Premier12 Super Round: Venezuela beat Chinese Taipei
Venezuela opened the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS iSuper Round defeating Chinese Taipei, 2-0, at the Tokyo Dome.
The night game will be the international baseball classic between the hosts and No. 1 Japan and No. 5 USA:
The live blog as it happened
Starting pitchers Nivaldo Rodriguez and Tsu-Peng Huang worked three scoreless innings.
Venezuela took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ramon Flores reached on a one-out single after an eight-pitch duel. Catcher Carlos Perez turned Huang's first offering into a two-run homer to left field.
Chinese Taipei wasted a scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth. Right-hander Ricardo Rodriguez replaced Nivaldo Rodriguez. Shortstop Kun-Yu Chiang got Chinese Taipei's first hit against the reliever, reaching on a one-out single. Rodriguez walked the next batter and Venezuela handed the ball to left-hander Liarvis Breto..
Second baseman Tung-Hua Yueh loaded the bases with a single. Breto fell in the count 3-0 but got Chen-Wei Chen looking at a 92 mph fastball for the second out. It would be his last pitch. Venezuela's manager, Omar Lopez, called right-hander Pedro Garcia from the bullpen to get the third out.
Huang allowed a two-out single to Diego Castillo and left for left-hander Chih-Hsuan Wang, who ended the inning retiring leadoff hitter Alexi Amarista on a fly to right field.
Left-hander José Alvarez took the mound for Venezuela in the top of the sixth.
Right-hander Anthony Vizcaya took the mound for Venezuela to face pinch-hitter Kungkuan Giljegilaw with two outs and a runner at first in the top of the seventh.
Yi Chang worked the bottom of the sixth for Chinese Taipei and got one out in the seventh, showcasing a nasty 85 mph splitter. Third baseman Jermaine Palacios welcomed right-hander En Sih Huang with a single to centre field. The reliever got the first out when he picked off Palacios at first.
Left-hander Oddonier Mosqueda faced Chinese Taipei batters in the eighth.
David Rodriguez reached on a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth, and Venezuela bunted him to second. Right-hander Hsin Yen Chuang took over for En-Sih Huang and closed the inning.
Pinch-hitter Pei Fong Dai entered the game with one out and the bases empty in the top of the ninth. He grounded to second and became the second out. He was the last batter faced by Mosqueda. Enderson Franco struck out Chia-Cheng Lin to end the game.
Key News
- Group B - Day 6: Japan, Chinese Taipei, Korea close with wins
- Group B - Day 5: Japan and Chinese Taipei beat Cuba and Australia; join Venezuela and USA in Super Round
- Group B - Day 4: Japan beat Chinese Taipei to go top; Korea come back over Dominican Republic; Cuba pip Australia
- Group B - Day 3: Japan too good for Korea; Australia beat Dominican Republic
- Group B - Day 2: Chinese Taipei claim second win, Korea beat Cuba
- Group B - Day 1: Japan, Dominican Republic, Chinese Taipei claim opening victories
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Group B to open on 13 November in Nagoya and Taipei
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Preview: 12 teams chase international baseball glory
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Tournament Programme and Media Guide available to download
- WBSC Premier12 2024 - By The Numbers
Key links
- Tournament Website
- Schedule/Results/Live Scoring
- Where to Watch
- Live clips on X
- Videos
- Photos
- WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking