Team USA Wins Final Game In Arizona

Complete Coverage of USA Baseball

By John Manuel
October 24, 2003

Team USA finished its Arizona Fall League tour with a 9-3 record after getting its offense back in gear against the Mesa Solar Sox.

Team USA, which is headed for Panama a week from now to try to qualify the U.S. for one of two spots in the 2004 Olympics allocated to the Americas, scored in double figures for the sixth time in 12 games. The Americans now play Team Canada for a pair of exhibition games Saturday and Monday before heading to Panama City for the Olympic qualifying tournament, which begins Oct. 31.

Two key pitchers for Team USA threw well in Thursday's victory. Righthander Ryan Madson (Phillies) struck out four in four innings, through he gave up six hits and three runs. All three runs came on a homer by Jason Dubois (Cubs), which gave the Solar Sox a 3-2 lead. Lefthander Horacio Ramirez (Braves) got the win with two scoreless innings, and the big leaguer has cemented his role as Team USA's ace with five scoreless frames in the AFL. Plus, fellow Atlanta lefty Andy Pratt worked the final three innings, earning the save as he didn't give up a run.

Team USA took the lead against Mesa in the sixth inning against righthander Carlos Hines (Devil Rays) with five singles and a pair of walks. Ernie Young (Tigers) had a two-run single to make it 6-3, the biggest hit of the inning, and Team USA added five more in the seventh.

Team USA ended up outscoring its AFL opponents 107-44 in their 12 games, while racking up a .350 team batting average with an average of 8.9 runs scored per contest. They posted a 3.23 team ERA with 79 strikeouts in 106 innings.

Team USA manager Frank Robinson (Expos) and his coaching staff have two exhibition games with Team Canada remaining to evaluate the 30 players in uniform to determine the 24-man roster for the tournament in Panama. Team USA will depart for Panama on Oct. 29, and will open the event on Friday, Oct. 31 against Colombia at 3 p.m.