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Cuba Edges U.S. In Baseball, And Not Without Controversy

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A Tribune wire report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 16, 2008

BEIJING - The United States and Cuba are political adversaries and fierce baseball rivals, so the preliminary-round game Friday between the teams had the feel of a gold-medal showdown. Cuba needed nearly four hours, 11 innings and a new tiebreaker rule to beat the U.S., 5-4.

Afterward, U.S. manager Davey Johnson accused Cuban relief pitcher Pedro Lazo of throwing at Jayson Nix's head when Nix was attempting to bunt in the bottom of the 11th. The ball fouled off Nix's eye, and Johnson said his status for the rest of the Games is unknown. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

"I lost my second baseman when the pitcher threw the ball at his head, and I don't see any place for that in baseball," Johnson said. "I respect the way Cuba plays baseball, but I don't like losing players or how that game ended. Lazo is a good pitcher, but he hit him in the eye. No game of baseball is worth that."

Cuban manager Antonio Pacheco and Lazo vehemently denied the pitch was aimed at Nix's head.

One thing both teams agreed on was that they don't like the new 11th-inning tiebreaker rule. If teams are tied after 10 innings, each team gets to put runners on first and second to start subsequent innings. Cuba sent Luis Navas to first and Hector Olivera to second, and that proved critical. Both runners scored on a Michel Enriquez line-drive single.

After Nix's injury, Brian Barden laid down a bunt to move runners to second and third. Terry Tiffee hit a sacrifice fly, but Matt Brown popped out to seal the win for Cuba.

BASKETBALL: Tina Thompson scored nine of her 17 points in a decisive third-quarter run and the U.S. women's team pulled away from Spain 93-55. With the win, the Americans clinch the top spot in the pool.

FIELD HOCKEY: Keli Smith scored in the opening minute and the U.S. women's team defeated New Zealand 4-1 for its first win at these Olympics.

SHOOTING: Artur Ayvazian of Ukraine won the gold medal in the men's 50-meter prone rifle, holding off American Matt Emmons in the final round. Emmons won the silver Friday, and Warren Potent of Australia took the bronze.

SOCCER: Natasha Kai headed in an extra-time goal, giving the defending champion U.S. women's team a spot in the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Canada.

SOFTBALL: The U.S. set an Olympic record with four homers in a 7-0 win over Japan. Then they resumed a rain-stopped game against Canada, trailing 1-0. After being five outs from losing, they won 8-1.

TRACK AND FIELD: Tyson Gay, the defending world champion in the 100, finished his quarterfinal race in 10.09 seconds, second behind NCAA champion Richard Thompson of Trinidad, to advance easily to the final 16 in track and field's glamour event. Also advancing were Usain Bolt and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, keeping alive a potential dream final matching the three men with the eight fastest times in history. Walter Dix of FSU also made the semifinals.

Shalane Flanagan set a U.S. record of 30:22.22 to win the bronze the medal in the women's 10,000 meters. Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia took the gold in an Olympic-record 29 minutes, 54.66 seconds - the second-fastest time for a woman at that distance. Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse finished second in 29:56.34.

Christian Cantwell, the two-time world indoor champion, won the silver medal in the shot put at 69 feet, 21/2 inches. Tomasz Majewski of Poland won the gold with a career best 70 feet, 61/2 inches. Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus collected bronze at 69 feet, 3/4 inches.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. men's coach Hugh McCutcheon rejoined his team after his in-laws were attacked at a popular tourist site in Beijing.

McCutcheon missed the team's first three games after his father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was fatally stabbed one week ago. His mother-in-law, Barbara Bachman, was badly wounded. USA Volleyball confirmed that Barbara Bachman was airlifted from Beijing to a hospital in the United States.

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