Result
Chinese Taipei - 3 to 0

Australia's Record
0 wins - 2 losses

Brett's Fielding Position and the Batting Order
Playing rightfield
Batting at #2

Brett's Statistics - Game
Batting - 1 hit from 4 at-bats - single
Fielding - 2 put-outs and 1 assist

Brett's Plate Appearances
First at-bat
???handed pitcher
Bases empty - one down
*** from what is available on the 'play-by-play' reports, it appears that Brett hit a ground ball to shortstop which was misplayed by the Chinese Taipei fielder and went into leftfield - somehow (???) Brett ended up at second base - the official scoring shows an assist to the leftfielder and two errors to the shortstop - he must have also misplayed the throw in from the outfield
At second base via errors
Went to third base on a hit
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
???handed pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ground ball to the second-baseman who made the fielder's-choice out at second base
Out - fielder's-choice
Third at-bat
???handed pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Single
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth at-bat
???handed pitcher
Led off the innings
Ground ball to shortstop
Out 6-to-3

Email from Brett
Well we are now in a tough spot after losing our second game
For those of you who don't know, we lost 3-0 to Chinese Taipei
They threw a guy against us who just plain shut us down
and now we play Italy today in a 'must-win' game
From there we will take it one game at a time and see what happens
I played a lot better in this game
I went 1 for 4 and hit the ball hard twice
and threw a runner out from rightfield who was trying to take third base during their rally
So hopefully now things for me are turned around and me team will turn around today as well
Thanks for all the emails from everyone
I like reading them all and I promise to reply to everyone sometime or another
Brett

Pre-Game Notes
Teams vie for momentum, rebounds in Day 2 action

Gold medal favourites Japan and Cuba and early dark horses the Netherlands and Canada look to keep their momentum going on the second day of preliminary play at the Olympic Baseball tournament.

Japan, which defeated Italy 12-0 Sunday, takes on the Netherlands, an equally impressive 11-0 winner over host Greece, in the first night game.
Japan's team of all-stars from its professional leagues made a strong statement against Italy, but will find a Dutch team confident from its opening day victory and ready to go bat-to-bat with the Japanese.
Strong pitching by Koji EUHARA (JPN) and an offense that roughed up Italian pitching for 13 hits showed the Asian champs are serious in their bid for the podium after going medal-less in the 2000 Olympic Games.

Cuba, a 4-1 victor over Australia, faces Greece in the other evening game.
The host team faces a tough test in Cuba, which has medalled in every Olympic Baseball event and is eager to rebound from its silver medal finish four years ago.

In the day session, Australia will be eager to reassert itself following its loss to Cuba.
It takes on Chinese Taipei, which also stumbled out of the gates, losing 7-0 to Canada.
Both teams need a win to stay on track for a possible appearance in the medal round.

Canada's deep pitching staff and solid defense will pose a tough challenge for an Italian squad still trying to get its footing in major international competition.
Italy has never finished better than sixth at an Olympic Games and can only improve after being outclassed by Japan, which invoked the tournament's first "mercy" rule.
Play is halted in Olympic competition if one team leads by more than 10 runs after seven innings of play.

Adrian Burnside out with elbow injury

Northern Territorian Pitcher Adrian Burnside has sustained an injury to his left elbow during a pre-game warm up session in Athens.

Burnside strained his elbow 15 minutes before the coaching staff were due to submit rosters for the day's game making him unavailable to play.

The extent of the injury is still unclear.
Specialists are currently assessing exactly what damage has been done and we are expected to have a full report for you within the next 24 hours.

Game Reports
Article from the Cairns Post

AUSTRALIA SHUTOUT 0-3 BY CHINESE TAIPEI

Another gallant performance by Australia's 'A-ROOS' came up agonisingly short again today in our second game of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games when we were shutout 0-3 by the ever competitive World No.4 Chinese Taipei.

Yes, we hear you Aussie baseball fans... when are we ever going to stop reporting gallant losses and to start bringing some good news about ground-breaking SUCCESS?

The answer, right at the moment, would seem to be when we have some hitters who can consistently hit against quality international pitching.

