U.S baseball gets final bronze
BEIJING — If indeed baseball never returns to the Olympic agenda, at least the United States can say it went out a winner.
Behind home runs by Matt LaPorta, Matt Brown and Jason Donald, the Americans beat Japan 8-4 Saturday to claim the bronze medal. Cuba and South Korea were to play for the gold later in the day in the final Olympic baseball game until at least 2016.
Because this was third place, the celebration was muted — hugs, handshakes and some high-fives in the middle of the diamond.
There was much more of a fiesta at the Bird's Nest when Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 for its second straight gold in men's soccer.
With former great Diego Maradona among the 89,102 in the stands, Angel di Maria scored off an assist by Lionel Messi in the 58th minute of a game played in temperatures upward of 107 degrees. The referee took the rare step of twice allowing players to stop and take drinks.
Also Saturday, Germany's Sabine Spitz won the women's mountain bike race, giving her a gold to go with the bronze she won four years ago. She stopped about five yards from the finish, hopped off her bike and carried it across the finish line, still beating her nearest foe by 41 seconds. Americans Mary McConneloug and Georgia Gould were seventh and eighth.
China won bronze in women's volleyball with a 3-1 victory Cuba. The U.S. and Brazil were meeting for gold later Saturday.
At the baseball game, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, sat behind home plate for part of the game with International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller.
The IBAF is campaigning to get baseball back on the Olympic program in 2016 after being voted off for 2012. Baseball became a medal sport in 1992. The U.S. got bronze in 1996 and gold in 2000.
After missing the 2004 Olympics, the U.S. came back with a squad featuring minor-league prospects and one college player. They lost their opener to Korea and twice to Cuba, including the semifinals Friday night.
Against Japan, the game was tied at 4 in the fifth inning when Taylor Teagarden hit a two-run double. Donald followed with a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole.
Brett Anderson struck out six and walked three over seven innings to pick up his first win of the tournament. Reliever Kevin Jepsen took care of the final two innings.
