U.S. baseball team clobbers Canada 9-1

DURHAM, N.C. — Brandon Knight struck out 10 and Matt LaPorta and Mike Hessman homered in the second inning to lead the United States to a 9-1 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over Canada on Sunday.

Nate Schierholtz homered for the second straight game, a grand slam to highlight a five-run eighth for the U.S. Terry Tiffee also went deep for the Americans, who have outscored the Canadians 16-3 in winning two straight in the four-game tuneup for Beijing. The Canadians won the opener 4-3 in 10 innings.

Knight, who at 32 is the oldest player on the U.S. roster, allowed two hits in five scoreless innings and retired 15 of 18 hitters. He struck out six in a row before Emmanuel Garcia — the last batter he faced — managed to fly out to center field.

The Canadians' only run came in the sixth, when shortstop Brian Barden couldn't handle Emerson Frostad's hard grounder off reliever Kevin Jepsen, allowing Stubby Clapp to score from second.

Schierholtz broke the game open in the eighth when he connected with the bases loaded against reliever Steve Green. His drive cleared the seats in right field and struck a portable souvenir stand on the concourse.

Canada starter and San Francisco farmhand Chris Begg struck out five in six innings, allowing four runs on five hits while serving up all three homers.

LaPorta and Hessman homered into the center-field shrubs to put the Americans up 3-0 in the second.

U.S. manager Davey Johnson moved LaPorta up two spots to No. 5 in the batting order, and the Cleveland prospect justified the move by connecting on Begg's low 3-2 pitch for his second homer of the series.

Schierholtz then singled through the right side, and Hessman sent the first pitch he saw into a bush over the fence, about 5 feet from where LaPorta's drive landed. That helped Hessman, who has 286 homers in 13 minor-league seasons, snap an 0-for-4 start to the series.

Tiffee made it 4-0 an inning later with a two-out drive to right that hit midway up the foul pole. He went 3-for-4 and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Comments