Four US pitchers combined to shut out South Africa on just two hits as the US bounced back from an opening loss to the Dominican Republic with a 5-0 victory yesterday at Chengching Lake Stadium in Kaohsiung County.
Jason Phillips worked six shutout innings and allowed just one hit. Phillips, who formerly pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, struck out four and did not walk a batter. Tom Shearn, Kirk Bullinger and Shane Nance each hurled one scoreless inning of relief.
The Americans jumped ahead in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs off South African starter Liall Maritz on three hits and a pair of walks. Tampa Bay minor leaguer Carl Crawford drove in both runs with a bases-loaded single.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Team USA added two more runs in the second inning. Marty Malloy hit a two-out single to score Mark Budzinski. After an Orlando Hudson base hit moved Malloy to third, Mallory stole home to make the score 4-0.
"Our goal is to win, and the key for our win today was scoring early," US manager Terry Francona said. "We think we can continue to improve as we get accustomed to the Kaoshiung field."
Today, the US faces Sydney Olympic bronze medalists South Korea in Chiayi City. Lefthander Jason Stanford, who plays with the Cleveland Indians organization, is the scheduled starting pitcher for the US.
Taiwan 10, France 0
In Chiayi City, Taiwan remained on top of Group A at 2-0 as Los Angeles Dodger prospect Chen Ching-fong (
"I just try to make myself relax and play hard. I feel very good right now," Chen said.
Chang Tai-shan (
Amateur pitcher Yang Chien-fu (
The Taiwan team moves south to Kaohsiung to take on Nicaragua today.
Australia 1, Canada 0
At Tienmu Stadium, Australia improved to 2-0 in Group B behind the strong pitching of John Stephens. Stephens stopped the Canadians on two hits over eight innings. He walked only two while striking out two batters.
Adam Burton drove in the winning run with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
Canada fell to 0-2, their bats silenced as they were the day before when they managed only one hit against Cuba.
Canadian manager Marty Lehn promised some changes for today's game against Panama in order to find some offense.
"We had two games against Cuba and Australia in which the pitchers have kept our batters off balance and did an excellent job," he said.
"We are expecting much more from our hitters and hopefully will be able to battle through it. Tomorrow, there probably will be changes in our lineup."
Cuba 17, the Philippines 0
At Shinchuan, a day after getting pummeled 21-0 by Japan, World Cup newcomers, the Philippines, ran into the defending tournament champion. Six-times champions Cuba extended its World Cup winning streak to 45 games with a 21-hit attack off Orlando Benarao, who bravely went the distance for the Philippines.
All of the Cuban starters had a hit as the game was stopped after seven innings. Omar Linares slammed a pair of triples and drove in three runs.
Four pitchers combined on a one-hitter for Cuba.
The Netherlands 18, Russia 0
At Tienmu Stadium, the European champions routed Russia in seven innings to even their record in Group B at 1-1.
The Dutch overwhelmed the Russians, who had upset the Netherlands in a European Cup game only three months ago. Former New York Yankee Hensley Meulens led off the third inning with a home run. The inning was capped by a bases-loaded home run by Evert-Jan 't Hoen.
Seven errors by the Russians left manager Nikolai Guervassov speechless after the game.
"I'm very disappointed. I can't explain the performance in this game. There were way too many errors," he lamented.
Japan 10, Panama 0
At Shinchuan Stadium, Japan broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the fifth and six in the seventh in a game that ended after eight innings. Higashide Akihiro, who plays for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, drove in four runs on a pair of singles.
Nippon Ham Fighter pitcher Nakamura Hayato struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings for the win.
South Korea 10, Italy 0
In Kaohsiung, Lee Young-woo went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs and Shim Chong-soo hit a two-run homer as the Koreans improved to 2-0.
Four Korean pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout.
Dominican Republic 8, Nicaragua 4
In Chiayi City, the two Latin American rivals played the only game of the day that did not end in a shutout.
Yojane Valera hit a grand slam home run in the fourth inning to lead the Dominican Republic to its second straight win. Wilson Sido, who pitches for the Cleveland Indian organization, went 6 2/3 innings for the victory.
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