HAARLEM, NETHERLANDS — Chinese Taipei answered a bad day with a near-perfect one.
Yu Tsung-Ju spun a complete-game shutout, the lineup poured it on late, and Taipei steamrolled the International Globetrotters 10-0 in seven innings at Pim Mulier Stadion on Tuesday — a bounce-back that buried the sting of the previous day’s 1-0 loss to Czechia. Taipei climbs to 2-2 at Honkbalweek Haarlem; the Globetrotters drop to 1-3. A truly kickass pitching performance.
The afternoon belonged to Yu. The right-hander needed just 84 pitches to go the distance, scattering five hits, walking one and striking out four while never letting the Globetrotters sniff the scoreboard. Only once did a Globetrotter reach second base. It was the kind of efficient, in-command outing that makes a No. 2-ranked side look the part.
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Taipei jumped on starter Ben Meyer immediately. In the top of the first, Hsiao-Yun Chen singled to open the game and Min-Sih Chen ripped a two-run single through the left side, with Yu-Li Lin adding a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead before the home side ever came to bat. Two more crossed in the fourth on a Globetrotters error and an Hsiao-Yun Chen groundout, and the lead sat at 5-0 — comfortable, if not yet cruel.
The seventh made it cruel. Taipei sent ten men to the plate and pushed across five runs, and the Globetrotters handed over most of them: reliever Drew Janssen recorded two outs but issued three walks and a hit-by-pitch in the frame, runs trickling in on free passes before Hsiao-Yun Chen lined a two-run single through the right side to cap the rout. By the time the dust settled, what had been a tidy win was a 10-0 statement.
Speaking through an interpreter afterward, Yu deflected the credit toward his teammates, describing the win as a complete team effort on both sides of the ball. He pointed to the chemistry with his catcher — a familiar batterymate he’d worked with before — as the reason the afternoon went so smoothly, and credited the coaching staff’s scouting work for keeping the Globetrotters off balance. It was a notable outing for a roster Yu described as drawn largely from Taiwan’s amateur ranks, a group he called some of the most talented and passionate ballplayers back home.
