Taiwan stays perfect with tight victory

Chen Ching-fong (陳金鋒) showed why again he is expected to be the first Taiwanese player in the Major Leagues.

The Los Angeles Dodger prospect continues to tear up the World Cup, leading Taiwan to a 4-2 win over Nicaragua at Chengching Lake Stadium in Kaohsiung County yesterday. Chen went 3-for-4 with an RBI triple to keep Taiwan perfect atop the Group A standings at 3-0, tied with the Dominican Republic.

His triple in the first inning hit the top of the outfield wall. Through three games, Chen is batting 7-for-9 with 8 RBIs.

Third baseman Chang Tai-shan (張泰山) added a solo home run in the third inning and made several outstanding plays in the field, including throwing out two Nicaraguan base runners at home plate.

Chen Jung-chao (陳榮造) and Chang Chih-chia (張誌家) combined for 7 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for Taiwan.

Taiwan plays South Africa today at noon at Chengching Lake Stadium.

Cuba 9, Australia 5

At Shinchuan, Cuba kept their 46-game World Cup winning streak alive, but just barely. The six-time defending champions rallied for a run in the eighth inning to tie the game at 5-5 and scored four more in the top of the ninth to win.

Antonio Pacheco tied it with an eighth inning double. In the ninth, Luis Ulacia drove home the winning run. Pacheco also had a three-run home run in the fourth.

US 11, South Korea 0

At Chiayi City, Team USA routed the Sydney Olympic bronze medalists in a key matchup between two favored teams in the tournament.

The US displayed their potent offense against a Korean team which did not allow any runs in their first two games.

US designated hitter Jeff Deardorff drove in three runs on a fifth inning home run and a ninth inning triple. Chris Snopek and Ken Huckaby both added two-run singles.

Five American pitchers combined on the shutout, with Cleveland minor leaguer Jason Stanford going five innings for the win.

Panama 3, Canada 2

At Tienmu Stadium, former Toronto Blue Jay Julio Mosquera homered and Roberto Gutierrez added a 2-RBI to lead Panama.

Panamanian starting pitcher Jorge Cortez was hit by a sharp liner from the box in the eighth inning. Preliminary reports had him out for the remainder of the tournament.

Canada broke a 25-inning scoreless streak with a run in the eighth inning. Aaron Guiel added a home run in the ninth inning.

"Our pitchers are keeping us in the game, but our hitters just aren't doing it," Canadian manager Marty Lehn said. "With the runs that we did get at the end of this game maybe we can now go on to win four in a row and maybe get some help from the other teams. We will cross our fingers and hope that happens."

Netherlands 6, Philippines 0

At Tienmu Stadium, the Netherlands improved to 2-1 in Group B in a lackluster performance defeat of the winless Philippines.

Erik Remmerswaal and Erik de Rijcke combined on the shutout for the European champions, allowing only two hits.

Italy 11, South Africa 2

At Kaohsiung, Italy won their first game of the tournament, taking advantage of three South African errors to score seven runs in the sixth inning.

Italy's Christopher Madonna drove in three runs on a pair of doubles and a single.

"No doubt, we played well today. It is not impossible for us to reach the next round, but we must play very well," Italian manager Jim Davenport said after the game.

Dominican Republic 3, France 1