Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Taiwan had 13 hits on its way to beating its long-time Asian rival Japan 6-1 Friday for its second straight win in the Baseball World Cup. Taiwan is now the only undefeated team in Group A of the preliminary round.
Starting pitcher Yang Chien-fu gave up just one run and five hits in six innings. Taiwan's hitters did not disappoint either, scoring one run in each of the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead. The home team added three runs with five consecutive singles in the sixth to secure the victory.
Taiwan is leading Group A with a 2-0 record and will face Spain Saturday, with 18-year-old pitcher Huang Chih-lung is expected to start. Japan fell to 2-1 after the defeat. The U.S. is also at 2-1 after being upset by Italy 6-2 earlier in the day.
In Group B, tournament favorite Cuba beat Canada 6-3 and South Korea routed Thailand 18-2. The two teams share the lead in their group with three wins a piece.
In other games, Spain beat South Africa 7-4 and Mexico edged Panama 3-2. Australia beat Venezuela 7-4 and the Netherlands defeated Germany 15-5.
The sixteen teams participating in the tournament are divided into two preliminary groups in the biennial tournament, which runs through to Nov. 18, with games being played in four baseball stadiums in Taipei and Taichung. The top four teams in Group A and Group B will advance to the quarterfinal round, which adopts the single loss elimination format.