US dominating Olympic softball

BEIJING – Forced to play two games in one day, the US softball team scored four unearned runs in the sixth inning to beat Canada, 8-1, Friday running its Olympic winning streak to 18. After beating Japan, 7-0, the Americans resumed their suspended game with Canada from Thursday trailing, 1-0, in the fourth inning. The three-time defending gold medalists were five outs away from suffering their first loss since the 2000 games, when Canadian shortstop Jennifer Salling made two errors and pitcher Dione Meier hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in the tying run and threw a wild pitch to give USA a 2-1 lead. Cat Osterman pitched three no-hit innings for USA (4-0), which added four insurance runs in the seventh. Jessica Mendoza hit a pair of two-run homers, Natasha Watley homered leading off the game and Crystl Bustos banged another one over the wall in the win over Japan. Earlier Friday, the Canadians defeated China 1-0, their first win in Olympic play over the host nation and one that all but assured Canada (3-1) a spot in next week's medal round. Lauren Bay Regula pitched out of a none-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning when Canada survived a debatable interference call against shortstop Jennifer Salling on a rundown that put the Chinese in scoring position. In the evening session, Australia (1-2) played Taiwan (1-2) and Venezuela (0-3) faced the Netherlands (0-3). – AP