The Rakuten Monkeys yesterday allowed just one hit to the Yomiuri Giants in their 0-0 draw to end the Japanese team’s final exhibition game at the Taipei Dome.
The game, the Dome’s first draw since it opened officially late last year, was one of two exhibition games in Taiwan to celebrate the Japanese franchise’s 90th anniversary.
The Monkeys’ starting pitcher Pedro Fernandez held the Giants without a hit for three innings, and struck out five players, while the Giants’ Tomoyuki Sugano allowed just four hits and struck out four.
Photo: CNA
In the first game on Saturday, the CTBC Brothers were not so lucky, losing 4-1.
More than 37,000 fans packed the stadium to watch Japan’s oldest professional sports team, who have won the most titles in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The teams on Saturday used two types of balls — one approved by NPB and another by the CPBL — as both were using the game to prepare for their upcoming seasons.
Photo: CNA
The Giants took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, and recorded 13 hits and four runs through the game.
Aside from their single run scored in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Brothers struggled offensively throughout, largely due to the dominance of the Giants’ starting pitcher, Shosei Togo.
The 23-year-old struck out six batters over three innings, including the Brothers’ first three batters. His strong performance earned him Most Valuable Player (MVP) for pitching after the game.
Photo: CNA
“I was very nervous because I had to play in front of a sellout crowd in my first game in Taiwan, but I used that to my advantage and tried to put on a great show,” said Togo, the 2022 NPB Central League strikeout leader.
He said he knew he would start in the Giants’ first game in Taiwan, so he prepared, although he did not disclose the details.
He did not find many differences between the Taipei Dome and his home stadium of the Tokyo Dome, he said, adding that he saw many fans at both venues.
Meanwhile, the batting MVP of the game was Yuto Akihiro, who racked up three hits and three RBIs in his first game in Taiwan.
The 21-year-old, who rarely plays overseas, said “I love Taiwan” in Mandarin in response to all four questions he was asked at a post-game interview, sparking loud cheers from the crowd.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS