The 2026 World Baseball Classic is officially underway with Pool C starting Round Robin play at the Tokyo Dome yesterday evening for those in the EST time zone.

Australia and Chinese Taipei were kicking off the festivities, and one nation was dealt a tough blow before the team took the field.

Tigers prospect Hao-Yu Lee suffered an oblique strain before the tournament began and will be returning to Lakeland, with his tournament being over before the first pitch for Chinese Taipei.

Both clubs played a tight game, and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that a run crossed home plate.

Australia got on the board thanks to a two-run shot by Robbie Perkins, who deposited a middle-middle fastball from Po-Yu Chen over the right-centre field wall. Perkins smashed the offering 388 feet with the ball leaving the bat at 103 MPH. Guardians prospect Travis Bazzana would add another insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning, sending a solo shot over the right field wall.

It was Australia’s pitching staff that earned the win that day, holding Chinese Taipei to just three hits and two walks while striking out nine.

Alex Wells kicked things off, tossing three scoreless innings with one walk and six punchouts and zero hits allowed. Southpaw Jack O’Loughlin would follow, tossing three innings with just two hits allowed with two strikeouts. Left-hander Jon Kennedy was tasked with the last three innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one.

Chinese Taipei used five different pitchers in the loss, with starter Jo-Hsi Hsu pitching four clean innings with just two hits allowed with three strikeouts. Chen earned the loss with the two-run shot allowed to Perkins, which was all Australia needed.

Chinese Taipei was also dealt another tough injury blow when team captain Chieh-Hsien Chen was hit on the hands by an inside fastball from O’Loughlin in the top of the sixth inning. He would be diagnosed with a fractured left index finger following the game, and his tournament is likely over.

Pool C will continue play later today, with Czechia and Korea starting early this morning (late in Japan) before Czechia returns to the diamond tonight at 10:00 pm EST to face Australia.

Australia 3 – Chinese Taipei – 0

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