Part two of the Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦輝) show fell short of expectation on Thursday night as the 22-year-old youngster from Hualien lasted only 4-1/3 innings in a no-decision effort for the Colorado Rockies against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati.
Tsao allowed four runs on eight hits, all in the second inning, before he was relieved by Aaron Cook in a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the fifth.
The Rockies ended up losing the game in the bottom of the tenth on Red catcher Jason LaRue's solo blast off the Rockies' left-hander Brian Fuentes in a 5-4 final.
Evident in his three hit-batsmen, Tsao struggled with his control all night as his curveballs, sliders and changeups all had a hard time finding the strike zone. Without those pitches working for him, Tsao could only throw mainly fastballs, which the Red batters sat on all game. Even though Tsao's fastballs were consistently hitting 130kph, the Red's lineup exploited him as they batted around the order in the disappointing four-run second inning.
"He is lucky they [the Reds] didn't put up more runs than they did," Richard Wang, Director of Public Relations with the CPBL said after the game. "Had it not been for the Reds' poor base-running in the third, they would have scored even more runs."
Reds' third baseman Russell Branyan was tagged out at second after he thought the inning had ended with teammate LaRue being tagged out at home plate when there were only two outs. The mistake cost the Reds at least two runs in the inning.
"He was in a hurry all night," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Tsao. "His command was below average. He didn't have much tilt on his breaking ball. He was spinning them, and he didn't have much command on his fastball."
Hurdle pulled Tsao in the fifth after the Taiwanese star hit a batter for the third time. The decision was an appropriate one because it left Tsao with a no-decision for his second start in the majors, instead of a potential loss, which could affect the young pitcher's confidence.
"It was a good learning experience for him [Tsao], because hitters in the big league are not as forgiving as those in the minors." Hsu Sheng-ming (徐生明), pitching coach for the Chinatrust Whales, was quoted as saying by local Chinese media after the game. "He is still very young; if he can soak up all that he has learned so far like a sponge, I am sure he will do very well in the future."
Hsu hopes to land Tsao in the upcoming Asian Baseball Tournament in Sapporo, Japan, the top two finishers from which will represent the Far East in next year's Olympics in Athens, Greece.
"Hey, everyone gets hammered sometimes, that's life in the majors," Tsao was quoted as saying after the game. "I didn't have my best stuff today, but I am sure I will get these guys next time."
Tsao's positive attitude may just be what he needs to break out of this minor setback.
Cubs 9, Giants 4
In Chicago, Sammy Sosa hit a three-run homer and Carlos Zambrano won his third straight start as the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants.
Sosa's 23rd homer of the season capped a four-run sixth inning for the Cubs. Sosa, who missed 24 games earlier in the season because of a toe problem and the corked-bat suspension, had 13th homers in July, the most in the major leagues, and 29 RBIs.
Expos 3, Cardinals 2
In Montreal, Vladimir Guerrero homered and drove in all three runs, moving past Gary Carter into second place on Montreal's career homer list with 221, four behind Andre Dawson.
Zach Day (5-4), in his second start since a stint on the DL caused by a strained right shoulder, allowed one run and five hits in six innings. Rocky Biddle pitched a perfect ninth for his 26th save.
Padres 10, Pirates 7
In Pittsburgh, Gary Matthews Jr. homered and Mark Loretta drove in three runs during a four-hit day as San Diego overcome three Pittsburgh homers.
Brewers 4, Mets 3
In New York, Matt Kinney (7-8) allowed one run and four hits in six-plus innings to win for the first time since June 27.
Scott Podsednik and Eddie Perez hit RBI singles for the Brewers, who took three of four in the series between last-place teams. The punchless Mets have lost five of six and 17 of 22.
Braves 7, Astros 4
In Atlanta, Javy Lopez hit his 30th homer, a three-run shot that finished off a six-run first in the game between division leaders.
Phillies 7, Dodgers 3
In Philadelphia, Tomas Perez and Placido Polanco hit three-run homers in the fifth as Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep.
AP, SEATTLE
Joel Pineiro won his eighth consecutive decision, and Mike Cameron homered to lead the Seattle Mariners over the Detroit Tigers 4-0 Thursday for a three-game sweep.
Seattle pitched its major league-leading 13th shutout of the season, The Tigers were blanked for the 12th time, also the most in the majors.
Athletics 3, Indians 1
In Oakland, California, rookie Rich Harden (2-0) struck out nine in seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and four walks in his home debut.
Miguel Tejada had a two-run single and Eric Chavez homered for the As, who won for the eighth time in 11 games.
Devil Rays 7, Blue Jays 6
In Toronto, Damian Rolls homered and had three RBIs as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep.
Rolls went 3-for-4 for the Devil Rays, who went 14-12 in July for their first winning month since June 2000 (15-11).
White Sox 8, Royals 6
In Kansas City, Missouri, pinch-hitter Sandy Alomar had a tiebreaking two-run double in the 11th inning as Chicago completed a three-game sweep that brought them within a game of the first-place Royals.
After his double off Graeme Lloyd, Alomar scored on a single by his brother, Roberto Alomar.
Rangers 7, Red Sox 3
In Arlington, Texas, Alex Rodriguez hit his 10th career grand slam with two outs in the 11th inning off Todd Jones (2-1) as Texas beat Boston.
Texas took a 3-2 lead into the ninth, but Trot Nixon led off with his 20th homer against closer Francisco Cordero.
Twins 10, Orioles 9, 10 innings
In Minneapolis, Jacque Jones hit a single in the bottom of the 10th inning to send Minnesota over Baltimore.
Minnesota trailed 9-8 with runners at first and second and two out in the ninth when Michael Restovich struck out. But catcher Brook Fordyce couldn't handle the pitch, which rolled to the backstop.
Yankees 2, Angels 1, 10 innings
In Anaheim, California, Nick Johnson's two-out, two-run single drove in the go-ahead run as New York beat Anaheim in 10 innings to complete their first three-game sweep of the Angels in eight years.
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