Cuba crushed their ideological rivals the US 10-2 yesterday to reach the Beijing Olympics baseball final.
The defending champions pounded the US pitchers for 14 hits to earn a meeting with South Korea in the gold medal match today.
The South Koreans defeated Japan in the other semi-final earlier yesterday.
The US will play Japan in the bronze-medal match today.
The Americans started right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasbourg, who had allowed one hit, one walk and 11 strikeouts in winning one game on the way to the semi-finals.
Cuba went with Luis Vera, a 37-year-old who was part of the Athens Olympics gold-winning side and the silver medalist Cubans in the Sydney 2000 Games.
Cuban bats came alive in the third inning for two runs, one of them unearned, on three hits.
Lead-off batter Giorbis Duvergel started with a one-out base hit. First baseman Hector Olivera scored Duvergel with a mammoth three-base hit, then scored himself after a wild fielder’s throw to third.
The US tried to rally at the top of the ninth inning when Matt Brown nailed a two-base hit that sent Terry Tiffee to third base.
However, John Gall flied out to right field and Pedro Luis Lazo struck out Mike Haissman and Lou Marson in succession to end the US resistance.
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