Taiwan yesterday could not muster the key hits and suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to South Korea at the Tokyo Dome in Japan in the second game of the Asia Professional Baseball Championship.
It was a tight affair throughout, with an early pitching duel between Taiwan lefty Chen Kuang-yu (陳冠宇) and South Korea side-arm hurler Im Ki-young.
Both men held the opposition hitters at bay as they kept clean sheets heading into the sixth inning, before South Korea broke the deadlock.
Photo: AFP
Chen issued a walk to South Korea shortstop Kim Ha-seong, then outfielder Lee Jeong-hoo ripped a shot to the wall for a triple, driving Kim home for what turned out to be the only run of the game.
Taiwan will rue wasting their numerous chances, as both sides had six hits each, but the visitors stranded many more runners than the opposition.
They could have won the contest when they had two men on base in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings, but the team could not deliver a timely hit and failed to score.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
South Korea closer Jang Pil-joon slammed the door shut in the ninth when he fanned the final two batters to preserve the shutout win.
In the tournament opener on Thursday, Japan and South Korea renewed their fierce rivalry in an exciting contest full of late drama and outstanding performances, with the hosts prevailing 8-7 in an extra-inning thriller.
The visitors led 4-1 at the halfway point of the contest, but Japan fought back with a two-run homer by Hotaka Yamakawa of the Seibu Lions, cutting the deficit to one in the sixth inning.
In the ninth, the hosts leveled the score at 4-4 when Yota Kyoda drew a base-loaded walk for the crucial tying run.
Going into the extra innings, the tiebreaker rule called for each side to place two players on first and second bases to enhance the scoring opportunities.
South Korea seized three runs on two successive doubles in the top of the 10th, going 7-4 in front, with the hosts in danger of facing defeat in front of their home fans.
However, Japan showed their resilience by battling back, when after one out Seiji Uebayashi of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks blasted a home run to even it up at 7-7.
Then one out later with a runner on second, Tatsuhiro Tamura sent a high fly that went for a “sayonara hit,” bringing home the winning run as the home crowd exploded with joy celebrating a hard-fought victory.
“It’s close every time Japan face South Korea, but our fans kept cheering so loud and I wanted to get a win for them,” Japan manager Atsunori Inaba said.
Taiwan will need a win today against Japan to have a chance of claiming a spot in tomorrow’s final.
Both games are to be held at the Tokyo Dome with 5:30pm starts Taiwan time.
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