Cuba’s left-hander Liván Moinelo an the right-hander Been Gwak from South Korea, will fight for win no matter what as they strive to gain passage to the final round, having both fallen short of their goals on the opening day.

The Cubans lost 1-6 against the Dominican Republic in a game that was decided in the last third of the clash, while the South Koreans, champions in 2015 and one of the favorites to climb to the podium, lost 6-3 against the hosts from Chinese Taipei.

Moinelo, the designated pitcher by coach Armando Johnson, is perhaps one of the best in his field in the tournament, after he honed his skills and showed prevalence in the Japanese Professional League this year.

Wearing the SoftBank Hawks uniform, the 28-year-old was the most effective in the Pacific League, with an average of 1.88 earned runs per nine innings, a score that no other Latin American has registered in the entire history of baseball in the Land of the Rising Sun.

In addition, in his first contest as a starter after seven seasons as a reliever, he came out fourth, with 11 wins, 155 strikeouts and 163 innings.

Gwak is a 25-year-old pitcher who successfully recovered from surgery and is able to throw the ball at 96-mph.

As part of his country’s professional team (KBO) in the last season, he won 15 games, lost nine and struck out 154 batters in 167 and two thirds of games with 17 quality outings.

ied/arc/blc