Taiwan let slip a game 6-1 that it didn't need to win against Panama on Tuesday in the Intercontinental Baseball Cup.
It had already qualified for the second phase of the competition after a 3-1 record in group B and was to meet Asia's No. 1 team South Korea yesterday.
Taiwan got off to the worst kind of start, as Panama led off the top of the first inning with two runs.
It repeated the trick in the fifth inning and in the sixth inning, in which Taiwan also pulled one back. But errors gave Panama another two runs and the game ground to a close.
South Korea, meanwhile, racked up its fourth straight victory in the Intercontinental Baseball Cup, beating Italy 5-0.
With its loss, Italy is 2-2 in the tournament, ensuring advancement to the second round.
In other Intercontinental Cup play, the Netherlands won its first victory after three straight losses, beating China 7-1. With their four losses, the Chinese are eliminated from the next round.
Japanese shortstop Toshiyuki Kitagawa hit a grand slam earlier Tuesday as his team beat Venezuela 13-3 in eight innings.
Brazil beat Mexico 7-6 as Daniel Matsumoto hit a homer that brought in three runs and his team's victory. With its three defeats, Mexico has been eliminated. Brazil, now 1-3, had to beat Panama yesterday to keep playing.
The classification round wrapped up yesterday with the following matchups: Italy-Mexico, Brazil-Panama, South Korea-Taiwan, China-Cuba, Venezuela-Dominican Republic and Netherlands-Japan.
RSS