“King of Live Music” Wu Bai and his band China Blue are to bring their big hits to the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium on Sunday in a bid to help the Rakuten Monkeys pick up some hits to stay at the top of the CPBL table this season.
The Monkeys, who have so far this season had the most consistent pitching and hitting, are looking to become the first team in the league to reach 30 wins and clinch the first-half title next month.
The Uni-President Lions are three games back in second place, while the CTBC Brothers are in third and the Wei Chuan Dragons in fourth. Only the Fubon Guardians, who are 14.5 games back, are out of the running for the title.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The Monkeys said in a statement this week that Wu Bai and China Blue are to perform following their contest against the Lions on Sunday. It is to be the finale of a three-day post-game “DZPX Party” sponsored by the Rakuten Group and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Co.
Since 1992, Wu Bai and China Blue have had many hits in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Mandarin, with a huge following in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia.
Wu Bai had big plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of China Blue by staging a futuristic rock opera titled Road to Success (成功之路), but he earlier this month announced that all six concert dates this month at the Taipei Popular Music Center had been postponed to next year due to the local COVID-19 situation.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
As a result, Sunday’s engagement after the Monkey’s game would be the best chance for fans to catch Wu Bai live this year, he said.
It is to be the second time for Wu Bai and China Blue to perform in a baseball stadium after they played in support of the Monkeys on Nov. 13 last year.
On Wednesday, the Monkeys trounced the Lions 11-1 in Taoyuan.
Photo courtesy of Spacebomb Co via CNA
Baffling hitters with his side-arm delivery, Monkeys starting pitcher Huang “Tiger” Tzu-peng pocketed his fifth win of the season.
Sailing through seven innings, Huang yielded only one run on six hits and struck out five, lowering his ERA to 2.01.
The Monkeys pummeled Lions starting pitcher Hu Chih-wei and two subsequent relievers for 19 hits, scoring three runs in the second frame and six runs in the eighth to chalk up the victory.
In the day’s other contest, the Dragons caught fire in the fourth inning and went on to score six unanswered runs to best the Guardians 6-3 at the Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung.
American right-hander Jake Brigham notched his fourth win of the season, with a 2.29 ERA, after giving up six hits for three runs, allowing only one earned run, over seven innings.
Brigham has become known as the “Fubon Guardians Slayer” as he has never lost against the Guardians, and has a 0.90 ERA in games against them.
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Fulham on Monday climbed away from the English Premier League relegation zone and left Nottingham Forest mired in the fight for survival after Raul Jimenez’s penalty sealed a 1-0 win. Marco Silva’s side started the day just two points above fourth-bottom Forest, but Jimenez’s first-half goal at Craven Cottage moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three. While Fulham’s relegation fears were eased heading into the Christmas schedule, Forest are just five points ahead of third-bottom West Ham United in the scrap to avoid crashing into the Championship. Forest had won six of their previous eight games in all competitions, with a
Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal on Sunday guided the Catalan giants four points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Villarreal. Brazil international Raphinha won and converted an early penalty, before Villarreal’s Renato Veiga was sent off before halftime for a late lunge on teenager Yamal. The 18-year-old slotted home Barca’s second midway through the second half, as Hansi Flick’s side restored their advantage on Real Madrid and won an eighth consecutive league game. Villarreal are fourth after Atletico Madrid moved ahead of them with a comfortable 3-0 win at Girona earlier. “The attitude and mentality of
RSS