For the second straight day, our men were overmatched by a couple of excellent pitchers, being out-hit eight to five on this occasion and finally recording our first extra base hit via the agency of our former major league star David Nilsson who slapped a double!

There can be no complaint about our own pitching that is clearly international class with the "professional status" of some of our pitchers beyond question at this level of competition... not to mention those who are not even in Athens.

Recent major league pitcher John Stephens got the start for Australia and it didn't take long for the Taipei management to realise that he would not provide much scoring opportunity.
Stephens, as usual, was very tidy and, like Anderson yesterday, there was no way that he could be blamed after giving us every opportunity with another quality start.

Our relief corps today of Thompson, Williams and Stockman also did nothing wrong as they kept the game within a tantalising reach.

We were also given a stark reminder today that Asian baseball is a little different to the modern US professional leagues where power and long balls are the order of the day with most games won via a big innings.

With Stephens looking a very difficult proposition for the Taipei hitters they didn't hesitate to take maximum advantage of his first sign of vulnerability in the third innings when they created some minor mayhem with their trademark "little ball".
Taipei gave the Aussies a lesson in how to manufacture a run with a cheap leadoff single turned into the vital opening run with a sac bunt that resulted in an error and a superbly executed hit and run.
With more bunt action threatening, the "crowding" Australian infield surrendered a couple more hits up the middle that may have been double-play balls on another day?
The end result of what may have been an innocent innings was a most valuable 2-0 lead for the Chinese Taipei team.
Certainly it was more than they needed to secure the win on this occasion.

Taipei also "turned the screws" with four stolen bases today.

To rub salt into Australia's wounds Chinese Taipei were gifted a third "insurance run" in the eighth inning when our young centrefielder Trent Oeltjen completely lost sight of a routine fly ball that landed untouched about 5m over his head while he battled the sun.
It can happen to anyone we guess, but certainly John Stephens can feel pretty hard done by to cop the third earned run (and Phil Stockman the hit) on what the vagaries of baseball scoring will record as a safe hit because the ball was not touched!
We don't argue with the scorers, but it is another of the strange interpretations of baseball.

Offensively, it could only be described as another "barren" day for the Aussies against a starting pitcher who, on paper, should not have intimidated them.
6'3" tall Wang is a pitcher in the New York Yankees organisation, currently playing with their 'AA' Trenton Thunder after recovering from a long injury absence.
He did not overpower our men but he had enough "stuff" to allow only three hits from his seven innings today... he may be a pitcher on the rise?

Wang was relieved by the hard-throwing Tsao who is also on his way back from "Tommy John surgery" while currently playing with the Colorado Rockies 'A' Asheville Tourists.
Tsao allowed a couple of scattered hits but he too was never really placed under any serious threat by the seemingly impatient 'A-ROOS' bats.

Not for the first time our former major league star David Nilsson stood out like a beacon for the Aussies wielding the lumber when he batted 2-4 and delivered, as mentioned, our first extra base hit of the tournament.

'Flintoff & Dunn' will maintain the faith and stick with the optimism of our management team that there is no reason for panic after losses to excellent opposition.

However, as we have become accustomed at these events, there will be little room for error against our coming opponents... let's all hope that it turns around for us... pronto!!

... and just a parting word for the Channel SEVEN television coverage of our baseball campaign in Athens.
After showing a total of three pitches last night from our loss to Cuba, we were nearly "spoiled" with about two minutes of the action from our game against Taipei.
Around six pitches from our disastrous third innings and the other Taipei run in the eighth were clearly enough for those who run the programming.
We must understand that they have commitments to MANY other sporting events at the Olympic Games and this must be why they had to "rush off" to show the next 25 minutes of uninterrupted sequential coverage of the European Handball game between Iceland and Spain... NO, this is not a joke!!
Can someone PLEASE explain to the Australian baseball community what we have done to deserve this INSULT!?

ALTOONA CURVE - GAME NOTES FOR AUG. 16
Olympic Update

Former Curve and Senators’ 1B/OF Brett Roneberg went 1-for-4 as the starting RF for Australia in their 3-0 defeat to Taiwan.

The Australians are 0-2 having faced two of the toughest teams in the field (Cuba, Taiwan)

Aussie baseballers lose again

AUSTRALIA is in grave danger of missing a berth in the Olympic baseball semi-finals after losing 3-0 to Taiwan today.

