CT Junior NT Evokes Mercy Rule....

Amateur
Taiwan beat an overmatched Italian team 17-1 in 7 innings. The game was pretty much over in the 3rd inning, when Taiwan would score 7 runs in the inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead. Three Taiwanese pitchers combined to give up 4 hits and an unearned run. Chih-Lung Huang started the game, went 3 innings giving up 2 hits and an unearned run to go along with 4 K's and a walk. Reliever Hung-Cheng Lai pitched the next 2 scoreless innings. He K'd 2 and and allowed 2 hits. Yu-Hsun Chen succeeded Lai and was credited with the win, when he threw 2 scoreless/hitless innings, K'ing 5 and walking one. Just about everyone in the lineup got in on the hitting parade (14 hits). The kid who carried the ball club offensively was 3B Wei-Chih Chen who was 2-4, with a double, 3 runs scored, and 5 runs batted in. With the win, Taiwan is now in a 3 way tie with Canada and Mexico for first place in the group with a 2-0 record. Taiwan plays 0-2 Spain tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, the other 0-2 team in Taiwan's group play is the USA. The US struggled in it's second game versus Mexico.

Minors
J from MarinerMinors has brought to my attention that the Mariners have traded catcher Chao-Kuan Wu to the Cleveland Indians for future considerations. Wu has been a huge disappointment since his arrival 4 years ago. However, I can think of one good reason why the Indians wanted Wu: Sung-Wei Tseng
These 2 will probably end up being teammates next season on one of the Indians' "A" level affiliates.

Majors
It's early, but Kuo is up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning against the Pirates.

An interesting article on how Wang matches up with the other AL playoff contenders.

Breaking News....Taiwan Beats the USA!!!

In Cuba, Taiwan's junior NT pulled the early upset of the tourney by beating team USA 4-1 today in the World Junior Baseball Championships! Both teams managed 8 hits, but 4 errors cost team USA as all 4 runs scored against starter Blake Beavan and reliever Tim Alderson were unearned. For Taiwan, Kai-Wen Cheng earned the victory as he came on in the 5th inning, relieving starter Chun-Hsiu Chen. Chen pitched well, lasting 4.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 1 run, to go along with 2 walks and 1 K. Cheng then blanked team USA the rest of the way, giving up 6 hits. As for Taiwan's hitters: SS Yen-Wen Kuo was 2-4 with a double and a RBI, 3B Wei-Chih Chen was 2-4 with 2 runs scored, and pinch hitter Chen-Yu Hung was clutch as he was 2-2 with a RBI. This is Taiwan's first win against the USA junior NT since the 2002 World Junior Baseball Championships! Taiwan plays Italy tomorrow. What a great way to start off the tourney!!!!!