Despite a loss, the Uni-President Lions clinched the second-half CPBL title, with the Weichuan Dragons to thank after they downed the CTBC Brothers in last night’s other game.
Upon the final out in the ninth inning in New Taipei City, the Lions’ fans at the Sinjhuang Stadium tossed orange ribbons to celebrate the title — after news reached them that the Dragons had held their substantial lead all the way in Kaohsiung — which also assured the team a berth in the Taiwan Series to begin this month.
Photo: CNA
Although the Lions lost to the Fubon Guardians 4-3, the pivotal result was the 11-2 victory by the Dragons over the Brothers at the Cheng Ching Lake Stadium.
Photo: CNA
Coming into their game last night, the Lions had reduced their magic number to 1: They needed either to beat the Guardians or for the Brothers to lose to clinch the title ahead of the final regular-season games this weekend.
The season had a two-month hiatus from the middle of May to the middle of July due to a COVID-19 alert.
The Lions (32-3-23) have the best record this half, while the Brothers (28-4-24) are 2.5 games behind, the Rakuten Monkeys (26-3-28) 5.5 games back, the Dragons (26-1-30) 6.5 games behind the leaders and the Guardians (24-3-31) last, eight games back.
Fubon’s batters scored one run each in the third to fifth frames to go ahead 3-0 against the Lions, with the sides trading late runs.
Meanwhile, the bats of the surging Dragons remained hot, scoring four runs by the third inning and 8-2 in the fifth frame.
On Wednesday, a late charge by the Lions’ hitters, who grabbed five runs in the ninth, blew up a 2-0 game to give them a 7-0 victory over the Guardians at the Sinjhuang Stadium.
Lions starting pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn pocketed his league-leading 17th win of the season, cruising through eight shutout innings.
The Canadian righty, who is in his second year with the Lions, issued no walks and scattered five hits among seven strikeouts to improve to 17-4 with an ERA of 1.83, while also reaching 200 Ks in Taiwanese baseball.
Dykxhoorn had plenty of help on defense to thwart the opposition, particularly in the fifth inning, when Fubon had Yang Chin-hao on second base with a double, and next batter Tai Pei-feng slapped a single for Yang to race around for home.
However, Lions centerfielder Chen Chieh-hsien charged the ball, aiming his throw at catcher Lin Tai-an to gun down Yang at home plate by half a step.
From behind Lin as a back up, Dykxhoorn pumped his fist to celebrate the third out to end the inning and pointed to Chen for a superb throw to keep the shutout bid alive.
In the top of the ninth, the Lions had the bases loaded on a walk and two fielding errors. Lin Ching-kai drove in two runs on a single, and the next three batters each got a hit to pile on the runs.
Two relievers came in at the bottom of the ninth to get the final three outs to seal the game and reduce the Lions’ magic number to 1.
Dykxhoorn said that he had his fastball going and used other pitches to go after Fubon’s hitters on the inside and outside corners.
“After each game I just prepare for the next start, and did not think too much about it,” he said. “Now we are reaching near the end, and can look back now. Seeing I have 17 wins... It is the best season in my career, and it has been quite a crazy year.”
The last man in the CPBL to surpass the 17-win mark was also a Canadian pitcher, former Montreal Expos righty Mike Johnson of Edmonton, Alberta, who registered an impressive 20-2 record and a 2.45 ERA for the La New Bears in 2008.
The previous best for the Lions was Dominican lefty John Burgos in 2001 for his 18 victories and four losses, with an ERA of 2.03.
In the other game on Wednesday, the Monkeys ignited for four runs in the first and sixth frames on the way to subdue the Dragons 9-3 at the Cheng Ching Lake Stadium.
American pitcher Dylan Covey chalked up his third win of the season behind 11 hits by his teammates.
He yielded two runs on five hits and was replaced after the sixth frame for three Rakuten relievers to mop up the final three innings.
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
Ryan Yarbrough picked up a dazzling World Series ring from his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Then he went out and beat them. The New York Yankees starter on Sunday pitched one-run ball over six innings, struck out a season-high five and blanked the Dodgers’ top four hitters in a 7-3 win. “I feel like I’m in a really good place right now and really trying to continue that,” Yarbrough said. “I’m having a lot of fun.” The 33-year-old left-hander made 44 relief appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays last season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on July
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS