Saturday, May 3, 2008

May 3rd, 2008 Luoyang at Wuhan

May 3rd, 2008

Luoyang White Horse at Wuhan Turtles

WUHAN – A tight pitchers duel exploded in the final innings, as both teams combined for seven runs in the 8th and 9th. The visiting White Horse held on to win, 6-5, bringing them within 2 ½ games of first place.

Originally, the story of the afternoon was a pitching duel between Luoyang’s Robin Roberts and Wuhan’s Bob Rush. Neither pitcher was brilliant, but they were nonetheless effective, Roberts giving up only 2 runs in 6, and Rush only 2 in 7.

The late inning scoring started with the Turtle’s bottom of the 8th. Wuhan gave reliever Rick Honeycutt an unfriendly greeting, as Frog Redus and Mark McGwire hit back-to-back homers to left. With a 4-2 lead at home, and ace John Smoltz on the mound, the game looked safe.

Smoltz, however, quickly gave up the lead. Nish Williams hit a leadoff double, and was driven in on the very next pitch by Jeff Kent’s deep drive to left. Mike Stanton came on in relief, got one out, and then it all fell apart. A walk to Bob Johnson was followed by Wild Bill Wright’s triple and Ben Taylor’s single. By the time the inning was over, four runners came across for the visitors, and a 4-2 lead had suddenly become a 6-4 deficit.

Wuhan kept it close, with a solo homer by Fielder Jones in their half of the ninth, but it was too little, too late.

Click here for boxscore.

Today’s Other Games

Northeastern League

Beijing Mets 9, Nishinomiya Tigers 1 At Beijing

Seoul Blue Dragons 5, Harbin Icecaps 1 At Seoul

Shenyang Defenders 5, Tokyo Giants 4 At Shenyang. The Giants fell to three games behind the Beijing Mets with this loss, their first after winning ten in a row.

Tianjin Lions 12, Beijing Red Dragons 8 At Tianjin

Southeastern League

Nanjing Monarchs 3, Wenzhou Merchants 2 (10) At Nanjing. Nanjing propelled themselves into a first place tie with Suzhou with this victory. Sandy Koufax pitched a 10-inning complete game, mowing down 13 Merchant hitters in the process.

Shanghai Red Sox 5, Hangzhou Eagles 3 At Shanghai. The Eagles lost their second straight and fell to second place.

Shanghai White Sox 7, Hefei Hope Stars 4 At Shanghai.

Ningbo Stallions 9, Suzhou Artisans 4 At Suzhou.

Northwestern League

Urumqi Flying Tigers 10, Jinan Leopards 5 At Jinan

Lanzhou Refiners 12, Xi’an Wild Geese 7 At Lanzhou

Zhengzhou Dragons 4, Taiyuan Kylin 3 At Taiyuan

Southwestern League

Lhasa Monks 1, Chengdu Spice 0 At Chengdu. Despite the fact that they lead the world in runs scored (124 after 16 games), Lhasa showed that they can win low-scoring games as well, their only run coming on a walk, a bunt and a double.

Xianggang Reds 9, Fuzhou Whales 3 At Fuzhou

Taibei Brother Elephants 2, Guangzhou Fire 1 (10) At Guangzhou

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