BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : U.S. Power Pitcher to Test Swaggering Cubans

The U.S. basketball team is not the only dream team in these Olympics. Cuba’s baseball juggernaut is nearly as invincible, an international powerhouse that toys with opponents.

“They come out and strut around and try to intimidate you,” said pitcher Rick Helling, who will start for the United States against the Cubans tonight in the featured game of the baseball tournament. “They know they are good, and they figure they can win it before it even starts. But that stuff doesn’t affect me. Sometimes, I don’t even remember who is batting against me.”

Helling is a specialist of sorts. He is on the U.S. roster for one major reason: He has had more success against Cuba than any other U.S. pitcher. He has given up only one run in 9 2/3 innings, including three shutout innings this summer when the teams played seven games. Cuba won five of those, but the U.S. team is convinced it can be competitive with Helling on the mound.

“He’s got to be a guy who has confidence against them,” U.S. Coach Ron Fraser said after his team beat Italy, 10-0, Tuesday for its third consecutive victory here. “He could shut them down, he is capable of that. But we have to give him some support.”

The Americans certainly are scoring enough. They are averaging eight runs a game, but that probably would be higher if not for the benevolence of Olympic rules. In this tournament, games in which the home team is ahead by 10 or more runs after 6 1/2 innings, or the visitors after seven, are stopped under what is called the knockout rule.

The United States reached the 10-0 cutoff against Italy with no one out in the bottom of the eighth and two runners on base.

The Italians had no chance against left-hander B.J. Wallace of Mississippi State. Wallace struck out 14 and gave up only five hits, producing what Fraser called “the best game that we have had pitched all summer.” Still, this was Italy (0-3), not Cuba.

Fraser is trying to keep opponents off balance with an aggressive running style, but the Americans had a handful of botched offensive plays against the Italians, including two unsuccessful sacrifice bunts and a failed double-steal.

But Fraser was encouraged by the performance of leadoff batter Calvin Murray, who had only one hit in the first two games. Murray is the catalyst of the U.S. attack, and he flourished in that role against Italy. He went three for four, scored twice, had one stolen base and drove in a run. Chris Wimmer, Jeff Hammonds and Nomar Garciaparra each had two runs batted in. The United States got 15 hits against starter Paola Ceccaroli.

“We are a gambling type of ballclub,” Fraser said. “The first part of the lineup likes to run and do things, and then we wait for the other guys to come around. We’ll get it right, and we’ll keep doing it. They (the Cubans) will know we’re there.”

Cuba defeated Japan, 8-2, Tuesday night. Omar Linares hit two of his team’s three home runs, both with the bases empty, and Antonio Pacheco had a two-run shot for the winners. In other round-robin games, Taiwan routed Puerto Rico, 10-1, and the Dominican Republic beat Spain, 11-2.

Tonight, the Cuban sluggers will try their luck against Helling, a first-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers who will be pitching in his biggest game.

“I’m just going out and pitch my style,” the right-hander from Stanford said. “I am a power pitcher, and they are mostly a right-hand hitting team. I’ll throw the fastball inside and a slider away. They’ve had trouble with that when I’ve faced them before, so we will see what happens this time.”