Chinese Taipei defeated the Fubon Guardians 5-3 in a practice match, with Chang Yu-Cheng hitting a home run and two catchers contributing four RBIs.

For the 2026 6th World Baseball Classic, Chinese Taipei maintained their training regimen by playing games, with a practice match at Taipei Dome on February 24. Chang Yu-Cheng launched a home run against his former team, the Fubon Guardians, which was also the team’s first homer in these practice matches. The squad totaled 8 hits and scored 5 runs, finishing with a 5-3 win.

Chinese Taipei generated offense in both the 2nd and 4th innings. After two outs in the 2nd inning, Chiang Kun-Yu drew a walk, followed by a hit from the seventh batter Chen Chen-Wei. Then, Chiang Shao-Hung delivered a timely hit, driving in one run. In the 4th inning, Lin Tzu-Wei and Chiang Kun-Yu hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third base. With one out, Chiang Shao-Hung executed a successful sacrifice bunt, bringing the runner from third home and adding another run.

In the 6th inning, after Chiang Kun-Yu’s single and a stolen base to second, Chen Chen-Wei earned a walk. Lin Chia-Cheng then hit a two-RBI double, breaking the tie. In the 7th inning, with two outs, Chang Yu-Cheng hit a solo home run to left field, marking the first homer in practice matches since the team’s training camp began.

Offensively, Chiang Kun-Yu reached base 3 times in 4 at-bats, including 2 hits and 1 walk, and also stole a base successfully. The two catchers, Chiang Shao-Hung and Lin Chia-Cheng, each recorded one hit and contributed 2 RBIs apiece.

On the pitching side, the starter and the final pitcher were Lin Yi-Wei and Wang Yu-Chieh, respectively. Lin Yi-Wei allowed 3 hits and 1 run but completed 2 innings on just 13 pitches. Wang Yu-Chieh gave up 2 hits with no runs allowed. Chen Kuan-Yu made his practice debut, giving up 1 hit, issuing 2 walks, and recording 1 pickoff, but made an error during a double play attempt and later allowed a run on a hit. Chang Yi pitched one inning with a perfect 3-up, 3-down performance. Lin Shih-Hsiang allowed 2 hits and 1 run, while Tseng Chun-Yue threw a scoreless inning and was the only pitcher to throw over 150 km/h in this game.

Head coach Tseng Hao-Chu stated: “Only one pitcher issued a walk, which is an improvement compared to previous games with more walks. Everyone is gradually adjusting well and fulfilling their pitching roles. Although the team recorded only 8 hits on the scoreboard, the overall hitting condition was good. We still have four more warm-up games to gradually build team cohesion and fine-tune our game rhythm.”