China suffered their third defeat in the World Baseball Classic tournament, losing to Chinese Taipei 12-3.

Chen Yung-chi of Chinese Taipei had a grand slam and drove in five runs in the victory.

Pan Wei-lun allowed two hits with two walks in four innings and struck out five for Chinese Taipei (1-2), which finished third in Pool A.

South Korea and Japan both had clinched the group's two berths in the second round by winning their first two games.

Chinese Taipei scored just one run in the first three innings before pulling away against China starter Wang Nan in the fourth.

Hu Chin-lung delivered a one-out double and Hseih Chia-hsien followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

Xu Zheng replaced Wang and issued a walk to load the bases and, after Yang Chung-shou struck out, Chen drove a 3-1 pitch well over the left field fence for a 5-0 lead.

Chen added an RBI double in the sixth as Chinese Taipei continued to break open the game.

Wang Wei had two RBI for China (0-3), which was outscored, 40-5, in the tournament.

(www.tsn.ca?March 6, 2006)