Jang Won-sam pitched six innings of two-run ball and Shin Myung-chul homered on an eighth-inning Grand Slam to lift South Korea’s Samsung Lions past Australia’s Perth Heat in a 10-2 final in the opener of the Asia Series at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Even though the final score might suggest a blowout win for the Lions, the Perth Heat actually played their opponents quite hard through the fifth. They trailed the favored Lions by two runs (3-1) and managed to fall within a run of the Lions with a run in the top of the sixth before giving up seven unanswered runs over the final three frames to lose by eight.
“[The Heat] actually played a very good game against us, although the final score may suggest an easy win for us; there was definitely nothing easy about the win,” Lions manager Ryu Jong-li said after the game.
Australia’s top club managed to score first against Jang after two scoreless innings with a run in the top of the third, courtesy of Allan De San Miguel’s two-out double.
The 1-0 lead for the Heat lasted less than an inning, as the Lions answered with three runs in the bottom of the same inning when Park Sok-min connected on a two-run double off Heat starter Daniel Schmidt, followed by an error by the Heat defense that led to the Lions’ third run in the inning.
The 3-1 lead stood through the fifth, until De San Miguel went deep against Jang on a solo blast to left in the sixth that made it 3-2.
The Lions got the run back in the bottom of the sixth before erupting for six hits, including Shin’s Grand Slam off Heat reliever Warwick Saupold, in a six-run eighth.
Jang was credited with the win for his six solid innings of play, while the loss went to the Heat’s Schmidt, who lasted 5-1/3 innings of play with four allowed runs, two earned, on five hits .
UNI-PRESIDENT LIONS 2, SOFTBANK HAWKS 6
Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions trailed the defending champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan, in a 6-2 game through the eighth late last night in the opener for both teams.
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. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS