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Stunner! Dutch end Cubans' 21-game Olympic winning streak
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- After 21 Olympic games, the mighty Cubans finally struck out. The team that ranked as an international baseball dynasty for more than a decade took its first Olympic loss Wednesday and it did it with little emotion. Hensley Meulens' bases-loaded double led the Netherlands to a stunning 4-2 victory. The streak ended when Ralph Milliard cradled the ball in his glove at second base for a forceout, lingering a second longer over the historic moment. "This is one of the biggest accomplishments in all of Dutch sports," shortstop Robert Eenhoorn said. "This is big. It should be." It was a watershed in Olympic baseball history. Cuba (3-1) had breezed through the first two official tournaments, winning the gold in Barcelona and Atlanta while going unbeaten and rarely even challenged. Defections took their toll in the last few years and the decision to allow professionals for this tournament narrowed the gap between Cuba and the rest of the world. Finally, the rest of the world caught up. Known for their fist pumping and arm waving after each hit, the Cubans showed no emotion as they dumped their gloves in equipment bags, slung them over their shoulders and headed for the clubhouse. If it stung, they wouldn't let on. "Anybody can have a bad day," second baseman Antonio Pacheco said. Everyone knew it would be difficult for the Cubans to go through the tournament unbeaten again. A team spiced with a few former major leaguers and managed by Arizona State coach Pat Murph pulled off the long-awaited upset in front of a crowd that was clearly for the underdog. Brauckmiller held the Cubans to seven hits in eight innings. The Cubans got a run in the ninth on a forceout, but no more. The Netherlands (2-2) lined up for a surprisingly low-key celebration in front of the mound after the final out. "Honestly, it still hasn't sunk in," Eenhoorn said. The Cubans were undone by one inning climaxed by a former major leaguer who wears weird-looking sunglasses -- they wrap up over his head -- and is known as "Bam Bam." Meulens, who got the nickname as a minor league prospect in the 1980s, doubled to left off reliever Maels Rodriguez for a 4-1 lead in the fourth, stunning the Cubans. Milliard, a former Met, also had an RBI single in the inning. "It was probably the biggest hit of my career," Meulens said. "Getting to the major leagues is one of the greatest things anyone can have. Being part of the Yankees and getting to play my first game at Yankee Stadium was great. This ranks right up there." Brauckmiller, who pitched for San Francisco in 1988 before heading for Europe, held down a lineup that rallied from behind in the last two games to beat Italy and South Korea.
Cuba's loss left the United States as the only unbeaten team in
the tournament. The United States (3-0) was scheduled to play Korea
later Wednesday.
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