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Saturday, September 23
Shouting and cursing all part of the game
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- 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.
|  | | Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano is restrained by umpire Carlos Rey after U.S. batter Ernie Young bumped Pestano.
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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 run-scoring 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.
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ALSO SEE
U.S.-Cuba box score
U.S. gets two runs on error in eighth to beat Italy 4-2
U.S. survives shaky first inning to beat the Netherlands
U.S. baseball victory features Unit-like performance
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