In the battle for first place in Group A at the Baseball World Cup, the USA bats proved too strong for Taiwan.
Lin Ying-chieh, Taiwan's starting pitcher, pitched well through three innings, but the USA batters roughed him up in the fourth. Evan Longoria, Delwyn Young and Justin Ruggiano hit three doubles in a row off Lin, bringing home Longoria and Young and giving the USA a 3-1 advantage.
Taiwan managed to tie the score up in the fourth after an RBI triple by Chang Tai-shan and a sacrifice fly by Hsieh Chia-hsien.
PHOTO: Sam Yeh, AFP
In the fifth the USA scored three more runs but Taiwan fought back again, responding with a full-count, bases-loaded double by Hsieh in the bottom of the sixth. But from there the USA side proved too strong.
In the seventh Ruggiano hit a three-run home run of Shen Yu-chieh, bringing home Longoria and Young.
Taiwan had a chance to come back again in the eighth when Chang hit a two-out grounder that dribbled through the second baseman's feet and Hsieh hit a fly ball to left field that managed to find a hole between a pair of confused-looking USA outfielders. But Taiwan was not able to capitalize on the mistakes and came out of the inning without having scored a run.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The USA added an insurance run in the top of the ninth off a solo home run by Ruggiano.
Down 10-6 in the ninth Taiwan managed to load the bases, but they could only bring home one run.
Japan came third in Group A on the head-to-head rule after a close 4-3 win over Spain, while fourth place went to Panama after they beat winless South Africa 13-3 and finished with the same number of wins as Mexico, who beat Italy 11-2. But Panama advanced based on the head-to-head rule.
In Group B, Cuba was hit by a 2-1 upset -- its first loss of the tournament -- to a gritty Netherlands side, which secured third place thanks to their great result. But Cuba stayed on top of the group despite Australia just beating Canada 7-6, courtesy of the head-to-head rule. Canada cruelly finished fifth after South Korea put paid to Germany's unhappy tournament with an 8-1 victory and advanced on the head-to-head rule. Thailand lost all seven of its games, the final nail in the coffin being a 17-3 drubbing by sixth-placed Venezuela.
Tomorrow
Quarter-finals
12pm
Australia v Japan (Sinjhuang, Taipei County)
TAIWAN v Netherlands (Tianmu, Taipei City)
6pm
USA v South Korea (Sinjhuang)
Cuba v Panama (Tianmu)
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS