Taiwanese pitcher Chen Wei-yin’s rookie year in Major League Baseball ended with the Orioles’ defeat by the Yankees on Friday.
The Taiwanese left-hander led one of the Orioles’ two wins in the best-of-five series. Monday’s win was his team’s first in post-season in 15 years, with Chen becoming the first Taiwanese pitcher to clinch victory in an MLB playoff debut.
“[I feel] down more or less, but I think this is baseball,” the 27-year-old said after Friday’s loss. “Besides, it was the Yankees we played against. Of course we had to bring out something better than they did in order to win.”
“We are in a team that nobody expected to be in the playoff, but we made it,” Chen said.
He also said that if he has another chance to play against the Yankees, which Chen said are probably the best team in the US, he is not sure whether he would be confident enough to baffle their powerful batters.
“At least I got to feel the atmosphere of pitching in the playoff,” he said, adding that the way the crowd cheered for the Orioles reminded him of the reason he loved baseball so much.
Chen, who had spent his entire professional career in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons before signing with the Orioles on a three-year contract earlier this year, also compared his career in Japan and in the US.
“I enjoy playing here,” he said, explaining that even though he also enjoyed playing in Japan, the feeling there was not as strong.
He said that he did not analyze things too much while playing in the US, pointing out that all he tried to do was to deliver what he was capable of for the team.
The 12-11 Chen struck out 154 over his 32 outings this season with a 4.02 earned-run average. He had the most wins, outings and strikeouts for the Orioles this season.
Chen expressed the hope that he could help the team achieve even better results over the next two years.
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