Four no-hit innings from the starter. An inside-the-park home run and two of the over-the-fence variety. A record number of runs ending things after five innings.

Yep, the Americans are back to their old tricks on the softball diamond, beating Venezuela 11-0 for their 15th straight Olympic victory.

Jennie Finch was the pitching star, with the homers coming from Natasha Watley, Crystl Bustos and Caitlin Lowe, whose shot didn’t leave the yard.

“It was a great show and I hope we have many more,” U.S. coach Mike Candrea said.

In other openers, Japan beat Australia 4-3; Canada’s Laura Bay Regula — the sister of Boston Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay — allowed one hit in five innings and Megan Timpf drove in three runs in a 6-1 win over Taiwan; and China beat The Netherlands 10-2.

Also on Tuesday:

Men’s basketball

Coming off a 31-point win over host China and knowing that next up is Greece — the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship — the “Redeem Team” merely had to take care of business against Angola. They did, winning 97-76 behind 19 points from Dwyane Wade, 14 from Dwight Howard and 12 from LeBron James.

“We were not looking ahead,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Overall I was very pleased with tonight.”

Other games told more about the Americans’ Group B foes; Dirk Nowitzki and Germany might not be that tough and Spain might be vulnerable.

Spain trailed by 14 going into the fourth quarter against China, then won 85-75 in overtime after Yao Ming fouled out early in the extra session.

Greece smothered Nowitzki, limiting him to 13 points in an 87-64 victory. The former NBA MVP spent most of the final quarter on the bench resting for the next game. Chris Kaman scored only four points for the Germans.

Women’s soccer

Heather O’Reilly scored 40 seconds into the match, leading the U.S. past New Zealand 4-0 and into the quarterfinals. Better yet, they won their group, avoiding a match with title contender Brazil.

Here’s the quarterfinals slate: United States vs. Canada; Brazil vs. Norway; Sweden vs. Germany; and China vs. Japan. The winners of the first two games, and the last two games, will meet in the semis.

Tennis

Serena won. Venus won. Then, they won together — three victories in one day for the Williams sisters.

Each swept their way into the third round in singles, then together knocked off a Czech duo in doubles.

In men’s singles, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both advanced with ease, with Nadal dropping only three games total against Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Federer next faces Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat him at the last Olympics.

Americans Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match, as did the No. 1-seeded men’s duo, Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States.

In women’s singles, Jelena Jankovic moved atop the rankings and celebrated with a victory. James Blake, the lone remaining U.S. player in men’s singles, also won, as did No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Volleyball

Wearing the initials TB on one shoe and BB on another, the U.S. men paid tribute to their coach’s in-laws in their four-set victory over Italy.

The letters were for Todd and Barbara Bachman, the in-laws of coach Hugh McCutcheon. Todd was killed and Barbara seriously wounded in a knife attack at a tourist site Saturday. McCutcheon has left the team to be with his wife, 2004 U.S. Olympian Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon; it’s not known when he’ll return.

Shooting

Glenn Eller is a member of the U.S. Army. He’s also the new double-trap champion, having set an Olympic record with his score. So it’s no surprise that his spot in the military is being part of the Army Marksmanship Unit. Fourth went to Jeff Holguin, another Army marksman.

Diving

Teenagers Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin won the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform title, making the hosts three for three in diving thus far with five events left.

Marathon

There will be a new women’s marathon champ. Japan’s Mizuki Noguchi pulled out because of injuries to her left thigh and groin.

Paula Radcliffe, the world record-holder from Britain, told the BBC she’ll be racing despite a nagging thigh problem.

Beach volleyball

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor keep looking good in their bid for a second straight gold, improving to 2-0 with a straight sets victory over Cuba that virtually assures them of a spot in the medal round. It was their 103rd consecutive victory.

Badminton

Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong have gone where no American badminton tandem has ever gone — the quarterfinals. Next up, though, is a second-seeded Chinese pair with a loud, loyal following.

Equestrian

American Gina Miles, riding McKinlaigh, won the individual silver medal in eventing. Gold went to German Hinrich Romeike, riding Marius.

Germany won the gold in team eventing in an exciting showdown with Australia that went down to the final two riders.

Water polo

Jeffrey Powers had three goals, Tony Azevedo added two and the Americans barely escaped with a 12-11 victory against Italy in preliminary play. At 2-0 in the Group B pool, they’re in solid position to advance to the quarterfinals even with Serbia and gold-medal favorite Croatia in the next two games.

Field hockey

The U.S. women again tied a highly ranked team, matching Japan at 1-1, but could use a victory to get into the next round.

Rowing

The U.S. men’s eight crew advanced to the final with a win in the second-chance race, keeping alive hopes of defending the Olympic title. Three members from the 2004 team are back.

Sailing

American favorite Anna Tunnicliffe topped the rankings in Laser Radial sailing after two opening races, while Australia maintained its lead in both the men’s and women’s 470 dinghy classes.