Baseball Gold Medal Game
JPN vs. CUB
Cuba Wins Gold in Baseball With Seven Home Runs.
Cuba captured the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic baseball competition with a 13-9 victory over Japan at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on Friday night.
Cuban hitters erupted with a 14-hit barrage that included an Olympic record eight home runs. Third baseman Omar LINARES delivered three home runs and six RBI in the contest to set an Olympic single-game record. A first inning home run by Orestes KINDELAN set the Olympic competition record for home runs and RBI with nine and 18, respectively.
Cuba struck early, tallying three runs in the first frame off starter Masanori SUGIURA. LINARES hit his first blast following a single by Luis ULICIA. The single was ULICIA's first of four hits in the contest, including a single, two doubles and a home run. KINDELAN matched LINARES with a solo home run to make the score 3-0.
Cuba jumped on the Japanese pitchers again in the second inning. Jose ESTRADA doubled in Miguel CALDES and then scored on a ULICIA home run. The blast greeted Japanese reliever Jutaro KIMURA. After the home run, the side-winding right-hander shutdown Cuba until the sixth inning.
Japan had tied the score at 6-6 with a couple home runs of their own. KIMURA returned to the mound after shutting down Cuba for three innings. CALDES ended KIMURA's success with a long home run into the left field bleachers. The blast proved to be the run that put Cuba ahead to stay.
Takeo KUWAMURA replaced KIMURA and Cuba broke the game wide open with three runs. Eduardo PARET delivered a solo shot to up the score to 8-6. Following a single by ESTRADA, LINARES homered for the second time in the contest to put Cuba ahead by four runs.
Japan cut into the deficit with a solo home run by Yoshitomo TANI in the seventh inning, but Cuba answered the scoring with three more runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Antonio PACHECO hit a solo home run in the seventh and LINARES added a two-run homer in the eighth.
Japan notched two final runs in the top of the ninth inning. TANI hit a home run to close the scoring at 13-9. TANI's blast was his second of the contest.
Pedro Luis LAZO picked up the win for Cuba in relief. LAZO allowed three runs in the final 4.1 innings to pick up the win. The victory moved Cuba to a 9-0 mark in this Games and 18-0 in Olympic baseball history.
Final Score: CUB 13, JPN 9.
"Everyone will be so happy back in Cuba," said Cuban head coach Jorge FUENTES. "It will be a big party. I'm sure everyone will be happy with this gold medal we worked so hard for."
USA vs. NCA
Four Blasts Lead United States to Bronze in Baseball
The United States used four home runs to defeat Nicaragua 10-3, on way to its first official medal in Olympic baseball history.
Home runs by Travis LEE, Matt LE CROY, Troy GLAUS and Jason WILLIAMS highlighted the 12-hit attack in the U.S. triumph.Seth GREISINGER and Braden LOOPER held the Nicaragua bats to just three hits.
The United States touched Nicaraguan starter Jose Luis QUIROZ for four runs in the opening frame. Following a walk and a hits batsman, LEE delivered with a three-run blast to left field. LE CROY matched LEE with a home run to left field to make the score 4-0.
Nicaragua came back, notching three runs in the bottom of the inning. The first two hitters reached on a walk and a single against U.S. starter GREISINGER. Following a balk, one run scored on a sacrifice fly by Nemesio PORRAS. Henry ROA added another run when he tripled in Jorge Luis AVELLAN. ROA then scored on a ground out by Erasmo BACA to cut the score to 4-3.
GREISINGER settled down, retiring the next 11 batters. He combined with reliever LOOPER to shutout Nicaragua the rest of the contest. LOOPER came in and retired six of the seven batters he faced to preserve the U.S. win.
The United States added single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to up the score to 7-3. Warren MORRIS drove in the run in the fourth with a single to center field. WILLIAMS singled in A.J. HINCH to add the run in the sixth. Troy GLAUS blasted a solo home run to tally the U.S. run in the seventh.
The United States put the game out of reach in the eighth inning, notching three runs. The big blow of the inning was a two-run blast off the bat of WILLIAMS. The United States closed the scoring when pinch-runner Chad GREEN crossed the plate on a fielder's choice.
The win claimed the United States first-ever medal in Olympic baseball competition and improved its record to 7-2. Nicaragua ended the tournament with a 4-5 mark.
Final Score: USA 10 - NCA 3
"It's a little bit of mixed emotions right now," said U.S. catcher A.J. HINCH. "We wish we would have had an opportunity for the gold, but we can't complain for medaling."
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| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |