Inability to come up with the clutch hits dealt Taiwan its first loss at the inaugural World Baseball Classic, as it fell to South Korea in a 2-0 shutout at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, yesterday.
Taiwan had three solid opportunities to score against a South Korean squad that sent four different Major League pitchers to the mound to keep the shutout intact, with runners in scoring position in the second, seventh, and ninth inning. But none of Taiwan's five hits produced a single run, with the final at-bat for the Taiwanese hurting the most.
Pinch-hitter Chan Chih-rau's sharp, two-out grounder to short with runners on first and third seemed all but ready to skid past the outreaching glove of South Korean shortstop Park Jin-man for a run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth, but Park made a spectacular diving catch and tossed the ball to second base for the final out of the game.
The South Koreans came through with two clutch hits, both with two outs, for their winning runs.
The game began with South Korea striking first in the top of the fourth inning when catcher Sung Heon-hong drove a 2-2 pitch down the third base line for a clean double off of starter Lin En-yu. The hit scored the runner from second.
South Korea then made it 2-0 in the top of the fifth, when Park reached home from second on outfielder Lee Jong-beo two-out double off the left field wall, after leading off the inning with a single off reliever Lin Ying-jeh.
Starter Jae Weong-seo (Los Angeles Dodgers) picked up the win for South Korea with three-and-two-thirds innings of two-hit ball, while Lin took the loss for Taiwan after allowing the first run of the game in the fourth inning.
* The historic international baseball competition marks the first time that active Major League players are permitted to represent their home country in amateur competition.
* Sixteen teams from around the world are playing in a round-robin preliminary round in four different groups before the top two squads in each group meet up for the eight-team, second round of play at Anaheim, California, later this month.
Park Chan-ho (San Diego Padres) was credited with the save for three innings of two-hit relief work, fanning three while walking none.
Offensively for South Korea, Lee and Hong's combined 4-for-7 outing with two RBIs drew most of the attention, while the heart of the order was kept at bay in a 2-for-10 effort by Taiwan's pitchers, with no RBIs.
Outfielder Lin Wei-chu's double off Park Chan-ho was the lone highlight of an unproductive attack that was 0-for-5 with men in scoring position.
Pedro Martinez confirmed on Thursday he will not pitch in the World Baseball Classic because of his sore toe, leaving the Dominican Republic without three of its biggest stars.
US Major League Baseball all-star sluggers Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero also recently withdrew from the Dominican team, expected to be one of the strongest at the inaugural, 16-nation tournament.
Martinez is behind schedule at the New York Mets' pre-season spring training camp because of an injury to his right big toe that has hampered him since last year. He threw from the top of a mound Thursday for only the second time this spring.
"They're better off finding someone who can help them rather than taking me, out of shape, risking my career," Martinez said. "It would be totally unfair to the Dominican. I haven't even thrown a breaking ball yet."
Martinez and Dominican Republic manager Manny Acta had hoped the right-hander would be able to join the Dominican team sometime after the first round of the World Baseball Classic.
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