The Major League All-Stars left nothing to the imagination as they ground out seven runs on as many hits to shut out Taiwan’s national team 7-0 in the rain-shortened opener of the Taiwan All-Star Series at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City (新北市) last night.
Led by Curtis Granderson’s Grand Slam off Taiwan starter Yang Yao-hsun (陽耀勳) in the top of the third, the visitors showed off their power by breaking a scoreless tie wide open with a long ball by the New York Yankees’ star outfielder on a two-for-three outing and went on to win in grand fashion.
Emilio Bonifacio of the Florida Marlins followed Granderson by driving in a pair of runs on a two-out single to right in the fourth inning.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Other than the downpour which started in the fifth inning, eventually forcing the officials to call off the game after 5-1/2 innings of play, the sellout Sinjhuang crowd was treated to an efficient display of big league offense that hurt their opponents in more than one way.
“I am quite pleased with how we did, except for not being able to drive in the runs when we had the chance. I guess we were more nervous than I thought,” Taiwan skipper Chen Wei-cheng (陳威成) said after the game.
His troops got off to a good start by placing runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, but they could not come up with the big hits necessary to drive in the runs, leaving nothing to show for the six hits that they mustered off three different MLB pitchers.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Failure to cash in on their early success proved costly for Taiwan as All-Star starter Jeremy Guthrie overcame a shaky start by getting crucial outs when it counted the most, highlighted by an inning-ending double play in the second with the bases loaded to keep the shutout intact.
He was credited with the win for pitching three innings of shutout ball on four hits.
Taiwan’s Yang was tagged with the loss for giving up six of the seven runs that the All-Stars rang up on five hits over four innings of play.
The two teams will have today off as they travel south before tomorrow’s Game 2 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, with the opening pitch scheduled for 6:30pm.
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