China – Netherlands 4-6
NED 000 150 000 6 9 1 CHN 001 010 011 4 11 1
The drought is over. The Netherlands scored their first runs of the Olympics and also won their first game in Beijing, using a five-run fifth to defeat host China.
The home team had the better start into the match, taking a 1-0 lead in the third on a RBI single by Fenglian Hou. But Holland answered right away with Sharnol Adriana’s leadoff homerun in the fourth to even the score. It was the first run for the Dutch at the Olympics after 29 unsuccessful innings.
One frame later they decided the outcome through back-to-back homeruns by Sidney De Jong (3 RBI) and Bryan Engelhardt, taking a 6-1 lead. China tried to rally afterwards, getting runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth. They loaded the bases with one out in the last period, but only got one run in, when Yubing Jia struck out and Chao Wang flied out to end the threat and the game.
Leon Boyd (W 1-0) started for the first time after a brief relief appearance a few days ago. He allowed six hits, two runs and a walk in six innings. David Bergman relieved Rob Cordemans in the ninth and got the last two outs to pick up the save. Weiliang Li (CHN) gave up three hits, a run and a base on balls in four innings. Guogiang Sun (L 0-1) took the loss.
