The Qualifier host team is heading to the World Baseball Classic after Chinese Taipei held off Spain, 6-3, on Tuesday.
Chinese Taipei will join Nicaragua, which earned a berth in the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a 6-0 victory over its hosts on Sunday morning to cap a 3-0 run through the Classic Qualifier in Taiwan. Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei will join 16 teams that had already secured their places in the tournament next spring.
The other Qualifier, taking place in Tucson, Ariz., will begin on Sunday. Brazil, China, Colombia and Germany will vie for the two final spots.
World Baseball Classic Qualifiers
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Chinese Taipei 6, Spain 3
The unthinkable nearly happened. Chinese Taipei -- the No. 2-ranked team in the world, which was coming off its first gold medal at the Premier12 -- nearly missed out on qualifying for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
The team lost in a shocking blowout, 12-5, to Spain on the first day of the Qualifier. It came back to defeat South Africa, but wrapped up round-robin play with a 6-0 shutout defeat to Nicaragua.
It all came down to Tuesday’s rematch against Spain to determine who would finish second in the Taipei Qualifier and advance to the World Baseball Classic. In front of a raucous and sold-out Taipei Dome crowd, Chinese Taipei took care of business in a 6-3 victory.
“Sorry we kept you guys waiting and worried," manager Hao-Jiu Tseng said after the game. "We did it.”
The game hinged on a gutwrenching moment for Spain. With Chinese Taipei leading, 3-2, in the sixth inning, Shao-Hung Chiang laid down a sacrifice bunt. Star third baseman Wander Encarnacion, who won the MVP Award during Spain’s gold medal run at the 2023 European Championship, threw the ball away, a run coming in to score.
The very next batter looked like a replay: Another bunt dropped onto the unnaturally green Taipei Dome turf and again, Encarnacion threw it away. A second run scored, pushing Chinese Taipei’s lead to 5-3. As the sold-out crowd roared, Encarnacion couldn’t help but sob, tears falling down his face as the game slipped from Spain’s fingers.
The rest of the game was a back-and-forth contest where no lead ever felt safe. Each time Chinese Taipei scored, Spain seemed to answer right back. In the end, though, the hosts got the big plays they needed. Spain went just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 runners in the defeat.
In the first inning, right fielder Cheng-Jui Sung made an incredible, full stretched diving catch to keep a run off the board.
Young fireballer Jo-Hsi Hsu, regularly hitting 98 mph on the radar gun, pitched 3 1/3 dominant frames in relief, striking out five batters.
And when Spain loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, 19-year-old NPB pitcher Yi-Lei Sun struck out back-to-back batters to end the threat.
“The pressure was really there, and really big, because it was a do-or-die game. I’d like to call out to the fans to give our young players more encouragement than criticism," team captain Chieh-Hsien Chen said. "I want to express my appreciation to these younger players, they did it.”
“We were under tremendous pressure, probably because we had a lot of young players participating in this international tournament," shortstop Yu Chang, who was 7-for-18 with a home run at the Qualifier, added. "I am glad that we were able to focus on this game and ultimately won it. Thanks to all our teammates as we all were under such pressure.”
It's a difficult loss for Spain, which has now lost three consecutive games with a chance to advance to the World Baseball Classic. It lost in back-to-back games to Great Britain and Czechia in 2022 before the loss to Chinese Taipei on Tuesday. It’ll hope to defend its gold medal at this fall’s European Championship, but will have to lick its wounds when the 2026 World Baseball Classic begins.
Nicaragua 6, Chinese Taipei 0
It all began with an error. Nicaragua’s mustachioed outfielder Juan Montes started the game by hitting a sharp grounder to Chinese Taipei's Yu Chang, a Major League veteran, at shortstop. Chang bobbled the ball and Montes found himself on first base with no one out.
