Australia shuts out Taiwan in WBC opener

Robbie Perkins belted a two-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians' Travis Bazzana added a solo shot as Australia beat Taiwan 3-0 on Thursday in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo.

The contest marked the start of round-robin play in Pool C, which also features defending champion Japan, South Korea and the Czech Republic.

The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be split between Miami and Houston. The semifinals on March 15 and March 16 as well as the final on March 17 will be contested in Miami.

Three Australian pitchers combined on a three-hitter. Former Baltimore Orioles left-hander Alex Wells opened with three no-hit innings, walking one and striking out six. Ex-Colorado Rockies lefty Jack O'Loughlin (1-0) handled the next three innings, and a third left-hander, Jon Kennedy, tossed the last three frames for the save.

Right-hander Jo-Hsi Hsu delivered four scoreless innings for Taiwan before Perkins went deep off right-hander Po-Yu Chen (0-1) in the fifth.

--Field Level Media