GW Clutch HR!Facing elimination from the Intercontinental Cup, the Taiwanese NT dug deep and managed to defeat the Cuban NT 4-3 despite being outhit 10-4. With Cuba up 2-o in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Taiwan would go on to score 4 times in the 3rd inning. Taiwan would score after Chung-Shou Yang and Chien-Ming Chang reached base to start the inning. Chih-Yao Chan drove in Taiwan's first run with a single. A balk by the Cuban pitcher would score Taiwan's second run. Finally, with Chan on base, Tai-Shan Chang came through with a huge hit - a 2-run bomb that would put Taiwan up 4-2. Cuba would score another run in the 6th, but the relief work of Sung-Wei Tseng and Po-Hsuan Keng was phenomenal as they limited the Cubans to 1 run on 4 hits over the last 6.1 innings. Starter Cheng-Lung Lo pitched 2.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits.
With the victory - combined with Australia's loss, Taiwan advances to the semifinals as the #4 seed. Taiwan will face Cuba again in the second semifinal on Saturday. The other 2 top seeds are #2 Japan and #3 the Netherlands. So far, it's been a great run for the NT - beating the Cuban NT is no small feat. This same Cuban team lost to Japan in the WBC finals and is loaded with star talent - including stud Yulieski Gourriel.
*Edited/Updated
Other News:
Chien-Ming Wang threw out the first pitch today prior to Taiwan's match versus Cuba. Wang was also the runner-up to Johan Santana in the AL Cy Young race. Despite a fabulous second season by Wang, Johan Santana deservedly won his second Cy Young award. Santana led the AL in almost all vital pitching categories. Congrats to Santana and Wang on tremendous seasons!
9 comments:
I heard the Taiwanese mafia bribed the Cubans, even some fans in Taiwan feels the same way because that one inning was just bizarre.
I hope this is just something the media made up, we'll see if we can beat the Cubans again or not.
I uploaded the movie of the 2nd and 3rd inning to:
http://www.taiwaneseballplayers.com/
hey guys. well the story behind this mafia business was that the the police got leads that they were going to attempt to threaten or bribe the cuban nt to lose the game.
apparently the cubans didnt even know about this so i guess nothing happened.
at least i hope so.
From my experience during the World Cup, the players of Cuba are very hard to be reached.
As they are afraid of scouts or other representatives of the MLB.
The second run was scored on a balk, not a wild pitch. It was fun watching the Korean umpire explaining the call to the Cuban manager using hand gestures.
Much thanks for the upload Cor. I really apreciate it.
well we already beat them once in preliminaries. Anyway, was that Cuban NT really the same one that played in the WBC? If so, i guess i really underestimated our NT. Great Job! Any news on Chin Hui Tsao -- Hows his arm injury? can he keep playing?
One of the WBC star is Ariel Pestano, who can be seem pissed at his pitcher unable to locate his pitches.
Another star on the Cuban team is their closer Lazo.
Thanks for the correction Coug.
Cor, thanks for sharing that vid. Sweetness! I'll be sure to pass that along on the main page.
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