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The last two unbeaten teams in the Olympic basebal tournament, Korea and Cuba, faced off Tuesday morning in Beijing and the Koreans came out on top 7-4.
The AP story says that Korea will be first or second depending upon the result of its last game, although I'm not sure how Cuba can pass up Korea if the first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition and there is only one game left for both teams.
Regardless, Korea's last game in pool play is against the Netherlands tomorrow and the Dutch lost their fifth game, getting shut out by Canada 4-0. The Dutch are mathematically eliminated at 1-5 and the Canadians are on life support at 2-4.
The USA edged Taiwan 4-2 to advance to the medal round. John Gall had a solo home run in the sixth and Dexter Fowler had an orange alert (home run).
Japan moved on to the medal round with a 10-0 win over China that was shortened by the mercy rule.
The USA will play Japan in the final game in pool play to decide third place as both teams are 4-2. The winner of the game will likely draw Cuba and the loser will face Korea.
Team USA manager Davey Johnson has announced San Diego State star Stephen Strasburg as his starting pitcher for the semifinal game.
Or not good any more.
Or a combination of the two.
Sounds like the loser wins.
That Korea beat Cuba once head to head is not near enough evidence to convince me that Korea has the better team.
Korea, Cuba, USA, and Japan are all pretty even.
Japan will probably start Darvish in the semifinals, and he's the best pitcher in the tournament.
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