Unbeaten Chinese Taipei stayed on course for a gold medal on Monday after a 4-2 win over China in the baseball tournament at the 15th Asian Games, as defending champion South Korea claimed its second victory after beating Thailand 12-1.

A solo homer by third baseman Chang Tai-shan helped Chinese Taipei open the scoring at bottom of the second inning, but China answered quickly with a run by Yang Shuo at top of the third.

After Chinese Taipei scored two more runs at bottom of the third inning, China's left fielder Zhang Hongbo hit a solo home run in the seventh.

At top of the eighth inning, China got a perfect chance for scoring, with men on first and third and only one out. But hitters Wang Wei and Li Lei failed to grasp the chance, both struck out by Keng Po Hsuan.

Another home run by designated hitter Chen Chin Feng of Chinese Taipei in the eighth inning sealed the game 4-2.

"We played much better than yesterday," said Chinese player Hou Fenglian, who had good performance in Monday's match. The Chinese squad suffered a sad 0-16 loss to Japan on Sunday.

"Our players are comparatively inexperienced and they failed to grasp the chance," Hou said.

Hou's teammate, Yang Shuo, said that the Chinese baseball team had made notable progress in recent years. But "we need to strengthen our defense", he said.

Later on Monday, defending Asian Games champion South Korea crushed Thailand 12-1 after eight innings.

South Korea, virtually out of the race for gold after defeats to Chinese Taipei and Japan, will fight against China for a bronze medal on Wednesday.

Chinese Taipei and Japan, both 3 for 3 in the previous games, will vie for the gold medal Thursday in the final round-robin game in the tournament.