Taiwan scored singles in the second and third innings and got its third run in the eighth when a high ball evaded Australian centrefielder Trent Oeltjen in the tricky, swirling wind, allowing Peng Cheng-Min to score from second base.

Star pitcher Tsao Chin-Hui closed out the match for the Asian side, which bounced back hard after an opening 7-0 loss to Canada.

Australia also lost its opening game 4-1 yesterday to gold medal favourite Cuba.

It will now need to win at least four of its remaining five matches to qualify for the semi-finals and one of them is against powerhouse Japan.

'Tiger' roars as Taiwan wins 3-0

Getting an all-around team effort and great pitching from starter Wang "Tiger" Chien-ming, Taiwan's national baseball team overcame its debacle against Canada the day before to blank Australia 3-0 in Olympic baseball preliminary play yesterday.

Taiwan now has a 1-1 record in the eight-team tournament.

Most analysts believe team's will need to win at least four of their seven preliminary round games to qualify for the final medal round.

Yesterday's victory not only revived Taiwan's medal hopes but also the enthusiasm of local fans who could not have felt confidence in a team that resembled incompetent Little Leaguers in their 7-0 loss to Canada.

Along with strong pitching, the Taiwan national squad also played with a sense of national purpose and mission, as most of the starting lineup contributed to the charged-up offense with at least one hit.

The fielders also chipped in with steady defense, overcoming a stiff breeze at Helliniko Stadium in Athens which had proven quite problematic in the opening game.
Playing on an unfamiliar ballpark under shifting wind conditions, Taiwan only committed one error, compared to four a day earlier.

Taiwan also showed newfound aggressiveness on the base paths, which added pressure and had a disruptive influence on Australia's pitchers and fielders.
They not only stole four bases, but manager Hsu Sheng-ming also wasn't afraid to hit and run, including in the pivotal third inning when Taiwan scored two runs.

Ultimately, however, pitching decided the game, and, not unexpectedly, a New York Yankee farmhand got the best of a Boston Red Sox prospect.

The right-handed Wang, (New York Yankees Triple-A), pitched seven strong innings before giving way to Tsao Chin-hui (Colorado Rockies Triple-A) for the final frames.
Wang and Tsao combined for the five-hit shutout of the national team from Down Under, with winning pitcher Wang at one point retiring 11 Aussie batters in a row.

Australia's starter, John Stephens (Boston Red Sox Triple-A), was tagged with the loss as he and three relievers gave up three runs on nine hits in the game.

In the early going, however, Taiwan's fans and manager Hsu could have been excused for having feelings of deja vu, when Taiwan's shortstop Cheng Chao-han mishandled a grounder to allow Brett Roneberg to reach second in the opening stanza.
Cheng had made two critical errors against Canada, including dropping a pop fly in shallow left field.
Things got worse when David Nilsson poked a single to center to put men on the corners with only one out.
But Wang induced the next batter to hit a grounder up the middle, which Cheng scooped up, stepped on second and through to first to complete an inning-ending double play.

The clouds that had been following Taiwan around Europe had finally lifted.

They would gain all the runs needed in the pivotal third inning when a slumbering attack finally awoke.
With one out, the ninth batter in the lineup, third baseman Chen Yung-chi, beat out a bunt to reach base.
Leadoff man Chen "Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan then perfectly executed a hit and run, poking a grounder through the left side of the infield vacated by the shortstop, who was heading toward second base to defend against the base stealing Chen Yung-chi.
With runners on the corners and one out, Huang "Brother Tung" Chung-yi and Peng "Cha Cha" Cheng-ming smashed RBI singles for Taiwan's first runs in the 2004 Olympics.

The score remained 2-0 until the eighth, when Australian center fielder Craig Oeltjen lost a Peng fly ball in the bright Mediterranean summer sun, giving Peng an RBI-double and Taiwan a 3-0 lead.

After the game, national team manager Hsu said, "This is a significant win for us. It is our first victory in Olympic baseball in twelve years.
Both the team pitching and hitting have returned to the standards we have come to expect.
I'm quite satisfied with their performance today."

