*Japan beats Canada to take baseball bronze*-------------------------------------------- ATHENS, Greece (Ticker) -- Japan picked up a medal in the Olympic baseball tournament - just not the one it expected. After losing to Australia in the semifinals, Japan jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and won the bronze by crushing Canada, 11-2. Cuba, the 2000 silver medalist, meets Australia later on in the gold medal contest. Kenji Jojima was the hitting star for Japan with three hits and four RBI. He belted a two-run homer off Canada starter Mike Johnson in the first inning and an RBI double in the fourth. "We approached this tournament and prepared for it as professionals," Jojima said. "To say we're not disappointed with the color of our medal would be a lie. But we wanted to go home proud of what we achieved." Japan brought 24 professional players to Athens. The 1-0 loss to Australia in the semifinals prompted a public apology

Tuesday from manager Naohiro Nakahata. "Last night's game was very unfortunate," second baseman Shinya Miyamoto said. "When we woke up today, we were able to forget about last night and came into today's game refreshed and ready to play." Takuya Kimura had a two-run single in a four-run third inning for Japan, which had 13 hits off six Canadian pitchers. Canada was on the verge of reaching the gold medal game before allowing six runs in the eighth inning of its semifinal loss to Cuba. It ends up in fourth place with no medal. "No one on the team is happy," catcher Pierre-Luc LaForest said. "We did not come here for holidays. That is why we are sad to go home emptyhanded." Canada scored on a fourth-inning grounder by Andy Stewart and a fifth-inning homer by Jeremy Ware. Australia began the tournament with two straight losses, including a 4-1 setback to Cuba in the tournament opener August
15. The Aussies have won four of five to reach the gold medal game. Cuba won the Olympic tournament in 1992 and 1996 but is looking to bounce back from its gold medal loss to the United States in Sydney four years ago, when current Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets tossed a three-hit shutout.