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08/26/2004 Archived Entry: "Olympic Baseball - August 26, 2004"
Olympic Baseball - August 26, 2004
by Max Blue
http://maxblue3.tripod.com/darkblue
CUBA GETS GOLD
Cuban closer Danny Betancourt, in his shiny red shirt, threw his arms in the air after whiffing Brendan Kingman for the final out in his team’s 6-2 win over Australia. The win gave Cuba its third gold medal in the last four Olympics. Tommy Lasorda and Ben Sheets will tell you about the year 2000 in Australia when Cuba had to settle for silver.
Australia did not go meekly. After Cuba’s Frederick Cepeda smacked a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, Australia’s Paul Gonzalez cut the lead in half with a homerun in the bottom of the fifth. Cuba’s four-run sixth put the game away. Cuba used four pitchers – Norge Luis Vera, Vicyohandri Odelin, Adiel Palma, and Betancourt.
Australia took the silver medal, the countries’ first Olympic medal in baseball.
Japan easily handled a disheartened Canada team 11-2 to win the bronze. Canadian manager Ernie Whitt conceded that his team had a hard time getting over the 8-5 loss to Cuba after leading into the 8th inning.
