2019 WBSC Premier12: Taiwan 7 – Korea 0

With the ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics up for grab, this Taiwan-Korea game was perhaps one of the most important games for both countries in this 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament.

After a few games of silence, on November 12, Team Taiwan’s hitters finally woke up with a 7-0 shutout win against Korea in the Super Round. Chang Yi tossed 6.2 scoreless innings while Chen Chun-Hsiu went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run. [Box Score]

Notes: 2019 Premier12 also served as the Olympics qualifier, three nations, Taiwan, Korea and Australia, are competing for one spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Taiwanese Hitters Lit up KBO Ace

Facing Korean veteran left-hander Kim Kwang-Hyun who won 17 games and posted an outstanding 2.51 ERA across 190.1 innings in 2019 KBO season, the Taiwanese lineup managed to knock Kim off early. Kim who is likely to get posted to the MLB during the offseason lasted only 3.1 innings while gave up three earned runs on eight hits.

The Taiwanese lineup started the game strong in the first inning managed to get two runners on bases via two singles. However, both runners were left stranded.

Top of the second, Team Taiwan had another shot to score against Kim, and this time, they took advantage of the opportunity. Wang Wei-Chen lined a single up the middle, and Kao Yu-Chieh sent him home with an RBI double to deep left centre. Team captain Hu Chin-Lung then drove in Kao with a single to the left to make it a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Taiwan added another run to the scoreboard with a lead-off single, bunt and another single by Wang Sheng-Wei to make it 3-0.

The score remained 3-0 until the top of the seventh. Team Korea’s reliever issued two walks, and Chen Chun-Hsiu blew the game wide open with a three-run home run to deep left centre. Team Taiwan added another insurance run in the top of the ninth to make it a comfortable 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.

Chang Yi Pitched 6.2 Scoreless Innings

Making his second starts in the Premier12 Tournament, 25-year-old right-hander 張奕 (Chang Yi) stepped up and limited the Korean lineup to four scatter hits across 6.2 scoreless innings. It is worth noting, Chang who used to be an outfielder and was converted to pitcher merely 17 months ago.

Relievers Chen Kuan-Yu and Chen Hung-Wen pitched a combined 2.1 scoreless innings of work with four strikeouts to secured Taiwan’s 7-0 shutout win against regional rival Korea.

Team Taiwan will face Team USA and Australia for the remaining two games of the Super Round on November 15-16.

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