By Jason Pan, in Chinese Taipei
For the opening game of the Thunder Series, Chinese Taipei got good pitching and defense to edge the Cuba national team 2-1 at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium on Saturday.
It was a closely fought contest throughout, with the outcome could have gone either way.
Cuba had an excellent chance to break the game open in the top of 2nd inning, when they had bases loaded. However, second baseman Juan Torriente flied out to end the potential rally.
With the momentum shifting to the hosts in the bottom of 2nd, Chinese Taipei opened the account on 4 hits to score 2 runs, both charged to the Cuban starting pitcher Yadier Pedroso.
In the 4th frame, Cuban outfielder Alfredo Despaigne led off with a double, and he later scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by veteran catcher Ariel Pestano to make it 2-1 at that point.
The visitors had some good chances to equalize, but just could not capitalize with a clutch hit.
In their final turn at bat in the top of 9th inning, the Cubans had a great opportunity to level it up, having men on first and second bases with only one out.
Then pinch hitter Michel Enrique smacked a high fly that looked a hit, unfortunately it was caught by outfielder Kao Kuo-Hui, who made the throw to second to double up on the Cuban runner who took off for home.
That double-play turned by Kao snuff out the threat, and end the game at 2-1, as the home crowd of 6,727 cheered wildly to celebrate the victory for Chinese Taipei national team.
Chinese Taipei used 8 pitchers through this game, with each holding their own to neutralize the opposition’s firepower hitting. For the game, the Cubans came away with 6 hits, while also 9 strikeouts, and 5 walks.
For the home side, the Chinese Taipei batters had 7 hits, to go with 5 strikeouts, and 4 walks.
After the game, Cuba manager Victor Mesa said, “Our players are suffering from to the jet lag. We travel a long way here, and it is difficult to adjust to the time difference. This factor is always hard to control. So for this defeat, I will not blame too much on our players.”
It was a satisfactory performance for Chinese Taipei manager Hsieh Chang-Heng, “Our pitchers have done well in this game, they are getting into the right conditioning for the games. I’m also happy with our defense, the y did a great job tonight. After getting this win, I can say our team is well-prepared for the upcoming international games,” as he commented in the post-game interview.
