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.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS