Taiwan won their second game in as many days by a wide margin by defeating Thailand 13-1 in seven innings in the preliminary round of the Asian Games at the Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Incheon, South Korea, to remain unbeaten with a 2-0 record.
Aided by Chiang Chih-hsien’s three-run homer in the bottom of the first, a line drive off Thailand starter Phanuwat Sukmuang that cleared the centerfield wall for the first round-tripper of this year’s competition, Taiwan sent 13 men to the plate to score eight runs on seven hits in the inning.
The 8-0 lead quickly increased to 13-0 after a five-run second in which Taiwan teed off against Sukmuang with four runs on three hits to chase the Thailand right-hander, before roughing up his successor, Siraphop Nadee, with another run in the inning to blow the game wide open.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Just as the hitters were getting used to the pitching tempo of Nadee, the righty showed uncanny poise with a change of speed and pitching location to disrupt Taiwan’s hitters’ timing.
That, coupled with the Taiwan batters’ urge to make contact with the ball, helped Nadee to cool off the once formidable attack as the reliever kept Taiwan off the plate over the next 3-2/3 innings of play to the surprise of all those on hand.
Fortunately for Taiwan, the sudden scoring drought did not affect the outcome of the contest, even when starter Kuo Chun-lin gave up a run on two hits in the fourth inning to lose the shutout bid.
Kuo left the game after two-hitting Thailand over four innings of play with six strikeouts to fall one inning shy of the five-inning minimum requirement necessary to record the win.
“The pitch caught too much of the plate, something I need to improve on,” Kuo said after the game, referring to the pitch that Thailand’s Nirun Jaroenkitsiriwong lined to shallow-left to score his team’s lone run of the game.
Picking up the win for Taiwan was reliever Sung Chia-hao, who threw a scoreless fifth, while the loss was charged to Thailand’s Sukmuang.
Next up for Taiwan are the hosts, winners of their first game against Thailand on Monday in a 15-0 shutout that ended after the fifth inning. The game is scheduled for 5:30pm Taiwan time.
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