Chinese Taipei Team's Seven-Pitcher Rotation Overpowers Opponent, Defeats SoftBank Hawks 2nd Team 5-1 in Warm-up Game

In the sole exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic main event, Chinese Taipei Team rotated seven pitchers who collectively suppressed the SoftBank Hawks 2nd Team's offense, leading to a 5-1 win. Stuart Fairchild, batting first, reached base safely in all four of his at-bats with two hits and a walk, achieving a 100% on-base rate.

Starting pitcher Zhang Junwei, who is from the SoftBank Hawks organization, faced his own team today. He pitched one inning, allowing one hit and striking out two without conceding any runs. The following pitchers—Hu Zhiwei, Zhang Yi, Lin Shixiang, Chen Guanyu, Lin Kaiwei, and Zeng Junyue—each threw one inning. Together, the seven pitchers gave up only four hits and struck out eight batters, keeping the opponent scoreless. In the eighth and ninth innings, three pitchers from the Japanese independent leagues took over, with one run allowed in the eighth. None of the overseas-based pitchers participated in today's game.

Offensively, Chinese Taipei Team recorded nine hits, with lead-off hitter Fairchild and fifth batter Lin Anke each contributing two hits. The team scored three runs in the second inning and added two more in the seventh. Cleanup hitter Zhang Yucheng went hitless in four at-bats, while seventh batter Zheng Zongzhe also failed to get a hit in four at-bats and struck out three times.

In the later innings, Chinese Taipei Team made defensive adjustments, including moving third baseman Wu Nianting to first base and shifting first baseman Zhang Yucheng to third base. Giljegiljaw Kung also entered the game later to play first base.

After completing this warm-up game, Chinese Taipei Team immediately boarded a flight departing after 7 p.m. for Tokyo, where they will hold a training session at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow at 11 a.m.