{"id":501529,"date":"2026-03-05T07:34:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T11:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/jonron-de-bazzana-drives-australias-victory-over-chinese-taipei-in-the-world-baseball-classic\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T07:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T11:34:49","slug":"jonron-de-bazzana-drives-australias-victory-over-chinese-taipei-in-the-world-baseball-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/sports\/baseball\/jonron-de-bazzana-drives-australias-victory-over-chinese-taipei-in-the-world-baseball-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonr\u00f3n de Bazzana drives Australia’s victory over Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h1>\n\n\nTOKYO.<\/strong> Australia’s debut in the 2026 World Baseball Classic had a name: Travis Bazzana.\n\n\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> Juan Soto vuelve a encender el Quisqueya y RD empata ante Detroit antes de viajar a Miami<\/a><\/p>\n\n\nThe Guardians’ prospect and first overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft hit a key home run in the seventh inning to extend the lead and lead Australia to a 3-0 victory over Chinese Taipei<\/strong> this Thursday at the Tokyo Dome.\n\nBazzana, who had imagined this moment for years, fulfilled one of his greatest dreams by shining on the international stage.\n\n“The two things I thought about most while growing up were playing in the World Baseball Classic, especially here at the Tokyo Dome, and someday playing in a World Series in the Major Leagues,” the player said. “It’s something very special.”\n\nThe Australian’s hit \u2014 a line that cleared the right field fence \u2014 silenced most of the fans present in the stadium, who were enthusiastically supporting Chinese Taipei.\n\n“It was strange,” Bazzana commented with a smile. “When I hit the home run I expected to hear a big cheer, but the stadium was very, very quiet.”\n\n\n

Perkins Breaks the Tie<\/h2>\n\n\nThe game remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when catcher Robbie Perkins broke the tie with a two-run home run that put Australia ahead.\n\nPerkins had already had memorable moments in this stadium: in 2023 he hit a decisive three-run home run against Korea.\n\n“Every time you put on your country’s uniform, the emotions intensify,” Perkins pointed out. “But I try to stay calm and remember that there’s a job to do. This is a team effort.”\n\n\n

Domain from the mound<\/h2>\n\n\nAustralia relied on a solid performance from three left-handed pitchers, each with three scoreless innings.\n\nStarting pitcher Alex Wells struck out six batters in three innings, including five consecutive strikeouts<\/strong>, tying for the third-best streak in World Baseball Classic history.\n\nRight-hander Jon Kennedy closed out the game with three innings of relief and extinguished the threat in the ninth inning, when Chinese Taipei put the tying run on the plate. His height of 6 feet 8 inches was key to catching a batted ball back to the mound and sealing the victory.\n\n“I think his height influenced the last out,” commented Australian manager Dave Nilsson. “Not many players would have been able to get up and catch that ball.”\n\n\n

A result that Australia does not consider a surprise<\/h2>\n\n\nThe victory comes against a high-level rival: Chinese Taipei is the current Premier12 champion and the number two team in the world ranking. However, in the Australian clubhouse, the result is not seen as a surprise.\n\n“We’ve built the conviction that we can beat anyone in a single game,” Perkins affirmed. “In a 162-game season it might be different, but in a direct duel we can compete with anyone.”\n\n\n

Complicated situation for Chinese Taipei<\/h2>\n\n\nThe defeat puts Chinese Taipei in a delicate situation within the group. The team will have to face Japan in its next match, an opponent reinforced with Major League stars.\n\n“Tomorrow’s game will be a great challenge,” acknowledged leader Hao-jiu Tseng. “Japan is probably the best team, but we will give everything on the field.”\n\nMeanwhile, Australia will continue its participation in the tournament, facing the Czech Republic in its next match.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOKYO. Australia’s debut in the 2026 World Baseball Classic had a name: Travis Bazzana. You may be interested in: Juan Soto vuelve a encender el Quisqueya y RD empata ante Detroit antes de viajar a Miami The Guardians’ prospect and first overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft hit a key home run in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":972,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[35481],"tags":[611,40231,40638],"class_list":["post-501529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-baseball","tag-deultimominuto","tag-dominican-republic","tag-world-baseball-classic-2026"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-26tb","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yamell Rossi","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-7a176880-76f8-4b0c-9527-4e34feef45e4-96x96.jpg","categories_name":["Baseball"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/972"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}