Chinese Taipei Rallies Past Australia 6-4 for First APBC Win

Chinese Taipei erased a two-run first-inning deficit and beat Australia 6-4 on Friday, November 13, at Tokyo Dome, earning its first win of the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. Ma Chieh-Sen delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning before the bullpen completed 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

The victory moved Chinese Taipei to 1-1 in the four-team tournament and kept its place in the championship-game race alive ahead of Saturday’s meeting with South Korea.

A fast start turns into a four-run Australian answer

Chinese Taipei scored twice in the top of the first, with Ma driving in the opening run and Tseng Sheng-an adding a run-scoring groundout. Australia immediately overturned the lead in the bottom half.

Jaylin Rae doubled and Alex Hall singled home Australia’s first run. A wild pitch brought in the tying run before Jayden Kim’s two-run single put Australia ahead 4-2. Chinese Taipei also lost starting catcher Sung Chia-Hsiang to an ankle injury during the inning.

Chang Jen-Wei started the comeback with a solo home run in the second, Chinese Taipei’s first homer of the tournament. Wang Nien-Hao then tied the game in the fifth with a two-out RBI double off the right-field wall.

Ma Chieh-Sen breaks the tie

The decisive run came in the seventh. Kuo Tien-Hsin walked and advanced all the way to third on a passed ball before Ma lifted a sacrifice fly for a 5-4 lead.

Chinese Taipei added insurance in the eighth after Lin Chia-Wei singled and Australia intentionally walked Chang. A throwing error on Liu Chun-Wei’s ground ball allowed Lin to score the sixth run.

Chang reached base four times with two hits and two walks, while Lin also collected two hits. Ma finished with two RBIs.

Bullpen shuts Australia down

Starter Chen Ko-I recovered after the difficult first inning and struck out eight over 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits and four runs, three earned, while issuing six walks on 88 pitches.

Huang Chun escaped a bases-loaded threat in the fifth, and Chang Cheng-En followed with two scoreless innings to earn the win. Lai Yin-Hao retired the side in order in the eighth, and Chung Yun-Hua closed the game in the ninth.

Australia also fell to 1-1 after opening the tournament with an 8-7 comeback victory over South Korea. The short round-robin now enters a decisive final day, with Chinese Taipei facing South Korea and Australia meeting Japan.