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Happy birthday U.S. defeats Italy 4-2 on Lasorda's birthday
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- An Italian lunch, another late-inning win, even a disagreement with an umpire. Tom Lasorda's 73rd birthday was almost as perfect as his team's record. The only hard part was the sweating at the end. The United States scored two runs on an eighth-inning throwing error by a relief pitcher Friday night, beating Italy 4-2. The Americans improved to 5-0 heading into their showdown with Cuba. With Lasorda growing more worried as the game went along, the United States scored two runs in the first off an Italian pitcher who was born in California and attended UNLV, then rallied after Ben Sheets let the lead slip away. Battista Perri walked two batters with two outs in the eighth, and reliever Jason Simontacchi let both runners score with a wild throw to first on Mike Kinkade's comebacker. That break meant that for the first time in Olympic baseball history, the United States will have a better record than Cuba (4-1) when they play their round-robin game Saturday. Lasorda has already stoked emotions by saying he wants to beat Cuba on behalf of the exiles in Florida.
First, the United States had to get past Italy (1-4), a team that's never won more than two games in the Olympic tournament. This one was special for Lasorda, a proud Italian and son of an immigrant who settled in Norristown, Pa. It wasn't as easy as everyone suspected. Italy kept it close, looking to pull off the second big upset of the tournament two days after the Netherlands beat Cuba. Lasorda had lunch with the Italian coaches, who were introduced before the game. When it came time for the Americans, the Aussie public address announcer recognized Lasorda by saying, ``And the birthday boy, a big happy birthday!'' The Hall of Fame manager acknowledged the a loud ovation with a wave of his dark blue ``USA'' cap. After a bow to the umpires from Taiwan and Japan, he shook the hand of Italian manager Silvano Ambrosioni, sharing a story and a laugh. Lasorda's background has always been a source of pride. When Frank Torre, the brother of the Yankees' manager, got a heart transplant in 1996, Lasorda sent a note of encouragement that included this P.S.: ``I hope you got an Italian heart.'' With a steady, cool wind blowing directly into the U.S. dugout from right field, Lasorda donned a blue jacket, pulled up the collar and watched his team pull ahead in the first on three singles. He popped out of the dugout when the first base umpire from South Africa called Kinkade out for kicking the ball in fair territory. The discussion was as brief and tame as Lasorda's other two in the tournament. Italy tied it in the fourth on David Sheldon's RBI single and Luigi Carrozza's run-scoring infield hit _ the first runs off Sheets in two starts. Sheets took a hard comeback grounder off his upper right arm in the sixth, retired the next two batters and left the game. Lasorda grew increasingly worried and finally took off his jacket as his team struggled against Perri, a 25-year-old pitcher/waiter born in Santa Clara. The light-hitting Americans had problems with his sidearm deliveries, getting only six singles in 7 2-3 innings. The two walks and the reliever's wild throw gave the United States its third late-inning winning rally.
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