Team Taiwan closed out its 2005 Baseball World Cup campaign at Haarlem in the Netherlands with a narrow 5-4 loss to the US on Tuesday afternoon.
Knowing that the outcome of the game against the Americans had no bearing on its chance for advancing into the next round due to two key losses to Colombia and Nicaragua earlier in the tournament, the Taiwanese squad still put up a fight in a close game that was not decided until a game-ending double play that cut the comeback effort short.
Down 5-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Team Taiwan's second baseman Chen Chiang-ho opened the inning with a leadoff single off US reliever Christopher Mobley.
After a missed bunt attempt that resulted in the first out of the inning, Chen would successfully steal second before outfielder Liao Ying-chieh drew a walk off Mobley to put the winning run on base.
Unfortunately for Team Taiwan, Gilbert De La Vara, the second pitcher for the US in the inning, got the next batter to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, leaving the comeback effort short by a run.
Taiwanese third baseman Wang Sheng-wei got his team on the board with a solo homer run off US starter Christian Michalak for a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The slim lead for Taiwan would stand until the US half in the sixth when back-to-back doubles by sluggers Michael Cervenak and Dermal Brown and a run-scoring single by first baseman Bryan La Hair, coupled with two fatal defensive errors by the Taiwanese infield, poured in four runs to give Team US a 4-1 lead.
Homers by designated hitter Lo Guo-hui (a two-run shot) and Liao (a solo blast) in the sixth and seventh respectively, would bring Taiwan back for a 4-all tie before the US pulled ahead again in the ninth with Lastings Milledge's clutch single that scored the game-winner.
Setup man James Garcia was credited with the win for pitching a scoreless eighth, while Kao Min-ching suffered the defeat for yielding the deciding run in the ninth.
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