Philippines defeats Thailand in World Baseball Classic qualifiers opener

Philippines opens up WBC qualifiers with a win. PHOTO FROM WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TWITTER ACCOUNT

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines got off to a good start with an 8-2 romp of Thailand in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers opener Thursday.

Ranked 34th in the world, the Filipinos overwhelmed the youthful Thais—who even had Major League Baseball (MLB) veteran Johnny Damon in their roster.

The Philippines—a first timer in the qualifiers—scored three runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead, and never looked back from there.

The Philippines faces the victor in the Chinese Taipei-New Zealand clash at the New Taipei City in Taiwan.

Thailand opened with its first run in the first inning, but did not score again until the ninth inning.

The remaining two teams at the end of the double-elimination tournament play each other to determine the winner of the qualifiers.