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BEIJING 2008: Team Taiwan rally, force tie against dmedia in warm-up

Luo Kuo-hui of Team Taiwan is tagged out on third base by dmedia T-Rex's Huang Shih-hao in a friendly between the two teams in Taichung on Monday evening. PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES

Team Taiwan rallied from two down with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth to force a 2-2 tie against the dmedia T-Rex of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in the Exhibition Round for the 2008 IBAF Final Olympic Qualification Tournament at Taichung on Monday evening.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the ninth, Lin Yi-chuen's clutch double off T-Rex closer Chang Hsien-chih with men on first and second and no outs scored a run to make it 2-1 before Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan (Sinon Bulls) drove the ball to deep-left to score the tying run from third.

Team Taiwan had an excellent chance to take the game with men on first and second with no outs, but failed to connect again on the next three hitters to strand both runners and end the game on a draw.

Game 1 of the six-game warm-up series for the national squad in preparation for the 2008 IBAF Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, where the top three finishers from the field of eight will earn the right to take part in the Olympics at Beijing this summer, saw the T-Rex jump ahead 2-0 in the opening frame on Hsieh "the Ugly" Jia-shien's two-run double off Team Taiwan starter Yang Jien-fu (Bulls).

Those turned out to be the only runs that either team would score over the next seven-and-a-half innings with Yang pitching one-hit ball for the next four innings before being relieved by his bullpen as the T-Rex staff held its ground on stellar outings by lefties Lai Jung-nan, Pan Chung-hsiao and Chen Jien-fu.

"We wanted to give them [Team Taiwan] as many different looks as possible, especially with lefties on the mound, since everyone knows that the Taiwan hitters have trouble hitting left-handers," T-Rex manager Sun Jao-li said after the game.

Yang did not get the run support from the Team Taiwan hitters that many had expected, with the heart of the order consisting of sluggers Peng "Chia Chia" cheng-min (Brother Elephants), Cheng Chin-fong (Bears) and Kao Guo-ching (President Lions) going a combined 0-for-9 with three strikeouts. But that should not have affected his shaky start, allowing two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first.

"Other than the first inning, he [Yang] did fairly well," Taiwan skipper Hong Yi-chung, who doubles as La New Bears manager, said after the game.

All three of the T-Rex rookie lefties earned praises from Sun for their outstanding showing against the supposedly premier lineup in the land, especially starter Lai, whose three-hit effort with a pair of strikeouts and more importantly, no walks, could put him in contention for a spot on the dmedia starting rotation.

As for Team Taiwan, reliever Cheng Kai-wen was most impressive in his first game appearance since last November with two perfect innings of play.

Cheng needed only 16 pitches to record the final six outs against dmedia to bring a big smile to skipper Hong's face.
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