Miscues on the base paths that denied Taiwan at least two runs ultimately cost the hosts the win as they squandered a three-run lead in the seventh by surrendering five unanswered runs late in the game to lose 5-7 to the US at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in the second round of this year’s 18U Baseball World Cup last night.
After falling behind 0-2 in the bottom of the second, Taiwan plated three runs in the top of the third on the strength of two singles and a two-run double off US starter Justus Sheffield to gain a 3-2 advantage.
Runs by Taiwan in the fifth and the sixth made it 5-2 before a series of costly base-running mistakes.
Yin De-rong was called out at second for leaving the base bag too soon in celebration after belting a run-scoring single and advancing to second on the throw.
He was not the lone offender as Chen Tzu-hao was picked off at first in the sixth before Taiwan missed two more scoring chances in the eighth to lose the game.
S KOREA 11, VENEZUELA 1 (8TH)
South Korea claimed their first win in the second round with an 11-1 triumph over Venezuela in eight innings in Taichung yesterday afternoon to improve to a 1-3 record.
Lim Byeong-wuk had a big day at the plate with a two-run home run off Venezuelan starter Juan Vegas in the top of the third to cap a three-run frame that broke a scoreless tie.
He racked up three RBIs and scored twice on a 3-for-4 outing to lead a South Korean lineup that rang up 13 hits.
Holding Venezuela scoreless through the sixth were South Korean starter An Kyu-hyun and reliever Park Se-woong who scattered four hits while fanning seven and walking two.
Even though Yu Hee-woon was unable to keep the shutout intact with a run allowed in the bottom of the seventh on a single and a triple, the outcome was never in doubt.
Park was credited with the win, while Vegas was charged with the loss for serving up seven runs (four earned) on five hits and as many walks over 3-2/3 innings of play.
CUBA 0, JAPAN 10
Six eighth-inning runs by Japan blew a 4-0 game wide open for Japan as they topped Cuba.
The win not only kept Japan’s unbeaten record at 4-0 in the second round, but more importantly earned them a ticket into tomorrow night’s title game.
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
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