U.S. prepares to meet Cuba in semis

BEIJING -- The U.S. Olympic Baseball Team begins medal round competition on Friday evening (Friday morning in the U.S.) with a semifinal contest versus Cuba scheduled for 6 p.m. local time (6 a.m. EDT) at the Wukesong Main Field. The winner of Friday night's game will advance to the gold-medal final that will be held Saturday night, with first pitch also set for 6 p.m.
The U.S. finished preliminary competition with a 5-2 record and enters medal-round play on a four-game winning streak and as the No. 3 seed. The U.S. is hitting .253 as a team with the pitching staff owning a 2.06 ERA in 65 2/3 innings pitched. The Red, White & Blue has also been stellar with the glove, fielding .986 through the first seven contests.
The 2008 Olympics has been tightly contested as five of the seven games the U.S. has played have been decided by two runs or less.
Team USA and Cuba held a hard-fought game last Friday that saw Cuba edge out the U.S. 5-4 in 11 innings. The game featured the use of the extra inning tiebreaker for the first time and saw the U.S. twice come back from deficits versus the Cubans before eventually falling in the 11th inning.
Since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the U.S. has won two gold medals (1988, 2000), earned one silver medal (1992) and taken home one bronze medal (1996).
Baseball in Olympics History
Games
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1984 Los Angeles*
Japan
United States
Chinese Taipei
1988 Seoul*
United States
Japan
Puerto Rico
1992 Barcelona
Cuba
Chinese Taipei
Japan
1996 Atlanta
Cuba
Japan
United States
2000 Sydney
United States
Cuba
Korea
2004 Athens
Cuba
Australia
Japan
Note: Baseball was a demonstration sport in 1984 and 1988. It was not until 1992 that baseball was named an official Olympic medal sport.
2008 Olympic Games Results
Date
Opponent
Result
Pitcher of Record
Leading Hitter
Aug. 13
vs. Korea
L, 8-7
Stevens (0-1)
Barden (3 hits)
Aug. 14
vs. Netherlands
W, 7-0 (8 inn.)
Strasburg (1-0)
Donald (3)
Aug. 15
vs. Cuba
L, 5-4 (11 inn.)
Stevens (0-2)
Tiffee (2)
Aug. 16
vs. Canada
W, 5-4
Duensing (1-0)
3 players (2)
Aug. 18
vs. China
W, 9-1
Arrieta (1-0)
2 players (2)
Aug. 19
vs. Chinese Taipei
W, 4-2
Knight (1-0)
Fowler (3)
Aug. 20
vs. Japan
W, 4-2 (11 inn.)
Stevens (1-2)
Fowler (2)