U.S. Baseball Team Falls To Cuba
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ No way, U.S.A.
Already stripped of their perfect record, the Cubans weren't going to let manager Tom Lasorda make good on his promise to beat them for the exiles in Florida.
Instead, they came in with their emotions revved and their spikes high Saturday, sending a message to the previously unbeaten Americans. A 6-1 victory showed that Cuba is still the team to beat _ and not one to be tweaked.
"We dedicate this win to all the people of Cuba," manager Servio Borges said pointedly.
All the Americans could do was stew. They felt they'd been thrown at and spiked, but had to admit they'd been soundly beaten.
"Hopefully it will get all the guys on the team fired up and we can make some noise next time," said outfielder Ernie Young, who got into it with the Cuban catcher, causing the benches to clear.
Any next time would come in the medal round, where Cuba and the United States are headed with 5-1 records. Matchups won't be determined until the round-robin tournament concludes Sunday.
Lasorda wouldn't even talk about the chances of a rematch.
"We don't know if we're going to play them again," he said.
As Lasorda talked to reporters in an interview area by the stands, dozens of Cuban supporters watched and occasionally taunted.
"Hey, Tommy, did you lose it for the Cubans in Miami?" one fan yelled.
Lasorda stopped talking, glared at the man and then continued the interview without responding.
After what had just happened, there was little to say. The Cubans dominated a game that will be remembered primarily for the shouting and cussing.
The Cubans were never seriously challenged after they scored four runs in the first. Jose Ibar struck out eight in seven innings, and U.S. batters fanned 14 times in all.
"This was the most important game for me ever," said Ibar, a 31-year-old breaking-ball specialist whose fastball hit the 90s.
The only place the United States put up much of a fight was on the field _ and even that was tame.
Ibar, who had impeccable control, hit Young in the back of the shoulder with two outs in the fourth. Young, the Americans' best hitter, started to first after a moment and brushed catcher Ariel Pestano, giving him a little shove as he went down the line.
The catcher started after Young, but the home plate umpire from Puerto Rico restrained him. Both benches emptied and met at the first base line, exchanging words but nothing else.
Both teams were warned, cutting off any thought of retaliation.
When Pestano reached the Cuban bench after the inning, he gestured with his forearm to the coaches, showing what Young had done.
"I'm not going to be intimidated by anyone," Young said, admitting he shoved the catcher. "I've been playing this game just as long as they have and I know when I've been hit intentionally. I'm from the streets also and I know how to play just as dirty as they do."
Miguel Caldes was involved in the inning's other testy moment. He hit a slow roller to third that couldn't be fielded and was running a few feet inside the line when he approached first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who dove to the ground.
Caldes ran into his legs and took a hard tumble, yelling as he sat on the ground, but the flare-up ended there.
Finally, Yobal Duenas scored a run in the eighth by sliding into 37-year-old catcher Pat Borders with cleats up. Borders rolled over, got up, limped around, kicked his facemask and yelled an obscenity at Duenas.
Although Borders didn't take issue with the slide after the game, his teammates were fuming.
"That was dirty," shortstop Adam Everett said. "Pat was six feet off the plate. All he had to do was slide and he was safe."
Otherwise, it wasn't much a game after the Cubans got to 30-year-old journeyman Rick Krivda in the first. Lasorda decided to start the left-hander instead of one of his hard-throwing youngsters and quickly regretted it.
The Cubans piled up four runs in the first, setting the tone. Luis Ulacia led off with a bunt single, Omar Linares walked and Antonio Pacheco singled to center to score Ulacia, who slid hard across the plate and pointed to the Cuban fans behind home plate in celebration.
Oscar Macias followed with another RBI single and Miguel Caldes doubled to left-center for a 4-0 lead.
Jon Rauch, the 6-foot-11 right-hander who struck out 13 against South Africa earlier in the week, stopped the Cubans' offense by striking out eight in four relief innings.
By the time Rauch got into the game, it was all over except for the shouting.
(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
