Gordon Shines in Team USA Loss

DURHAM, N.C. (www.USABaseball.com) -- The 2004 USA Baseball National Team committed a season high five errors that proved to be the deciding factor in a 6-5 loss to open a four-game friendship series against Chinese Taipei Thursday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The five fielding miscues spoiled solid offensive performances from third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (So., Virginia, Virginia Beach, Va.) and right fielder Travis Buck (So., Arizona State, Richland, Wash.). Zimmerman went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI in the loss. Buck went 2-for-4 with three RBI and hit his second home run of the summer.

Team USA falls to 8-6 with the loss and had its 30-game win streak on American soil snapped. The Americans had last lost in its homeland on July 15, 2002 to the Great Lakes League All-Star team in Strongsville, Ohio. After starting the season 6-0, the National Team is now 2-6 in its last eight games, including six in a row against international opponents.

Team USA led at one point 5-2 before giving up four runs in the deciding sixth inning. Relief pitcher Mark Romanczuk (So., Stanford, Newark, Del.) suffered the loss giving up three hits and four runs in one inning. Starting pitcher Luke Hochevar (So., Tennessee, Fowler, Colo.) recorded the no-decision in his second start of the summer. Hochevar struck out three and gave up two unearned runs in 4.1 innings. Closer Joey Devine (So., NC State, Junction City, Kan.) was impressive down the stretch scattering two hits and striking out five in 3.2 scoreless frames.

Chinese Taipei reliever Chun-Nan Lai earned the win giving up one run and three hits in two innings. Yueh-Ping Lin earned the save limiting the USA to only two hits in four shutout innings.

Team USA out-hit Taiwan 10-9, with Zimmerman, Buck and first baseman Alex Gordon (So., Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.) recording multi-hit games. Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to six games with his third straight multi-hit contest. The first-team All-ACC selection is hitting .593 (16-for-27) with four doubles and 13 RBI during the streak.

Chinese Taipei leadoff hitter Chih-Yao Chan went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in the victory. Designated hitter Hsien-Ming Tien and Cheng-Wei Huang each went 2-for-5.

Team USA jumped out to the early lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning. Zimmerman doubled to the left field gap and scored on a single to left field by Buck.

Zimmerman and Buck combined again to added to Team USA’s lead with a three-run third inning to extend the lead to 4-0. Zimmerman doubled to right field to score Jed Lowrie (So., Stanford, Salem, Ore.) from first base. Buck followed with a towering home run to right field on a 3-2 offering from Tu.

Chinese Taipei cut into the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning. Chan doubled in the first run of the inning and a fielding error by Zimmerman at third base allowed the second run to cross the plate.

Zimmerman singled past a drawn in infield to stake Team USA to a 5-2 lead after five innings, but Taiwan came right back capitalizing on the shaky American defense with a four-run sixth inning to grab the lead. Team USA made two errors in the inning and Taiwan had four singles in the deciding frame.

Team USA had a scoring opportunity in the sixth inning putting runners on first and second behind singles from shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (So., Long Beach State, Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Gordon. But a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, a strikeout and a groundout ended the frame and any chances of a Team USA comeback. Lin retired 12 outs in a row to seal the victory and earn the save.

Chinese Taipei and Team USA will continue the four-game series Friday at 7 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Right-hander Ian Kennedy (Fr., Southern California, Huntington Beach, Calif.) is scheduled to start for Team USA on the mound.

Game Notes: Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the fifth inning was Team USA’s first of the summer... the five errors are a season high for Team USA and the most since recording six against Canada in 1999... Buck extended his hitting streak to five games and has recorded at least one hit in 11 of 12 games with an official at-bat this summer... second baseman Jed Lowrie extended his hitting streak to three games... center fielder Drew Stubbs went 0-for-4 to have his six-game hitting streak snapped... the loss was also Team USA’s first in the last 13 games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park since the organization moved its headquarters to Durham.

Box score (NCAA) 2004 USA Baseball National Team Chinese Taipei at USA National Team Jul 15, 2004 at Durham, N.C. (DBAP)

Chinese Taipei 6 (1-0)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Chih-Yao Chan rf......... 4 2 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 Keng-Hsin Liu 2b......... 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 4 0 Chia-Wei Chen 3b......... 2 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 Hsien-Ming Tien dh....... 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 Chih-Kang Kao c.......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 8 1 2 Hsiao-Wei Huang 1b....... 5 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 4 Chun-Yuo Kuo lf.......... 3 1 0 0 2 2 3 0 0 Cheng-Wei Huang cf....... 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sheng-Wei Wang ss........ 4 2 1 1 0 0 3 3 0 Chang-Wei Tu p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Chun-Nan Lai p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Yueh-Ping Lin p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Totals................... 36 6 9 6 6 9 27 11 11

USA National Team 5 (8-6)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Trevor Crowe lf.......... 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 Jed Lowrie 2b............ 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 Ryan Zimmerman 3b........ 4 2 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 Jeff Clement dh.......... 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Travis Buck rf........... 4 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 Troy Tulowitzki ss....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 2 Alex Gordon 1b........... 4 0 2 0 0 2 12 0 0 Taylor Teagarden c....... 2 0 0 0 1 1 9 1 0 Brett Hayes ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Drew Stubbs cf........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Luke Hochevar p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Mark Romanczuk p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Joey Devine p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 34 5 10 5 2 8 27 13 5

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Chinese Taipei...... 000 024 000 - 6 9 1 USA National Team... 103 010 000 - 5 10 5 -------------------------------------------

E - Huang, H.(1); Zimmerman 2(3); Tulowitzki(2); Teagarden(1); Stubbs(2). DP - Taiwan 3. LOB - Taiwan 11; Team USA 5. 2B - Chan(1); Crowe(6); Zimmerman 2(6). HR - Buck(2). SH - Liu, K.(1); Chen(1); Lowrie(1). CS - Chan(1); Gordon(1).

Chinese Taipei IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Chang-Wei Tu........ 3.0 5 4 4 2 3 13 15 57 Chun-Nan Lai........ 2.0 3 1 1 0 1 7 8 23 Yueh-Ping Lin....... 4.0 2 0 0 0 4 14 14 52

USA National Team IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Luke Hochevar....... 4.1 4 2 0 4 3 18 22 88 Mark Romanczuk...... 1.0 3 4 4 1 1 6 8 23 Joey Devine......... 3.2 2 0 0 1 5 12 14 45

Win - Lai (1-0). Loss - Romanczuk (2-1). Save - Lin, Y. (1). WP - Devine(2). Inherited runners/scored: Romanczuk 2/0; Devine 2/1. Pitches/strikes: Tu 57/33; Lai 23/15; Lin, Y. 52/33; Hochevar 88/48; Romanczuk 23/14; Devine 45/30. Umpires - HP: David Pritchett 1B: Dave Yeast 3B: Barry Chambers Start: 7:04 PM Time: 2:50 Attendance: 2152 Game notes: ID-261932 Game: 04USA15