Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching.
Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0.
Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over 2 2/3 innings pitched. The 21-year-old right-hander likely would have finished the third inning had he not had a cramp in his right foot.
South African pitchers struggled with control, combining for nine walks — including four by starter Damon King — and four hit batters. In contrast, Taiwan’s pitchers allowed no walks and hit two batters.
Taiwan put runners in scoring position in the first two innings, but broke through in the third when Wu Nien-ting’s RBI groundout with runners on second and third put the team on the board. Chen Wen-chieh soon followed with an RBI single, scoring Yu Chang.
The lead grew in the fourth inning thanks to a bases-loaded wild pitch and an RBI groundout by captain Chen Chieh-hsien.
Taiwan put the game further out of reach in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, highlighted by an inside-the-park solo homer by Sung Cheng-jui in the sixth and a two-run shot by Lee Tsung-hsien in the ninth.
Sung and Wang Po-hsuan led the team with four hits each. Lin Tzu-wei, batting second, reached base five times on four walks and a hit-by-pitch.
Earlier on Saturday, Nicaragua edged Spain 2-1 in 10 innings.
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