For the first three innings, Chinese Taipei couldn't break away from the Bahamas. Big fourth, fifth and sixth innings solved the problem.
Saturday afternoon at Citizen Field, Chinese Taipei defeated the Bahamas 16-1 in the opening game of the World Baseball Challenge. Chinese Taipei led just 2-0 after three innings but scored three runs in the fourth inning, five in the fifth and six in the sixth on the way to the win. The game was shortened to seven innings by the mercy rule.
Chinese Taipei outhit the Bahamas 10-4.
Winning pitcher Po Kai Lai went five innings on the mound for Chinese Taipei and surrendered just one hit. Ronald Pena, who threw into the fourth inning for the Bahamas, took the loss.
The Bahamas will face Canada at 3 p.m. on Sunday, while Chinese Taipei will play Cuba at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday night, pre-tournament favourites Cuba and Japan collided. See pgcitizen.ca and Monday's Citizen for details.
