 4-3 at the end of the third inning.
Miranda and Stankiewicz were still on the mound in the seventh frame, when momentum shifted back to the Lions. They had runners on the bases and picked up a run on a wild pitch by Miranda to level the game 4-4.
Another RBI-single saw the Lions retake the lead at 5-4.
Miranda was then replaced by CTBC second pitcher Huang En-shih to face Chen Chieh-hsien, who won the CPBL batting title this year for having the best average and most hits.
Huang lost the battle, when with one man on and facing a full count, Chen Chieh-hsien connected on a fastball, sending it over the wall at right field for a two-run homer, which took the score to 7-4.
It was Chen Chieh-hsien’s only home run in this year’s Taiwan Series, but it will be remembered, as it clinched the game.
Canadian pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn then tossed two scoreless innings, preserving the win for the Lions.
Former European champions Celtic exited the UEFA Champions League in the qualifiers after a 3-2 penalty shoot-out defeat at Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty on Tuesday, following two goalless legs in the playoff tie. Kairat are to compete in the competition proper for the first time, while Norway’s Bodo/Glimt and Cyprus’s Pafos also secured debut appearances after coming through the playoffs. Celtic’s night ended in disappointment as they missed three penalties in the shoot-out, Daizen Maeda failing with the decisive spot-kick. The slugfest of a match went into extra-time with neither side finding the net and few overall chances, echoing the first
Rangers on Wednesday bowed out of the UEFA Champions League playoffs with a humiliating 6-0 defeat at the hands of Club Brugge which piles further pressure on head coach Russell Martin, while SL Benfica secured a place in the competition proper at the expense of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. The Glasgow giants traveled to Belgium right up against it after losing 3-1 at home in last week’s first leg, when they conceded three times in the opening 20 minutes. They never looked like turning the tie around as Club Brugge took the lead inside five minutes at the Jan Breydelstadion through Nicolo Tresoldi
Noah Lyles on Thursday warmed up for the upcoming athletics world championships by chasing down Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo to win the 200m at the Diamond League final. Lyles trailed Tebogo at the start, but gradually erased the deficit over the final 100m and pipped the Botswana sprinter to the line by centimeters. Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion and reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m, clocked 19.74 seconds in a slight headwind. Tebogo was 0.02 seconds behind. It was Lyles’ sixth Diamond League title, a record for track athletes. “Six, that’s a big number,” Lyles said. “Shoot, that’s another record on
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RSS