Team USA Splits Two Games With Taiwan
July 27, 2001
Lakewood, NJ (www.hurricanesports.com) — – Chung Nan Tsai (1-0) tossed a complete game, four-hitter as Taiwan snapped Team USA’s 12-game winning streak, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday night at GPU Energy Park. It also ended Team USA’s 29-game consecutive winning streak over the Taiwanese National Team in games played dating back to 1990. The USA Baseball National Team (20-6-1) came back to take the nightcap, 4-3.
Kevin Howard (IF, So, Miami) had two of the four Team USA hits, including a single in the fourth that broke up Tsai’s no-hit bid, and a double in the seventh. Howard also scored Team USA’s only tally of the game, when he came around on a Ryan Hubele (DH, So, Texas) single.
The nightcap was a see-saw affair that had the Red, White and Blue taking a 1-0 lead in the third on Howard’s two-out, line drive that scored Rickie Weeks (OF, Fr, Southern). The single ran Howard’s hitting streak to a team-high 12 games in which he’s batting .500 (21-for-42).
GAME ONE: Taiwan 3, USA 1
In the opener, Taipei designated hitter Ko Fan Chen belted a three-run homer in the top of the first inning off Team USA starter Bryan Bullington (RHP, So, Ball St.), to give Taiwan all the scoring they would need. It came after two of the first three Taipei hitters singled off Bullington (2-1), but the Ball State righty settled down after giving up the Chen blast. He went all seven innings and surrendered only one more hit while striking out ten the rest of the way, but was saddled with the loss.
But Tsai (1-0) was dominant, as he went the distance and gave up just one run while fanning eight. The Americans were only able to stage a last-inning rally attempt in the seventh for their only score.
GAME TWO: USA 4, Taiwan 3
After Howard gave Team USA a 1-0 lead in the third, Taiwan stunned starter Ben Thurmond (RHP, So, Winthrop) for a pair of runs in the fifth, after the Team USA righty had cruised thru the first four frames. Ko Fan Chen scored on Chih Kang Kao’s single, and then Yang Yueh Tseng tripled home Kao to make it 2-1. Jeff Baker’s (IF, So, Clemson) rbi-single in the bottom of the fifth brought home Jeremy Reed (IF, So, Long Beach St.) and the score was tied.
Taiwan took another brief one-run lead in the top of the sixth, but Chris Snyder (C, So, Houston) led off the bottom half with a triple into the gap. Sam Fuld (OF, Fr, Stanford) followed with a clutch double that knocked Taiwanese starter Chih Chia Chang out of the game. After a sacrifice bunt got Fuld to third, he was able to plate the go-ahead run on Carlos Quentin’s (OF, Fr, Stanford) sacrifice fly, by barely sneaking around Kao’s tag attempt on the throw home.
Thurmond (4-2) threw all seven innings to notch his fourth win. Chang (0-2) took the loss.
The 2001 USA Baseball National Team Red, White and Blue Tour comes to a conclusion tomorrow with a Friday afternoon doubleheader in Trenton, New Jersey, beginning at 12:00 noon. Team USA and Taiwan play for the final time this summer, with both games again scheduled to go seven innings. Team USA’s Kiki Bengochea (RHP, So, Miami) takes the mound in Game One, followed byBobby Brownlie (RHP, So, Rutgers) in the nightcap. For a roster, statistics and boxscores of the 2001 USA Baseball National Team, go to www.usabaseball.com.
