Tien-Mou/Taipei City. Kevin Garcia hit two of Mexico’s three home runs to lead his team to a 10-0 shutout over the Philippines on Monday morning at Tien-Mou Stadium. Seven runs in the first three innings and three in the fourth sealed the win. They are now 2-2 in the II 12U Baseball World Cup. The Philippines dropped to 0-4.
After their tough loss to Chinese Taipei on Sunday, Mexico started strong against the Philippines. Antonio Castaneda led off with a bunt single, which after a throwing error put him on third base. Victor Zazueta brought him home with a sac fly. After Omar Ballesteros struck out, Kevin Garcia made it 2-0 with a home run over the fence in center field.
It wouldn’t remain his lone long ball of the game. The infielder hit a two-run home run in the third and went 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI overall. Jesus Medina added a two-run shot in the second. Hector Vargas and Sergio Soto scored twice to round up a balanced attack.
Claudio Galvez and Victor Moreno took advantage of the solid run support, sitting down the Philippine hitters without big troubles. Galvez issued four hits in four scoreless innings to pick up the win. Moreno closed it out with three strikeouts in the fifth.
Roberto Morcilla got the start for the Philippines, surrendering three hits and four runs (2 ER) in 1 1/3 innings, leaving the mound after Medina’s home run. Jose Alcaraz, Earl Masangque and Derek Canlas relieved him with Masangque doing a nice job of stopping Mexico’s offense for 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
