Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Yu Chang (張育成) smashed a grand slam and Wu Che-yuan pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings to help Taiwan stun the Netherlands 9-5 on Saturday and leave it one game away from qualifying for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals.
Chang, a Boston Red Sox infielder, sent the 20,000 fans at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium into a frenzy when he launched a shot over the center field fence with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second to give Taiwan a 5-1 lead.
The home run brought belief and energy to a team that needed to win to stay alive in the WBC, and the fans, desperate for another victory after an emotional 11-7 win over Italy paced by Chang the night before, erupted in celebration and screamed and chanted Chang's Chinese name "Chang Yu-cheng."
Starter Huang Tzu-peng was shaky in 2 2/3 innings but only allowed two runs, and Wu went the next 4 1/3 innings, giving up no runs, a hit and two walks while striking out four, a bright spot for a pitching staff that has struggled at best.
The win left Taiwan tied with the Netherlands at the top of the WBC's Pool A with a 2-1 record, while Panama was 2-2 and Cuba and Italy were 1-2. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the next round.
The pool stage ends Sunday with Taiwan facing Cuba and Italy going against the Netherlands.
If Taiwan wins its game that starts at noon, it will advance to the WBC quarterfinals in Tokyo, but if it loses to Cuba it will almost certainly be eliminated because the first WBC tiebreaker is fewest runs allowed, and Taiwan has allowed the most runs in Pool A play so far.
The Netherlands, with a lineup full of current and former major leaguers, had Huang on the ropes early.
But the Taiwanese sidewinder allowed only one run in the first after first baseman and former New York Yankee Didi Gregorius singled to the opposite field to bring home left fielder Jurickson Profar.
Taiwan answered in the bottom of the second when designated hitter Lin Li (林立) singled on a line drive to center field to score left fielder Wang Po-jung (王柏融) and tie the game.
Chang's two-out grand slam later in the inning gave Taiwan a much-needed cushion, but in the top of the third, a ground out by Gregorious scored center fielder Roger Bernadina to pull their team to within 5-2.
Taiwan responded in the bottom of the inning on a Chiang Kun-yu sacrifice fly that scored catcher Kungkuan Giljegiljaw and a gorgeous drag bunt base hit down the first-base line by Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) that sent Chen Chieh-hsien (鄭宗哲) home to put Taiwan ahead 7-2.
The home team added another run in the bottom of the fourth and take an 8-2 lead when catcher Kungkuan Giljegiljaw came around to score on a Chen triple.
The game, which started with such a bang, then fell into a lull over the next few innings, before the Netherlands scored two in the eighth on RBI singles by Juremi Profar and pinch hitter Wladimir Balentien to put some pressure on Taiwan.
But it would not be enough as an RBI single by Lin in the bottom of the inning was simply offset by a one out solo homer by center fielder Ray-Patrick Didder in the top of inning.
Entering the tournament, baseball pundits saw Taiwan (formally named Chinese Taipei) as one of the weakest teams in a qualifying group that also features Cuba, Panama and the Netherlands, though oddsmakers saw it more favorably.
The pundits appeared right after Taiwan opened the WBC with a 12-5 pounding at the hands of Panama. But just less than a week later, this improbable club without some of the big names of the past sits just one win away from advancing in the WBC.
