Chinese Taipei 002 030 000 5 10 1 Netherlands 010 300 011 6 13 0
The Netherlands walked off 6-5 against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. With their second win in the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, the Dutch team lifted itself and Israel into the second round. The Dutch embassy to Japan in Tokyo congratulated the Netherlands team shortly after the win.
They will face the top two teams from the Tokyo Dome pool in the next phase. Israel had defeated Korea and Chinese Taipei on Monday and Tuesday, the Netherlands on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow both teams will meet in the game for the number one seed.
A bases loaded walk by Jurickson Profar pushed Dwayne Kemp over the plate for the tie-breaking sixth run in the bottom of the ninth. One inning earlier Didi Gregorius had doubled down the line to drive in Xander Bogaerts to tie the game.
It was a back and forth battle between two teams at one level. After the Dutch lead through a RBI single by Dashenko Ricardo in the second, Chinese Taipei used a wild pitch by Jair Jurrjens to even the game in the third and went ahead thanks to a sac fly by Chih-Sheng Lin in the same frame.
In the fourth Gregorius turned the game around with a two-run double. Shortly after he raced home on a single by Ricardo to give the Netherlands a 4-2 advantage. But it was not enough to keep that lead through the remainder of the game. Chih-Hao Chang tied the game for Chinese Taipei with a two-run home run in the fifth. A RBI fielder’s choice by Yi-Chuan Lin even gave them a 5-4 lead. Nonetheless in the end the Netherlands celebrated their victory.
Gregorius finished the game with three doubles and three RBI. Wladimir Balentien went 4-for-4. Jurrijens issued three hits, two runs and three base on balls in three innings. Lars Huijer then gave up three runs on five hits in the next two periods. Mike Bolsenbroek and Shairon Martis followed with four combined scoreless innings to keep the Dutch team in the game. Martis earned the win. Hung-Wen Chen got charged with the loss.