《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan beat Italy 11-7 in WBC Pool A thriller

By Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan scored a 11-7 victory over Italy at World Baseball Classic Pool A battle last night at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.

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The hosts got on board first in the opening frame, when, facing Italy starting pitcher Ryan Castellani, former Boston Red Sox player Lin Tzu-wei （林子偉） belted a shot over the right-field wall for a solo homer.

Italy then got consecutive hits against Taiwan starter Chiang Shao-ching （江少慶） to put men at the corners. Managed by MLB Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, Italy put on a squeeze bunt by Nicky Lopez, pushing home the runner from third base.

The next batter, Ben DeLuzio, ripped one to deep left field for a triple to drive in another run as Italy went 2-1 ahead.

Taiwan replied on a hit by Cheng Tsung-che （鄭宗哲）, who stroked an RBI single to knock in a runner, leveling the score.

Due to pitch count limitations, both teams replaced their starters in the third, Chiang giving way to lefty Wang Wei-chung （王維中） and Castellani replaced by Joe Biagini, the former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher.

Taiwan batters turned on the heat to rattle four hits off Biagini, chalking up two runs, and added another against the next pitcher, Stephen Woods Jr, to go up 5-2.

Then Wang ran into trouble as Italy rallied on RBI hits by Lopez, Miles Mastrobuoni and Sal Frelik to grab a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning.

Italy’s standout player in the game, Lopez got his third RBI of the game against Taiwan’s fourth pitcher, Chen Yu-hsun （陳禹勳）, padding the lead at 7-5 in the fifth.

Yu Chang （張育成） smashed a two-run homer in the next at-bat to draw even at 7-7 in the sixth inning.

In the earlier game at the Taichung stadium in Pool A, Cuba routed Panama 13-4.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES