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.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,