It will go down as one of the most memorable World Baseball Classic games in Tokyo Dome’s storied history. Chinese Taipei – which had never defeated Korea in the tournament before – needed a victory to keep its slim hopes of advancing alive. With a win, Korea would set up a win-and-advance contest on Monday vs. Australia if the Aussies lost to Japan in the nightcap.
More than 40,000 fans – mostly from Taiwan – filled Tokyo Dome at noon on Sunday as Chinese Taipei’s cheerleaders danced atop the dugouts and its band blasted music and led chants. Fans were then treated to a dinger-filled, heavyweight spectacle, with Chinese Taipei emerging with an incredible 5-4 victory, the players walking off the field as tears streamed down their faces.
“I think today the Tokyo Dome became our home stadium,” team captain Chieh-Hsien Chen said.
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For Chinese Taipei, who started this tournament 0-2, there is still a chance to advance beyond the group stage for only the second time in tournament history.
“I'll start by saying that was one of the most fun ballgames I've ever played in my life,” Stuart Fairchild, whose two-run home run proved crucial in the victory, said. “It was back and forth the entire way, went into extra innings, and then to come through at the end, and win by one, was remarkable.”
After the teams exchanged home run after home run, it was a sacrifice bunt that went all of two feet that decided things.
Kun-Yu Chiang’s bunt down the first-base line plated Chen from third in the top of the 10th. The MVP of the 2024 Premier12 – the biggest victory in Chinese Taipei’s history and its first gold – hadn’t played since being hit in the hand by a pitch in the first game of the tournament.
“I am thankful to all of my teammates, coaches and head coach,” Chen said. “Since I got injured, I missed the opportunity to play, but from the bottom of the heart, I was willing us to win, and I expected all of my teammates to do their best. Our fans supported us very deeply. After we won, tears came out from my eyes. We never gave up and neither did the fans.”
“At the end of the game, we played as one united, and finally we got the win,” Chinese Taipei manager Hao-Jiu Tseng said.
Chinese Taipei then stifled Korea in the bottom half of the 10th – but not before an out at the plate that prevented the tying run. First baseman Nien-Ting Wu fielded a grounder and threw home to Shao-Hung Chiang to nail Ju Won Kim trying to tie the game. The play was challenged but the original out call was upheld.
“It was a must-win game, and we couldn't,” Korea manager Ji-Hyun Ryu said. “But we still have a slight possibility [to advance], so we’ll go back to the hotel and get ready for tomorrow.”
Hyun Jin Ryu started the game for Korea, making his first appearance for the national team since winning the country an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and helping Korea get to the World Baseball Classic finals in 2009. The 38-year-old veteran was solid in three innings of work save for one pitch that Yu Chang smashed for a solo home run in the first inning.
But Chinese Taipei starter and Nippon-Ham Fighter pitcher Ruey-Guei Gu Lin nearly matched him, tossing four innings, the only run charged to him coming on a double-play ground ball hit by the Astros’ Shay Whitcomb in the fifth.
After that, the game went bonkers.
Red Sox prospect Tsung-Che Cheng smashed a solo shot to left-center in the sixth to give Chinese Taipei the lead. Do-Yeong Kim, who was the youngest player to ever go 30/30 in the KBO in 2024, then smashed a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning – hurling his bat into the air as he left the box – to knot the game back up at 3.
“The environment is something special,” Cheng said before the game. “All the fans who flew from Chinese Taipei are spoiling us and that gives me extra energy. I always have fun playing for them and we never give up no matter the result.”
Fairchild, whose grand slam on Saturday sank the Czechs, responded in the top of the eighth with his two-run shot to give Chinese Taipei the lead once again. The volume in the stadium ratcheted up another notch as the fans who made the three-hour flight from Taiwan thought a victory might be within reach.
“In my experience in the Major Leagues, we play in front of big crowds, a lot of people, a lot of fans, who care deeply about their teams,” Fairchild said. “What makes this tournament different is it feels like there's a completely different level of passion with players playing for their home countries. It's a four-game tournament in the first round, as opposed to a 162-game season. So it feels like the fans are in on every single pitch. They're living and dying with us as we as we go through the game.”
Kim, up again in the bottom half of the eighth, punched back. He laced a double to the right-center-field gap, driving in Hyeseong Kim to tie the game once again before the game went to extras and Chinese Taipei emerged with its first ever WBC victory against Korea.
Regardless of what happens next – whether potential tiebreakers will allow Chinese Taipei to advance – a step forward has been made by the Chinese Taipei team.
“I've been watching the World Baseball Classic tournament since I was a kid, and so I know we never defeated Korea” Chen said. “But now in this tournament, I'm part of the Chinese Taipei team, so I have a responsibility to beat them up. We have power. We have a strength, and we have luck, as well. Put them all together and we won, finally, for the younger generation, I think what we did today showed the possibility for the future.”