Win three games against three different opponents in three days. That's what eight teams are shooting to do in order to emerge as champion of the Baseball World Cup on Sunday.
The quarterfinals are today at Tienmu Stadium in Taipei City and Shinchuan Stadium in Taipei County, matching teams that qualified through the two groups in round robin play.
Seven teams are looking to dethrone Cuba, the six-time defending champion whose dominance of the tournament may very well end this year due to the introduction of professional players.
With no off days to rest and every game a must-win, the crown may go to which team has the deepest pitching staff. Still, in the quick format of tournament, any team could get the breaks and end up a winner.
A look at the matchups:
Cuba vs. Dominican Republic
Cuba finished second in Group B, their only loss coming against Japan. Still a favorite, the group of veteran stars know how to play and win in the tournament format. Plus, their years of playing together as a unit gives them an enormous advantage. By contrast, most of the other teams were assembled in the weeks prior to the tournament without much time to practice or gel.
The Dominicans finished 5-2 in Group A, placing third. Expectations were not high for the team after ex-big leaguer Tony Pena withdrew as manager late last month. But manager Alex Taveras has regrouped his squad and proved the skeptics wrong, upsetting the US in their first game. But the Dominicans did not finish pool play well. Possibly distracted by the crash of the Dominican Republic-bound plane in New York, they lost to Taiwan 5-1 and then fell behind 5-2 to a weak South Africa team before rallying for a win.
If the young Dominican players loose their concentration, they may not be able to launch a comeback against the veteran Cuban stars.
As Taveras commented about the game against South African: "We got down in the beginning. When things start going bad, everything is very ugly."
Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 9-2 in their last meeting at the 1998 World Cup.
Panama vs. the United States
The US team of minor league professionals overcame a shaky 2-2 start to win their final three games and finish second in Group A. Panama placed third in Group B at 5-2.
While it was the offense that was expected to carry the American team, the pitching has been their strength -- shutting out both South Korea and Taiwan in key games and compiling a 0.90 team ERA.
"They have a good team, but in our history, we have always played well against them. We will go after them and try to get into the final four," said Panama manager Karl Heron.
Neither team made the medal round at the 1998 World Cup. The US won the last meeting of the two squads, a 5-4 victory at last year's Pan Am Cup when the American team was comprised generally of players from independent leagues.
Taiwan vs. the Netherlands
Taiwan earned the top stop in Group A with a 6-1 record, losing only 6-0 to the US, while the Netherlands finished fourth in Group B at 4-3.
Taiwan pitching has been excellent. The staff did not give up an earned run to the Americans and virtually shut down all other opponents, having given up only six earned runs in their seven games for a team ERA of 0.90.
With the exception of third baseman Chang Tai-shan (
The problems might be behind them, as Taiwan enters the medal round following their best performance of the tournament, a 5-1 win over South Korea.
"I'm very pleased we were able to defeat Korea. Their always are one of the top teams from Asia. I'm very satisfied with my team's performance tonight, manager Lin Hua-wei (
Dutch manager Robert Een-hoorn knows that Taiwan will give his team a stiff test.
"They finished first in their group, so they must be a very strong team," Eenhoorn said. "We're confident. We've showed that we can play against anybody and we've got a lot of experience. We are looking forward to playing Taiwan."
While Taiwan will have a sold-out stadium behind it, the Dutch should not be overlooked. Their three losses, to Japan, Cuba and Panama, were by a combined six runs.
Taiwan won the last meeting between the two teams in the World Cup by 12-6 in 1998.
Japan vs. South Korea
Japan won Group B, the only team in the tournament to finish round robin play unbeaten. The Koreans finished fourth in Group A at 5-2, getting outscored 16-1 in lopsided losses to the US and Taiwan.
But the preliminary-round results can be left aside is what is probably the most intriguing quarterfinal game. Both teams are loaded with stars from their respective professional leagues and Japan will be looking to avenge two recent losses to the Koreans.
South Korea defeated Japan 8-3 in the quarterfinals at the 1998 World Cup and then downed their neighbors 3-1 to win the bronze medal at last year's Olympics.
Chen ties for RBI title
Taiwan's Chen Ching-fong (
The winners of individual statistical categories are determined through the round robin phase of the tournament.
Evert-Jan 't Hoen of the Netherlands won the home run title with three. Chen and teammate Wang Chuan-chia (
Luis Ulacia of Cuba captured the batting crown, finishing with an average of .600 (18-for-30). Chen was fourth, batting .480 (12-for-25). Nine pitchers had earned-run averages of 0.00, with Samuel Meurant of France taking first place based upon his having the highest total of innings pitched (15 2/3).
Taiwan's Chang Chih-chia (
Former Florida Marlins and New York Mets player Ralph Milliard of the Netherlands recorded the most stolen bases with seven.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the
RSS