That play would prove critical: Second baseman Brandon Leyton, on fire at these Qualifiers, followed with an RBI double to give Nicaragua the lead. Center fielder Chase Dawson, who impressed in independent ball last season, followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0 – a lead that Nicaragua would never give up, tacking on three runs in the ninth en route to the victory.
Chinese Taipei’s best chance came in the fourth inning, when they loaded the bases with one out. Nicaragua then brought in veteran pitcher Osman Gutierrez, who had pitched nine shutout innings in the 2022 Qualifiers that sent Nicaragua to its first ever World Baseball Classic. Gutierrez retired the next two batters to end the frame.
Few had expected Nicaragua to win the pool -- especially with Chinese Taipei coming off their first gold medal at the Premier12 and playing host inside the new Taipei Dome. But Nicaragua’s pitching staff shut down the opposition, allowing just a pair of runs in 3 games.
Chinese Taipei and Spain will now face off in a rematch on Tuesday to determine which team will take second place and advance to the Classic. Spain upset Chinese Taipei, 12-5, on Friday, but they have reason to be wary. At the 2022 Qualifiers in Regensburg, Spain had two chances to advance. But losses to Great Britain and Czechia left Spain on the outside looking in -- a result they’ll try to avoid on Tuesday.
Spain 9, South Africa 1
In a dominant all-around performance, Spain improved to 2-1 in the Classic Qualifiers tournament and sent South Africa (0-3) to elimination.
The starting pitcher for Spain, right-hander Pablo Guillen, was brilliant over six innings, yielding just one unearned run on two hits while walking two and striking out eight on 81 pitches. He then gave way to reliever Fernando Baez, who tossed two perfect innings to get the ball to Jorge Balboa, who closed the game out with a 1-2-3 ninth.
At the plate, Rusber Estrada led the way with a two-hit game that included a two-run homer in the third inning. Jesus Ustariz also went deep, launching a solo homer in the fifth. Frank Hernandez went 3-for-3 and drove in a run, and Edison Valerio went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.
Spain tacked on four more runs for good measure in the eighth inning and with the victory, kept its quest to reach the 2026 World Baseball Classic alive.
Chinese Taipei 9, South Africa 1
After being stunned in a 12-5 loss to Spain in its first game of the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Chinese Taipei entered Saturday’s game against South Africa needing a win to keep its hopes of advancing afloat.
Playing in front of a sold-out and raucous crowd at the Taipei Dome, the hosts took care of business in a 9-1 victory.
After getting runners into scoring position in each of the first two innings, Chinese Taipei broke through against South Africa in the third inning as team captain Chieh-Hsien Chen walked and former MLB shortstop Yu Chang doubled. Both came around to score to break the deadlock.
From there, Chinese Taipei slowly kept adding to the lead -- adding two more in the fourth, another in the sixth on an inside-the-park home run from speedy young outfielder Cheng-Jui Sung, and another two runs in the seventh. Backup third baseman Tsung-Hsien Lee added an exclamation mark with a two-run shot in the 9th inning.
A’s prospect Tzu-Chen Sha started the game, pitching 2 2/3 shutout innings before being lifted with an injury, and Pirates Double-A prospect Po-Yu Chen was impressive with three shutout innings in relief.
Nicaragua 2, Spain 1 (10)
For the second consecutive day, Nicaragua celebrated an extra-inning walk-off win in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, improving to 2-0 in the tournament thanks to a Benjamin Alegria single to center field in the 10th inning to beat Spain at the Taipei Dome.
With the bases loaded and one out, Alegria lined a 2-2 pitch from reliever Rhiner Cruz over center fielder Engel Beltre, who leaped but couldn’t reach the drive.
Much like in Nicaragua’s 2-1 win in the tournament opener, pitching ruled the day, with just a solo home run from each side accounting for all the scoring through nine innings -- Brandon Leyton launched one in the bottom of the first inning for Nicaragua, and Spain’s Carlos Colmenarez delivered an equalizer in the third.
