loading

  About 2 minutes reading time.

Panama Thumps Host Chinese Taipei 12-5 In World Baseball Classic Opener

 Leif Skodnick - World Baseball Network  |    Mar 8th, 2023 6:09pm EST
Humberto Mejía pitches in the bottom of the 1st inning during the World Baseball Classic Pool A game between Panama and Chinese Taipei at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on March 08, 2023 in Taichung, Taiwan. (Photo by Yung Chuan Yang/Getty Images)

Chinese Taipei got three scoreless innings out of starting pitcher Chih-Weh Chu, but Panama chased him from the mound in the fourth before he could retire a batter, putting up five runs in the frame on Chu and his replacement, Kuan-Wei Chen, on the way to a 12–5 victory in the second game of Pool A at Taichung International Baseball Stadium.

Panama added six more runs in the sixth, and Chinese Taipei never threatened.

Jonathan Arauz, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training with Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, drove in two runs, including the game-winner, with a bases-loaded single in the sixth, and knocked an RBI double in the seventh to extend Panama’s lead.

Six Panamanian pitchers spread 13 hits over nine innings, with starter Humberto Mejia going two innings, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out none.

Panama will face the Netherlands Wednesday night at 11 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2. Chinese Taipei will get to rest until Friday, when they play Italy at 6 a.m. ET. That game will be streamed on Tubi.

author avatar
Leif Skodnick - World Baseball Network