Cuba Beats South Korea in Friendly Baseball Game

The Cuban baseball team beat host South Korea 6-2 in a friendly game in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.Pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo closed the game started by right-hander Norge Luis Vera, who pitched for seven innings before being relieved by Vicyohandry Odelín.Vera struck out two, walked three and allowed one  run in the bottom of the sixth, while Odelin allowed a tie run before being relieved by Lazo.The three Cuban pitchers were backed by a nine-hit offensive that included three homers and two doubles. The Asian team hit 10 times and made one error.Cuba took the lead in the third inning when third baseman Michel Enriquez pummeled a homerun to bat in Eduardo Paret.However, both teams were tied in the eighth when Yuliesky Gourriel singled and scored with the help of a double by Malletta. Then, Frederich Cepeda was struck out but Alexei Bell, and Alfredo Despaigne hit back-to-back solo homers to clinch Cuba's victory.On Wednesday, both teams will play again, providing a good opportunity to fine tune their teams prior to the summer games, which will open on August 8 – though baseball matches will not commence until August 13.