2001 USA Red, White and Blue Tour Taiwan at USA (Game 1) Jul 26, 2001 at Lakewood, NJ (GPU Energy Park)
Taiwan 3 (1-4) USA 1 (19-6-1)
AB R H RBI AB R H RBI
Wang, S.H. 2b 1 0 0 0 Reed 1b 3 0 0 0Chen, C. ph/3b 3 0 0 0 Weeks lf 3 0 0 0Chen, C.H. ss 4 1 1 0 Baker ss 3 0 0 0Chen, Y.C. lf 3 1 1 0 Howard 3b 3 1 2 0Chen, K.F. dh 2 1 1 3 Hubele dh 3 0 1 1Kao, C.K. c 3 0 0 0 Fuld cf 2 0 1 0Chang, C.M. cf 3 0 0 0 Quintanilla 2b 3 0 0 0Hsu, Y.H. 3b/2b 3 0 1 0 Herrera c 2 0 0 0Tseng, Y.Y. 1b 1 0 0 0 Quentin rf 2 0 0 0Cheng, C.H. rf 3 0 0 0 Bullington p 0 0 0 0Tsai, C.N. p 0 0 0 0
Totals…… 26 3 4 3 Totals…… 24 1 4 1
Score by innings: R H E——————————————-Taiwan 300 000 0 – 3 4 1USA 000 000 1 – 1 4 2——————————————-
E – Hsu, Y.H., Baker 2. DP – Taiwan 1. LOB – Taiwan 5, USA 3. 2B -Howard(7), Fuld(3). HR – Chen, K.F.(1). SH – Tseng, Y.Y..
IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF Fly Gnd NP
Tsai, C.N. W 1-0 7.0 4 1 1 1 8 0 0 0 0 24 25 4 7
Bullington L 2-1 7.0 4 3 3 2 10 0 0 0 0 26 29 4 7
PB – Herrera.
Strikeouts – Wang, S.H., Chen, C., Chen, C.H., Chen, Y.C. 2, Kao, C.K. 3,Chang, C.M., Tseng, Y.Y., Reed, Baker 2, Howard, Hubele, Quintanilla 2,Quentin. Walks – Chen, K.F., Tseng, Y.Y., Fuld.
Umpires – Home:Savedoff 1st:Gisondi 3rd:CatramboneStart: 6:05 pm Time: 1:32
2001 USA Red, White and Blue Tour Taiwan at USA (Game 2) Jul 26, 2001 at Lakewood, NJ (GPU Energy Park)
Taiwan 3 (1-5) USA 4 (20-6-1)
AB R H RBI AB R H RBI
Chen, C.Hg. cf 3 1 1 0 Reed 1b 4 1 2 0Chang, C.M. cf 0 0 0 0 Weeks lf 3 1 1 0Chen, C.H. ss 3 0 0 0 Baker ss 3 0 1 1Chen, Y.C. lf 3 0 1 1 Howard 3b 2 0 1 1Chen, K.F. dh 3 1 1 0 Snyder c 3 1 1 0Hsu, Y.H. 2b 0 0 0 0 Fuld cf 3 1 1 1Tseng, C.H. 2b 2 0 0 0 Hubele dh 2 0 0 0Huang, W.L. ph 1 0 0 0 Quintanilla 2b 2 0 0 0Wang, S.H. 2b 0 0 0 0 Quentin rf 2 0 0 1Kao, C.K. c 3 1 1 1 Thurmond p 0 0 0 0Cheng, C.H. rf 3 0 0 0Tseng, Y.Y. 1b 3 0 2 1Chen, C. 3b 2 0 0 0Chang, C.C. p 0 0 0 0Yang, C.F. p 0 0 0 0
Totals…… 26 3 6 3 Totals…… 24 4 7 4
Score by innings: R H E——————————————-Taiwan 000 021 0 – 3 6 0USA 001 012 – 4 7 0——————————————-
DP – USA 1. LOB – Taiwan 2, USA 6. 2B – Chen, K.F., Fuld(3). 3B – Chen,C.Hg., Tseng, Y.Y., Snyder(1). SH – Hubele. SF – Quentin. SB – Reed(9),Weeks(8).
IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF Fly Gnd NP
Chang, C.C. L 0-2 5.0 7 4 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 22 24 6 7Yang, C.F. 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 0
Thurmond W 4-2 7.0 6 3 3 0 7 0 0 0 0 26 26 7 6
WP – Chang, C.C..
Strikeouts – Chen, C.Hg., Chen, K.F., Huang, W.L., Kao, C.K. 2, Tseng,Y.Y., Chen, C., Reed, Snyder, Hubele, Quintanilla. Walks – Howard,Quintanilla.
Umpires – Home:Gisondi 1st:Catrambone 3rd:SavedoffStart: 8:15 pm Time: 2:03 Attendance: 2414Chang, C.C. faced 2 batters in the 6th.
