Three out of four Asian teams got victories on Thursday at the World Cup of Baseball in Taipei. The day started with another shutout for South Korea, who defeated favourite Venezuela. They showed another strong outing on the mound and climbing the ladder in the power rankings of the tournament. The host of the event, Chinese Taipei, won their opening match easily against South Africa. They are looking into a successful future. The bunch of Japanese young guns continued their hot hitting against Mexico. They now have scored 26 runs in just two games.
It was a mixed day for the European teams. Italy (11-1 vs. Spain) and Germany (3-7 vs. Cuba) surprised with strong performances. However, the Spanish team suffered their second loss. And than there was the Netherlands vs. Australia game. The Dutch took a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning, but could not finish the upset. Both teams now have one win and a loss in the standings and everything is still possible. Nevertheless, two victories would be better.
The most interesting games on Friday are between Italy and the USA in addition to the Asian duel between Chinese Taipei and Japan in pool A. Germany faces the Netherlands in group B to continue their rivalry.
Schedule for Friday:
(All listed times are local)
Group A:
12:00 Spain (0-2) – South Africa (0-2)
12:00 Italy (1-0) – USA (2-0)
18:00 Chinese Taipei (1-0) – Japan (2-0)
18:00 Panama (1-1) – Mexico (0-2)
Group B:
12:00 Korea (2-0) – Thailand (0-2)
12:00 Australia (1-1) – Venezuela (1-1)
18:00 Cuba (2-0) – Canada (1-1)
18:00 Netherlands (1-1) – Germany (0-2)