Thorman's double in 10th leads Canada past U.S.

Thorman's double in 10th leads Canada past U.S.


Scott Thorman of Cambridge, Ont., had an RBI double in the 10th inning to lead Canada to a 4-3 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over the United States on Friday night in Cary, N.C.

Thorman's two-out liner down the right-field line off Jeff Stevens scored Windsor, Ont., native Stubby Clapp for the Canadians, who didn't have any baserunners reach third until the eighth yet rallied to win the first of four pre-Olympic tuneups between the teams before they head to Beijing.

Matt LaPorta and Brian Barden homered and Terry Tiffee added an RBI double for the U.S.

Canada rallied from a two-run deficit, taking a brief 3-2 lead on Victoria native Mike Saunders' two-run double in the eighth, before Barden tied it at 3-3 when he greeted Langley, B.C., reliever Scott Richmond with a towering drive to left-centre.

Richmond struck out three in two innings for the victory, and David Davidson of Richmond Hill, Ont., worked a perfect 10th for the save.

Stevens, the fifth of six U.S. pitchers, took the loss. American manager Davey Johnson had said he planned to use the four-game series in the Raleigh area to evaluate his 12 pitchers before settling on the rotation for Beijing.

LaPorta, one of the key prospects acquired by the Cleveland Indians in the CC Sabathia trade, put the U.S. up 2-0 in the fourth with his towering, two-out shot to left-centre off 41-year-old ex-major leaguer Rheal Cormier of Shediac, N.B.

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead off starter Jonathan Lockwood in the third. Dexter Fowler reached on a one-out infield single, advanced to second on shortstop Emmanuel Garcia's throwing error, made it to third on Barden's sacrifice fly and scored on Tiffee's double that skipped over first base on its way down the line.

Before the eighth, the only Canadian runner to reach second was Thorman — who had a two-out double to right-centre in the fourth.

The Americans are preparing for their first Olympic appearance since winning the gold in 2000 in Sydney, while Canada is making its third Olympic trip and second since the sport became a medal event in 1992.