After his flyout is called back due to time being called, Jurickson Profar walks with the bases loaded for a walk-off Netherlands victory
By Oliver Macklin (MLB.com)
KOREA–Curaçao centre fielder Jurickson Profar drew a bases-loaded walk to help the Kingdom of the Netherlands complete a late-game comeback and punch a ticket to the second round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) with a 6-5 win over Chinese Taipei at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Wednesday.
Earlier in the at-bat, Profar popped up to shallow right field and it appeared as if the Netherlands had hit into its first out of the inning. However, third-base umpire Chikara Tsugawa ruled that time had been called prior to the pitch from Hung-Wen Chen. The at-bat continued, and Profar took ball four to plate the winning run.
The victory sends the Netherlands and Israel, which also won its first two games, to the round-robin portion of the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo.
Designated hitter Didi Gregorius contributed three doubles, including the game-tying hit in the eighth inning to power the Netherlands’ offense. The Yankees’ shortstop accounted for each of the first five Netherlands runs.
Chinese Taipei took the lead temporarily on a fielder’s-choice groundout from Yi-Chuan Lin following Chih-Hao Chang’s two-run home run to cap off a three-run fifth inning. The Taiwanese bullpen was unable to hold the lead as the Netherlands scraped across two runs in the final two innings.
Gregorius provided the offense for the Netherlands. The Yankees’ shortstop doubled and scored the first Dutch run in the second inning and followed it up with a two-bagger with two men on in the fourth to give his team the lead. But he was not done yet. Gregorius saved his best for last, slapping another double to left in the eighth to tie the game at 5.
With Chinese Taipei trailing, 4-2, and a runner on-base in the fifth inning, Chang sent a towering drive into the right-field seats to tie the score. The pitch from Dutch right-hander Lars Huijer was out of the strike zone, but Chang dropped his bat head and connected, sending the crowd into a frenzy with a majestic blast.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/64172-dutch-walk-off-vs-taipei-advance-to-round-2
View comments
Hide comments