But Nicaragua’s pitching staff and defensive prowess held Spain scoreless the rest of the way. There were several tremendous plays on both sides, but Nicaragua’s defense shined the brightest, particularly in the sixth inning.
That’s when shortstop Freddy Zamora made a sliding back-handed grab of a sharp ground ball in the hole between short and third before making a long throw to rob Wander Encarnacion of a hit. Later in the frame, Chase Dawson made an incredible leaping catch before slamming into the center-field wall to steal extra bases from Rusber Estrada.
Another defensive highlight for Nicaragua came in the top of the ninth inning, and this one proved to be a huge play to preserve the 1-1 tie. Spain loaded the bases with one out, and Beltre hit a sharp ground ball toward the hole between first and second base. Leyton moved to his left to spear it, turned and threw to second to begin an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Spain 12, Chinese Taipei 5
Spain entered a packed and raucous Taipei Dome, the new stadium filled with fans hungry to see the Chinese Taipei team, which had become stars following its Premier12 gold medal in November.
The visitors quickly silenced the crowd as Spain won in a shocking 12-5 blowout -- Chinese Taipei narrowly avoiding a mercy-rule defeat before tacking on a few meaningless runs in the ninth inning.
Spain got it started early: They scored two runs in the first inning, added two more in the third and broke it open with six runs in the fifth, when the Chinese Taipei pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone. That inning, Spain drew two walks and two hit batsmen en route to the crooked number. Wander Encarnacion, the 2023 European Championship MVP, and Jesus Ustariz led the way with three hits apiece in the middle of the order.
Catcher Gabriel Lino put the finishing touches on the scoring with a two-run home run in the sixth inning to push the lead to double digits.
"It was really exciting to play here, in front of 40,000 people and to win against a team like Chinese Taipei," Lino said after the game. "The best part is that we were focused and working on our goal from the start until the end, and I feel like this was a really important game for all of us. Hitting a home run was amazing too, but, for me, the win was the most important part of the night."
Yu Chang, named to the All-WBC team in 2023, hit a two-run home run in one of the few bright spots for Chinese Taipei, while A’s 19-year-old pitching prospect Wei-En Lin, signed for $1.35 million last year, looked sharp in one inning of relief.
It was a big win for Spain, which is looking to return to the World Baseball Classic for the first time since its lone appearance in 2013. The favorites in the 2022 Qualifiers in Regensburg, the team had two chances to advance before upset losses to Great Britain and Czechia had it on the outside looking in.
Nicaragua 2, South Africa 1 (10)
The opening game of the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers was a thriller, and even involved some ingenious trickery.
In a well-pitched contest that featured a combined 10 hits, Nicaragua emerged victorious on a walk-off single to right field by Ronald Rivera in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The frame opened with an automatic runner at second base, Emanuel Trujillo. Trujillo moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Elian Rayo, and following an intentional walk to Freddy Zamora, Rivera delivered the game-winning hit.
Aside from the walk-off single, the lasting highlight from this game will be the successful execution of the hidden ball trick by South Africa in the seventh inning. That's when Zamora's RBI single tied the game, 1-1, and Zamora eventually moved to third following a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.
But after the sac fly, when the ball went to South African third baseman Anthony Phillips, Phillips walked toward pitcher Justin Erasmus and acted as though he was placing the ball into Erasmus' glove. Erasmus then walked back toward the mound while Phillips -- who had actually held onto the ball -- went back to his position at third.
As soon as Zamora took his lead off third base, Phillips ran over and tagged him. While the play was initially ruled a balk, upon replay review, the call was overturned and Zamora was called out. The hidden ball trick had preserved the tie into the eighth inning.
But in the end, despite falling victim to the unorthodox move, Nicaragua edged South Africa to put itself in the win column on Day 1 of the tournament.
Michael Clair writes for MLB.com. He spends a lot of time thinking about walk-up music and believes stirrup socks are an integral part of every formal outfit.
Manny Randhawa is a reporter for MLB.com based in Denver.