"Wang Chien-ming pitched an excellent game for us.
Under such pressure to win, Wang did very well, and had good control against Australia to keep them scoreless," Hsu said.

Chinese Taipei shuts out Australia 3-0

Chinese Taipei rebounded from a disappointing first-game loss to defeat Australia 3-0 at the Olympic Baseball Centre today.

Chien-Ming WANG (TPE), a member of the USA Major League's New York Yankees organization, combined with reliever Chin-Hui TSAO (TPE) in holding the Australians to five hits.

Using a powerful fastball, the 1.90m WANG managed the swirling wind and never allowed the Australians to seriously threaten.
He gave up three hits and no walks in seven innings.

Chin-Hui TSAO (TPE) replaced him in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings to earn the save.

The Taipei offence, thwarted in a 7-0 loss to Canada yesterday, came to life in the third innings with the help of some sloppy defensive play from Australia.

A throwing error by third baseman Glenn WILLIAMS (AUS) and an RBI single from rightfielder Cheng-Min PENG (TPE) provided Taipei with its first two runs of the tournament - and the only offence it needed.

Taipei padded the lead in the eighth when Chen-Min PENG, the 2003 Chinese Taipei Professional Baseball League's batting champion, hit a one-out double that scored Chih-Yuan CHEN (TPE), who had singled and stole second base.

Starter John STEPHENS (AUS) allowed seven hits and three runs in 7-1/3 innings and took the loss for Australia.

Australia is now 0-2, while Chinese Taipei is 1-1.

Lloyd calls for self-belief from baseballers

AUSTRALIAN pitcher Graeme Lloyd reminded his team-mates how the New York Yankees won the 1996 World Series after losing 3-0 to Chinese Taipei in their second preliminary match on Day 3.

Lloyd won the first of his two World Series titles with the Yankees after they lost the first two games of the series at home to the Atlanta Braves.

"After the first two losses, we kept our heads up and went down to Atlanta and then proceeded to win the next four games straight to win the best of seven match series 4-2," said Lloyd.
"Although we are 0-2 at the Olympics, I know we have the ball club to go on from here commencing with Italy tomorrow," he added.
We've got to keep believing in ourselves because I know we are a good team."

Playing in very windy conditions, the Australia batters found Chinese Taipei pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang, a Major League pitcher with Colorado Rockies, too hot to handle as he only gave up three hits in seven innings on the mound.

Pitcher John Stephens took the loss for Australia but wasn't assisted by two key fielding errors.

At the top of the third inning with batters on third and first base, third baseman Glenn Williams made a fielding error which allowed Yung-Chi Chen to score.
Then Chung-Yi Huang drove in Chih-Yuan Chen for the second run of the match.

At the top of the seventh, Cheng-Min Peng flied out to centre fielder Trent Oeltjen who lost sight of the ball against the clouds allowing Chih-Yuan Chen to score his second run of the match.

Head coach Jon Deeble said little separates the teams.

"Both Cuba and Chinese Taipei have thrown their best pitchers at us and we need to step up to the challenge and I'm still confident we can fight back," said Deeble.

Australia plays its third game against Italy tomorrow.

Comments
Jon DEEBLE (AUS) - manager
On the team's performance
"We played quite well, and made a good effort."
On their opponents
"They had two very good pitchers today."
On strategy for upcoming games
"I don't intend to change anything. I am satisfied and we will continue as we started."

David NILSSON (AUS) - catcher
On the team's performance
"The only problem today was that we just didn't score and run."
On upcoming games
"We are a team with good ability. All we have to do is continue playing our game."

Sheng-Ming HSU (TPE) - manager
On what he told the team after yesterday's loss
"I told them that they didn't play well and that they needed to wake up. Now is the time."
On the team's performance
"I was happy today because the team played the way I wanted."
On winning pitcher WANG's performance
"WANG played excellently today. His pitching was wonderful."

Chien-Ming WANG (TPE) - winning pitcher
On the windy conditions
"When I was lifting my leg to pitch, the wind was so strong I felt like I was going to lose my balance. Then I got used to the wind and I felt OK."
On his performance
"I feel like I pitched well today. But it was about 80 percent."