SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ An Italian lunch, another late-inning win, a sparkling surprise in the clubhouse. Tom Lasorda's 73rd birthday was almost as perfect as his team's record.

The only hard part was getting through it.

A reliever's throwing error in the eighth inning gave the United States two runs and a 4-2 victory Friday over Italy, keeping the Americans unbeaten heading into their showdown with Cuba.

The close call left Lasorda harried and hoarse for his final surprise of the night _ a traditional Australian treat called a Crock in Bush.

Three sparklers sizzled atop the stacked cream puffs covered with caramelized syrup that awaited him in the darkened clubhouse. The players sang "Happy Birthday" when he walked in.

"This is one of the nicest birthday presents I've had in a long time," Lasorda told the players standing around him. "I want to thank you for this. It was very tough, but we got it. It's in the books."

For a couple of tense hours, it looked like it might go down in the books as the second big upset of the tournament.

The United States scored two runs in the first off an Italian pitcher who was born in California and attended UNLV, then rallied after Ben Sheets let the lead slip away.

Battista Perri walked two batters with two outs in the eighth, and reliever Jason Simontacchi let both runners score with a wild throw to first on Mike Kinkade's comebacker.

That break meant that for the first time in Olympic baseball history, the United States (5-0) will have a better record than Cuba (4-1) when they play their round-robin game Saturday. Lasorda has already stoked emotions by saying he wants to beat Cuba on behalf of the exiles in Florida.

"Obviously we want to play well and put an impression in their minds," outfielder Mike Neill said.

First, the United States had to get past Italy (1-4), a team that's never won more than two games in the Olympic tournament. This one was special for Lasorda, a proud Italian and son of an immigrant who settled in Norristown, Pa.

"To beat Italy is special," said Lasorda, who had lunch with the Italian coaches. "To do it on my birthday is extra special. I wanted to beat those guys so bad because I did not want them to beat the United States of America. My father was born in Italy, I was born in America and it was my country versus his."

It wasn't as easy as everyone anticipated. Italy kept it close, looking to pull off the second big upset of the tournament two days after the Netherlands beat Cuba.

"They gave us a scare, believe me," Lasorda said.

Lasorda wore a big smile when he took the field for pregame introductions and the Aussie announcer said, "And the birthday boy, a big happy birthday!"

The Hall of Fame manager acknowledged a loud ovation with a wave of his dark blue "USA" cap. After a bow to the umpires from Taiwan and Japan, he shook the hand of Italian manager Silvano Ambrosioni, sharing a story and a laugh.

Lasorda's background has always been a source of pride. When Frank Torre, the brother of the Yankees' manager, got a heart transplant in 1996, Lasorda sent a note of encouragement that included this P.S.: "I hope you got an Italian heart."

With a steady, cool wind blowing directly into the U.S. dugout from right field, Lasorda donned a blue jacket, pulled up the collar and watched his team pull ahead in the first inning on three singles.

He popped out of the dugout when the first base umpire from South Africa called Kinkade out for kicking the ball in fair territory. The discussion was as brief and tame as Lasorda's other two in the tournament.

Italy tied it in the fourth on David Sheldon's RBI single and Luigi Carrozza's run-scoring infield hit _ the first runs off Sheets in two starts. Sheets took a hard comeback grounder off his right wrist in the sixth, retired the next two batters and left the game.

Lasorda grew increasingly worried and finally took off his jacket as his team struggled against Perri, a 25-year-old pitcher/waiter born in Santa Clara. The light-hitting Americans had problems with his sidearm deliveries, getting only six singles in 7 2-3 innings.

The two walks and the reliever's wild throw gave the United States its third late-inning winning rally.

(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)