Olympics-Baseball-Japan take bronze, beating Canada

ATHENS, Aug 25 (Reuters) -- Japan won bronze in Olympic baseball on Wednesday with an 11-2 drubbing of Canada, but it was a bittersweet victory after high hopes of a gold with their "Dream Team" of pro players.

Australia will face Cuba for the gold later in the day, while Canada were shut out at their first chance of an Olympic baseball medal.

With a member of the imperial family watching, the Japanese gave a royal display of baseball power and what might have been.

Japan jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning on a homer from power-hitting catcher Kenji Jojima. They put the game out of reach with four more runs in the third, sparked by a bases-loaded single from Takuya Kimura that scored two.

"We came here looking for the gold," said Japanese designated hitter Kazuhiro Wada. "We had the players and the power to take the gold, and I can't say that I'm completely satisfied with the results here."

"But when we took the field together in this game for the last time as a team, we came together and showed what we can really do," Wada said.

The baseball medal will be the third for the Japanese team, which claimed silver in Atlanta in 1996 and bronze in Barcelona in 1992.

Japan suffered the embarrassment of losing out on a medal in Sydney when they were defeated by arch rival South Korea. For Athens, Japan assembled the best of their pro league to restore Olympic pride to one of the world's baseball powerhouses.

Japan were upset, however, by Australia in their semi-final on Tuesday. Leaving the field, several Japanese players said the loss was devastating.

Japanese manager Kiyoshi Nakahata said the responsibility for not getting the offence in gear against Australia rests on his shoulders.

"The players deserved a medal and should be fully satisfied with the bronze they earned. As for the loss of the gold, I take that on myself."

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