Failure to come up with the timely hits, coupled with the pitchers allowing a pair of homers, cost Taiwan the game against South Korea as the hosts dropped the opener 5-2 at the Asian Baseball Championship in Taichung yesterday afternoon.
Taiwan actually outhit South Korea by eight-to-five in a game where they led for over four innings. But when it counted the most, the men in the familiar white uniforms fell a few clutch hits short of giving the sellout crowd a reason to cheer.
Hu Chin-long led off the bottom of the first with an opposite-field single off South Korean starter Ryu Hyun-jin and scored the game's first run two outs later on Chen Chin-fong's RBI single to give Taiwan a quick 1-0 lead.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
The one-run advantage seemed ample through the first four innings with starter Lin En-yu on the mound. The right-hander dominated South Korea and allowed a lone double through the fourth to keep the visitors off the board.
Then came the decisive fifth in which South Korea finally figured out Lin by connecting for two singles to place runners on first and second before Lee Jong-wook crushed a two-out offering from Lin over the right field wall to put his team ahead 3-1 at the top of the fifth.
Even though Taiwan got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on Chang Tai-shan's run-scoring double that scored Chang Jien-ming all the way from first, that was as close as they got. South Korea scored the game's last two runs by going deep against Taiwanese reliever Huang Jung-chung, with a solo homer by Park Jin Man in the seventh and a fielding error by Chang Tai-shan that allowed another run in the eighth to make it 5-2.
Taiwan had their share of opportunities to rally against South Korea with runners reaching base on three combined singles and a walk in the seventh and eighth.
However, they failed to produce the timely hits necessary to bring the runners home and had a poor none-for-seven when hitting with runners on base. That ultimately cost Taiwan the game as they stranded four during the seventh and eighth.
Picking up the big win for South Korea was Ryu, who shook off the early-game jitters by holding Taiwan to two runs on four hits over five-plus innings of play to put his team in contention for the title and a place at the Olympics next year.
Suffering the loss was Lin, whose mistakes were capitalized on by the South Koreans in their game-winning three-run home run.
France’s Kevin Aymoz snatched the men’s title at Skate America on Saturday, winning his first grand prix title with a battling free skate, while short program leader Kazuki Tomono faltered. It was an emotional triumph for Aymoz, who made his grand prix level debut in 2017, with seven prior podium finishes, but no gold. He had struggled with a painful foot injury since a disappointing 10th-place finish at Skate Canada last month. “It was so difficult,” the 28-year-old said. “After Skate Canada I wanted to give up so much and today I’m here and it’s so beautiful to be with my friends competing
A start-up’s entry into prediction market trading is raising fresh questions about the involvement of NBA owners in sports betting. The start-up, Mojo Interactive Inc, was cofounded by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx. Mojo has started trading on the outcome of sports games on the prediction market exchange Kalshi, an arrangement that is now being reviewed by the NBA. Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports during the NFL season this fall, according to Mojo CEO Vinit Bharara. Mojo has yet to trade on any NBA games, Bharara said in
Nigeria’s soccer coach has accused the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) of practicing “voodoo” after his squad’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup ended in a penalty shoot-out loss in the African playoff final. DR Congo and Nigeria drew 1-1 after extra-time in the tie in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday and the central Africans won 4-3 on penalties to book a place in inter-confederation playoffs in Mexico in March next year. In his post-match remarks to journalists, coach Eric Chelle said a member of the DR Congo team “did some voodoo, every time, every time, every time.” “That
ALMOST THERE: In Group G, the Netherlands inched closer to the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Poland, leaving them at the top of the table with one match left Croatia secured a place at next year’s FIFA World Cup with a 3-1 win that ended tiny Faroe Islands’ dream on Friday, while the Netherlands moved closer to qualification by drawing in Poland. Croatia knew before kickoff that avoiding defeat in Rijeka, Croatia, would guarantee qualification, but it was caught cold in the 16th minute when Geza David Turi scored with a deflected shot. The 2018 World Cup runner-up quickly recovered as Josko Gvardiol leveled in the 23rd minute. Making his return to the national team after two years away, Petar Musa put Croatia ahead 2-1 after half time from Josip Stanisic’s
RSS