Taipei, March 8 (CNA) Taiwan's much-maligned national baseball team defeated a strong Mexico team with surprising ease Saturday, giving local fans hope that it can qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games after a rocky run-up to the tournament.
Expected to have trouble against a team it lost to twice in last November's Baseball World Cup, Taiwan played nearly flawlessly in upending the Mexicans 6-1 in the central Taiwan city of Douliou, the team's second consecutive win in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Taiwan was superb in every phase of the game, pounding out double-digit hits for the second consecutive game, and limiting Mexico to six hits with the help of some consistent pitching and sparkling defense rarely seen from Taiwan in international play.
The victory came against one of the five teams considered to have a shot at the three Olympic berths up for grabs in the eight-team tournament, and means Taiwan probably only needs to win one game against the tough trio of Australia, South Korea and Canada to qualify for the Beijing Games.
“We can celebrate for a little while, but there are plenty of tough games ahead, ”said Taiwan mananger Hung Yi-chung after the game.
Taiwan's squad, hurt by injuries and the withdrawal of some top players competing overseas, has yet to show scars from its pre-tournament setbacks.
Playing as the visiting team Saturday, it led from start to finish, but didn't put the game away until the top of the eighth when Peng Cheng-min delivered a clutch hit for the second straight game.
With his team clinging to a 4-1 lead, Peng smashed a two-run bases-loaded single to left that provided a comfortable cushion for Taiwan's relievers.
Peng had a two-run homer in the first inning of Friday night's game against Spain to even the score after Taiwan got off to a shaky start. Taiwan went on to win in a 13-3 rout.
Starting pitcher Yang Chien-fu contained an explosive Mexican lineup, which had 18 hits against Canada in a 15-10 loss Friday, giving up only one run on five hits in five innings pitched.
Yang, who watched a DVD of Mexico's game didn't go to sleep until 1 a.m. Saturday morning, told reporters after the game that he focused most of his attention on Mexico's core hitters and relied primarily on sliders and curveballs to get them out.
Reliever Cheng Kai-wen was the revelation of Saturday's contest, on a squad that has been desperate to find reliable pitchers out of the bullpen. The 19-year-old right-hander fanned three Mexican hitters in the bottom of the sixth to stave off a Mexican rally after Jesus Cato's RBI-single narrowed Taiwan's lead to 4-1.
Taiwanese hitters were determined not to get behind early as happened against Spain. After Chang Chien-ming and Lin Che-hsuan opened the third with consecutive hits, Hung surprised the Mexicans by having Peng move the runners up with a sacrifice bunt.
The move paid off as Chang Tai-shan smacked a single to drive in the game's first two runs and get the crowd excited.
Taiwan added two more runs in the fourth in almost identical fashion. This time it was Chang Chien-ming who delivered a two-run single after his teammates had reached second and third on a sacrifice.
Mexico, which dropped to 0-2 after the loss, sent five pitchers to the mound but may have stayed with starter Pablo Ortega for too long. Ortega surrendered 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The single round-robin tournament is being played in Taichung and Yunlin County's Douliou from March 7-14, with the top three finishers heading to Beijing.
Taiwan meets Germany Sunday in Taichung, a game that it is expected to win comfortably.
In Saturday's other early game, Canada blanked South Africa 10-0 in seven innings to win its second straight game.
-- Standings:
Taiwan 2-0
Canada 2-0
South Korea 1-0
Australia 1-0
Germany 0-1
Spain 0-1
Mexico 0-2
South Africa 0-2