Taiwan took an early lead, lost it in a disastrous fourth inning, then staged mini fightbacks, but ultimately went down 9-8 against Canada in their Premier 12 clash at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium last night.
In the bottom of the second inning, after designated hitter Lin Yi-chuan and catcher Lin Hung-yu were sent back to the dugout by Canada starting pitcher Shawn Hill, left-fielder Chang Chien-ming singled to center field and first-baseman Chen Chun-hsiu followed him with a home run to left center.
Canada first baseman Jordan Lennerton hit an RBI single for Tyler O’Neill to reduce the deficit in the the third, before Taiwan leaked three runs in the fourth on four hits.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Taiwan made it 4-4 through right fielder Wang Po-jung’s two RBI home run to right center, but another three-run inning to the visitors immediately after that stretched the score to 7-4.
The third Lin in the lineup, Lamigo Monkeys slugger Lin Chih-sheng, had a lead-off homer in the bottom of the sixth to reduce the gap to two, before his two namesakes reached base, Yi-chuan via a walk and Hung-yu after being hit by Hill.
Chang reached safety with a bunt, loading the bases after a fielding error, but Chen could not match his second-inning effort, striking out when swinging, while third baseman Chiang Chih-hsien grounded into a double play to smother the opportunity.
O’Neill and Rene Tosoni launched home runs in the eighth to make it 9-5, but Taiwan came storming back to one behind through a Chen single to score pinch hitter Kao Kuo-hui and a Wang two-RBI double, setting up a last-inning chance that they failed to capitilize on.
In other games yesterday, the US beat Mexico 10-0, co-hosts Japan defeated the Dominican Republic 4-2, the Netherlands thrashed Italy 16-1 — with the mercy rule enforced — South Korea dealt Venezuela a 13-2 thrashing and Cuba edged Puerto Rico 8-7.
Taiwan face Cuba at the Intercontinental tomorrow, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm.
With a lone win so far against Italy and their last game in Group A against Puerto Rico, Taiwan need to finish in the top four out of six teams to reach the quarter-finals.
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