Held to three scanty singles against stingy Japanese pitching, Taiwan proved no match for their neighbors from the north in a 1-0 shutout loss in the final game of the Japan Taiwan Baseball Challenge at the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu last night.
The loss not only gave Japan a clean sweep of the Taiwan national squad, but also exposed the sizable gap in the level of play between the two nations in the sport that both would readily claim as the national sport.
With their backs against the wall following back-to-back losses to Japan in the first two contests, Taiwan sent Kuo Chun-lin to the mound in search of an elusive win and the righty out of the Taiwan National University of Physical Education and Sport more than did his bit by keeping the potent Japan offense to a lone run on five hits over six innings, before being relieved at the start of the seventh.
Photo: CNA
Unfortunately for Kuo, it was one run too many as Taiwan’s batting lineup fell victims to an even more spectacular effort by the Japanese pitchers, who frustrated the hosts’ batters all night by holding them to a stunning none-for-10 with runners on base to keep the shutout intact.
After two scoreless innings in which Taiwan failed to cash in on three early walks and a single by Japanese starter Kazuki Mishima, the opportunistic Japan offense managed to plate a run off Kuo when Ryosuke Kikuchi singled with two outs and reached third after stealing second. He scored on an RBI single by Takero Okajima.
The 1-0 lead would be sufficient to deliver the victory as Mishima quickly regained his composure to shut down the Taiwan attack before three able relievers out of the visitors’ bullpen combined for five scoreless innings of one-hit ball to blank the hosts.
Taiwan had their best scoring chance after the second inning in the seventh, when Yang Dai-kang reached first on an error by the Japanese shortstop and took second on a sacrifice bunt on the ensuing play.
However, Lin Han and Chen Chun-hsiu came up empty against Japanese reliever Takahiro Matsuba to strand the runner and end the inning.
Matsuba was credited with the win for his three innings of hitless relief, while Kuo was charged with the loss, despite a solid outing on the mound.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS