TAICHUNG, Taiwan | With more than 11,000 fans pouring into Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, Chinese Taipei defeated Puerto Rico, 6-1, to win the opening game of the tournament. Chinese Taipei infielder Lin Li’s 2-run homerun highlighted Chinese Taipei’s offense for the night, while Puerto Rico’s four errors proved to be costly in tonight’s loss.
Chinese Taipei starter Chiang, Shao-Ching pitched six strong innings and faced minimum of twelve batters in the first four innings. Chiang gave up just one run with five strikeouts to earn the victory. Puerto Rico starter Fernando Cruz allowed only two hits in four innings of work but surrendered a two-run homerun to Lin Li in the first inning.
Chinese Taipei quickly got on the scoreboard on the bottom of the first. With first batter reached on error, Lin Li hit an opposite side homerun to the right to give Chinese Taipei a 2-0 lead. Fernando Cruz ended up facing eight batters in the first inning but then settled in the following three frames, facing only the minimum of nine batters.
On the top of the fifth Jeffrey Dominguez ended Puerto Rico’s hitless night with a double and later scored the lone run on Jesmuel Valentin’s single. With the lead cut to one run, Chinese Taipei answered quickly on the bottom of the fifth by scoring three more runs on two hits and an error to lead 5-1. Chinese Taipei added another run on the expense of Puerto Rico’s two errors in the sixth and maintain the 6-1 lead to finish the game.
Chinese Taipei will face Venezuela at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, while Puerto Rico will play Japan in Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium.
QUOTES FROM POST-GAME PRESSER
Puerto Rico manger Juan Gonzalez:
“Errors are part of the game, and that resulted us giving up four, five runs.”
“Tomorrow is a new day; we’ll do some changes on the lineup. We stay positive.”
Chinese Taipei manager I-Chung Hong:
“When our pitchers can have steadily performance, our offense can do their job.”
“In this kind of tournament, you’ve gotta seize the opportunity when you are given the chance.”
