Taiwan baseballers overpower Guam for opening win at East Asian Games

 
Tianjin, Oct. 6 (CNA) Taiwan routed Guam Sunday, finishing 15-0 ahead of time in the first men's baseball match of the East Asian Games in Tianjin, China.


Propelled by strong firepower, Taiwan scored 13 hits and 15 runs over six innings. That and starter Yang Chih-lung's success in shutting down Guam batters gave Taiwan an easy win and an early finish.

During his five innings as pitcher, Yang accumulated 10 strikeouts and no runs despite giving away three hits.

Taiwan's offenses in the first two innings were muffled by an inability to get on top of the relatively slow pitches that maxed out at 120 kilometers per hour, leaving the team with only one run on two hits in the first inning.

The breakthrough came after Taiwanese players adapted in the bottom third, making 7 runs in rapid-fire succession in the half inning.

Chang Chin-de, who contributed to two hits, said after the game that focusing on every single swing helped.

Taiwanese kept up the momentum for the remainder of the game, scoring 3 runs in the fifth and 4 more in the sixth to earn an early close to the game before the seventh.

Taiwan will face off against Hong Kong Monday. China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Macau and Mongolia are also participating in the game.

The 6th East Asian Games opened Sunday and will run through Oct. 15.