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.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS