Taiwan found themselves in more trouble in Group A at this year’s IBAF Baseball World Cup as they dropped a 14-8 decision to hosts Panama at the Remon Cantera Stadium in Aguadulce, Panama, on Monday to remain winless at 0-2.
Taiwan’s failure to contain a potent Panama lineup that teed off against six Taiwanese hurlers was the difference in the game as the hitters did their part by pounding out 14 hits, including a pair of home runs against the hosts, to plate eight runs on the board. However, it was far from enough to bail out the dismal pitching that surrendered three or more runs in four innings to lose this one long before the final out.
Panama greeted Taiwan starter Kuo Chun-lin with four first-inning runs on a Grand Slam by Fernando Seguinol (former Montreal Expo) after Kuo issued a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to load the bases.
Photo Courtesy of Chinese Taipei Baseball Association
After Taiwan’s Lin Han answered with a homer of his own off Panama starter Angel Cuan (minor leaguer for the New York Mets) to lead off the bottom half of the first, the hosts struck again in the top of the third when Carlos Quiroz lined a clean double to the left--center gap with the bases loaded for three more runs that made it 7-1 in Panama’s favor.
Taiwan got their second run of the game off Cuan in the fourth with two singles and an RBI double by Yang Kuan-wei that made it 7-2, only to see reliever Lo Ching-lung (minor leaguer for the Colorado Rockies) squander it away with a four-run fifth, highlighted by Javier Castillo’s two-run double, which gave Panama a commanding 11-2 advantage.
The two teams traded three more runs over the next two innings to make it 14-5 through the sixth before the Islanders mustered one final rally with a meaningless three-run seventh that cut Panama’s lead to a more respectable 14-8, which stood to the end.
Five different hitters had multi-hit games on the night for Panama, led by Seguinol’s 3 for 4 outing with four RBIs. Fellow outfielder Joel Vega also drove in four with a homer to his credit to account for the bulk of the Panama offense.
“Their hitters were a lot better than we expected ... they are very disciplined at the plate, so we really had to be on top of our game,” Taiwan manager Chen Wei-cheng said after the game.
As for Taiwan, four individuals came away with multi-hit games, led by Lo Kuo-hui’s (minor leaguer of the Seattle Mariners) record-high three hits and two RBIs. Huang Chih-pei also homered on the night to drive in two for his team.
Picking up the win for the home team was Cuan, who allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings to beat his counterpart Kuo, who lasted only three innings with seven runs charged against him on eight hits.
Next up for Taiwan will be an uphill battle against the US, who fell victim to Puerto Rico in an 8-4 final in extra-innings earlier on Monday. Opening pitch is -scheduled for 7:30pm at the Remon Cantera Stadium.
In other play, it was:
‧ Canada 3, Japan 1
‧ Puerto Rico 8, US 4, 10 inns
‧ The Netherlands 19, Greece 0
‧ Cuba 3, Dominican Republic 0
‧ Italy 7, Australia 0
‧ Venezuela 5, Nicaragua 2
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