Canada upsets Cuba, US overpowers Dominican Republic at Premier12 baseball tournament

TAIPEI, Taiwan _ Canada upset Cuba 5-1 and the United States trounced the Dominican Republic 11-5 Tuesday at the Premier12 baseball tournament.

Pete Orr hit a two-run homer as Canada jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Cuba got a run back in the bottom of the first but the Canadians added two more in the seventh.

Chris Leroux picked up the win after striking out eight and holding the Cubans to one run on three hits over 5-2/3 innings.

Kyle Martin singled in two runs in the third as Team USA batted around to score six runs and take a 9-3 lead.

Bret Eibner and Dan Black each drove in a run in the fifth for the U.S. team, which includes players not on 40-man major league rosters.

Also, Mexico beat Venezuela 6-4 while Puerto Rico defeated Italy 7-1.

The quadrennial tournament features the top 12 nations in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s rankings.

Japan is the top-ranked team followed by the U.S. and Cuba.

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This story has been corrected to show the U.S. led 9-3 in the third innings