Failure to shut down the South Korean attack in the game-deciding seventh cost Taiwan the game as they lost by a disheartening 8-9 scoreline in Game Five of the Olympic baseball competition at the Wukesong Baseball Field in Beijing yesterday. It was their fourth straight defeat.
The late-game flop not only wasted an otherwise incredible rally that brought Taiwan all the way from a 0-8 deficit to eventually tie the game 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth, but virtually eliminated the team’s chances of advancing into the medal round and gave them a 1-4 record.
It was the third straight loss that Taiwan have suffered by a single run, following their first ever defeat to China in international competition in Friday’s 7-8 shocker and Saturday’s 0-1 loss to the defending champions from Cuba.
PHOTO: AFP
What was suppose to be a fairly even match between the two Asian powerhouses opened in amazing fashion, with South Korea dialing up seven runs off Taiwanese starter Yang Jien-fu in the top of the first on the strength of consecutive two-run singles by Lee Dae-ho and Lee Jin-young and a towering three-run home run by Ko Young-min.
South Korea would lead it 8-0 in the top of the second with an RBI double from Lee Dae-ho off reliever Nee Fu-deh, before the Taiwanese fought back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the same inning as back-to-back one-run singles by Yeh Jung-chang and Lin Tseh-hsuan cut the deficit to 2-8.
With Nee baffling the South Koreans with a repertoire of pitches from his side-arm delivery over the next four scoreless innings, Taiwan managed to rally to within two runs in a four-run fifth, highlighted by Chiang Chih-hsien’s bases-loaded two-run single, before tying the game up in the sixth when Peng Cheng-min’s clutch two-run double off reliever Han Ki-joo brought the dugout to its feet.
Unfortunately for Taiwan, the joy would last less than an inning as South Korea countered with a run in the seventh, when Chang Chih-chia allowed a single that scored the runner from second for what turned out to be the game winner.
Lin Chih-sheng’s leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh put Taiwan in an excellent position for a second comeback. But South Korean reliever Kwon Hy-uk promptly struck out the final two hitters, before fellow closer Yoon Suk-min pitched a near-perfect eighth and ninth to preserve the win.
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