Superb US continues to dominate

American Finch denied Chinese Taipei a score with some tight pitching

The US continued their domination of the softball competition with a 7-0 win over Chinese Taipei to extend their Olympic winning streak to 19 matches.

Jessica Mendoza hit her third home run in two days and Jennie Finch pitched five shutout innings as the US posted its fourth shutout in five games.

In Beijing so far, the Americans have outscored the opposition 36-1.

Elsewhere Venezuela, playing in its first Olympics, stunned Canada 2-0 with pitcher Mariangee Bogado the star.

As it did four years ago in Greece, the US is easily beating the opposition on a run toward a fourth straight gold medal - though softball will not be a part of the 2012 Olympics in London.

The campaign to get it voted back onto the Olympic roster appears to be having little impact, with only a handful of the International Olympic Committee's 110 members attending a game so far.

The International Softball Federation (ISF) has been vigorously lobbying IOC members in Beijing in effort to get the sport reinstated for the 2016 Games.

Other results on Saturday saw defending bronze medallists Japan beat China 3-0 while Australia beat the Netherlands 8-0.

The top four teams in round-robin play advance to next week's medal round.