Team Cuba just can’t seem to get over the hump against top-level Japanese hurlers. That fact was driven home on Sunday afternoon in Sapporo by a second straight nail-biting defeat (this time by a 3-1 count) at the hands of the pitching-rich Samurai squad. The dual losses on Japanese soil left Cuba’s brief Asian tour with a final ledger of two up and three down. It has also seemingly provided plenty of negatives to fuel the fires of Cuba’s always heated street-corner baseball debates.

New Taipei City. New Zeland beat (10-6) error (7) plagued Philippines and advanced to the final in the New Taipei City World Baseball Classic Qualifier. The all black kiwis will now contend a spot in the main tournament to the hosts Chinese Taipei on Sunday 11/18 at 1 pm US ET (7 pm CET).

Taipei City. One day after shutting out New Zealand 10-0, Chinese Taipei cruised to another easy victory at the World Baseball Classic Qualifier. On Friday evening at Xinzhuang Stadium in Taipei City the host defeated the Philippines 16-0 in seven innings.

Having played three games against Chinese Taipei and a selection of players from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) – winning two of the three – Cuba continues its trip through Asia with a pair of games against Japan in Fukuoka and Sapporo on Friday and Sunday.

Taipei City. The World Baseball Classic Qualifier at Xinzhuang Stadium in Taipei City continued on Friday with game day number two. New Zealand made a statement, crushing Thailand 12-2 in eight innings.

Taipei City. Chinese Taipei has made a first step toward returning to the World Baseball Classic main event with a 10-0 shutout over New Zealand on Thursday. They needed just seven innings to beat the Kiwis en route to their first victory, highlighted by an eight-run rally in the fifth. They will face the Philippines on Friday, while the Diamondblacks are facing elimination against Thailand.

Taipei City. The second portion of the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers got underway on Thursday morning in Taipei City. The Philippines defeated Thailand 8-2 in the opening game at Xinzhuang Stadium. Three runs in the fourth gave them the lead; three in the eighth blew the score wide open.

For the 3rd and final game of this Thunder Series in Chinese Taipei, the Cuban national team wrapped up their visit on a high note with a 16-hit outburst for the 14-7 victory.

Normally hefty Cuban bats have often underperformed in recent international events, causing a good deal of frustration and some widespread carping among loyal Antillean fans back home in the baseball-mad Caribbean nation. The first two games of the current Chinese-Taipei-Cuba exhibition matches seemed to be no exception, with the Cuban League all-stars being held to a mere pair of runs in the first two outings and largely stymied by a talented corps of polished CPBL professional pitchers.

Team Cuba’s much-anticipated November tour of Chinese Taipei and Japan opened this past weekend in Taichung and Taoyuan with a pair of classic pitching duels that provided few on-field fireworks but nonetheless perfectly mirrored the pattern of so many nip-and-tuck Chinese-Taipei-Cuba battles during recent international seasons. Victor Mesa’s charges dropped the series opener Saturday afternoon when surprise starter Yadier Pedroso surrendered a pair of second-inning runs that proved the difference in a 2-1 Taiwan victory.