Chinese Taipei pitchers strikeout 12 in triumph over Japan

World no. 2 Chinese Taipei prevailed over World No. 1 Japan 3-1, as their pitchers carried the team to keep their winning streak in Group A of the IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup.

Starting pitcher Chen-Wei Lin and relievers sin-Yin Chuang and Zhong-Ao Zhuang Chen, combined for 12 strikeouts that delighted the crowd at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on Sunday.

Japan’s starter Raiku Katayama allowed a walk in the first, leading to Chinese Taipei’s first run by Teng-Yu Wang on an error. Later, Song-En Tseng doubled to right-center, sending Chen-Tso Tseng to home plate.

Japan got their first point on the scoreboard in the second inning as Ryuji Maruyama scored off Ren Onishi's double to left centre field. With Lin pitching for Chinese Taipei, he fired a 157 kilometre per hour fastball to strikeout Hiroki Nakagawa to close the second inning with a lead of 2-1 in favour of the hosts.

Japan could not create scoring opportunities and in the bottom of the fourth, Chinese Taipei gave the ball to Chuang, who continued the pitchers' dominance as he struck out five in two innings.

Chinese Taipei's timing was impeccable with a runner in scoring position in the sixth. Song-En Tseng had another BI hit, singling through the right side, allowing Chen-Tso Tseng to score his second run.

Chinese Taipei’s closer Zhuang Chen took the mound for the last two frames and used four strike outs to end the game.

Chinese Taipei now lead Group A with a 3-0 record. They will face South Africa at 19.00 local time on Monday, while Japan will play Colombia at 14.30.