U.S. Finally Overcomes Cuba in Baseball

For the first time in 12 years, the U.S. baseball team beat the world champion Cubans in a major competition, scoring five runs in the ninth inning Wednesday for a 10-5 victory at the Pan American Games.

For the Cubans, who split two exhibition games with the Baltimore Orioles earlier this year, it was a stunning defeat. They had not lost to the U.S. in such an event since the 1987 Pan-Am Games at Indianapolis.

The United States did it with a group of minor leaguers, few of whom are top major league prospects. Most notable was Marcus Jensen, who hit a three-run home run to break a 5-5 tie in the ninth.

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In men’s soccer, Canada beat Guatemala, 2-1, in a rowdy game that included six ejections. Police rushed to the field to protect U.S. referee Richard Grady in the final minute after his fourth ejection of a Guatemalan player. He also ejected both team’s coaches.

Grady is a third-year FIFA referee who has officiated in each of Major League Soccer’s four seasons and worked games in the Spanish Primera Division in an exchange program with MLS.

He ejected the first three Guatemalans in the first 20 minutes for hard fouls and their protests.

Guatemala and Canada have had their problems on the soccer field in recent months. This summer the senior Guatemala side had three players sent off in two games--both losses--against Canada in Toronto and Edmonton.

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Two more Cubans--a shooter and softball coach Jose Mendez--have sought asylum in Canada, sources close to the Cuban team told the Associated Press. That raises the number of reported Cuban defections to four at the Games.

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In track and field, Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey, criticized for not running in the 100 meters, ran the opening leg on Canada’s 400 relay team, which recorded the fastest time in the semifinals, 38.74 seconds. Cuba’s Magalys Garcia completed the women’s heptathlon with 6,290 points to win the gold medal. The silver and bronze went to Americans Shelia Burrell and Nicole Haynes. In the women’s 1,500 meters, legally blind Marla Runyan crossed the finish line just ahead of Canada’s Leah Pells, even though both had identical times of 4 minutes 16.86 seconds. Runyan has a degenerative retina.