Canada Tops U.S. for Baseball Gold at Pan Am Games

Pitching duel sees the Canadians beat out Yanks 2-1 to become the first country to break Cuba's 40-year reign at the Pan Am Games.

Canada has won its first ever gold medal in baseball at the Pan American Games, beating the United States 2-1 last night in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jimmy Van Ostrand drove in two runs with a double in the top of the sixth to give the Canadians a lead they wouldn't give up, with Andrew Albers getting the victory on the mound and Scott Richmond picking up the save. Despite the fact that baseball was invented, perfected, and made the national sport in the United States, the country's never won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games in the sport, as Cuba has won every single title over the past 40 years. The U.S. dispatched Cuba 12-10 in the semifinals, but the upstart Canucks proved too much for them in the final. Granted, no players who played in Major League Baseball are permitted to play in the tournament, so the best American (and Canadian) players are back at home watching the World Series, but we'll take this. This and the Olympic hockey gold medal.