WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Ernie Whitt fumed, the U.S. baseball team blew it and Morgan White beamed, braces and all.
On a day that White and teammate Jennie Thompson restored some pride in U.S. women's gymnastics at the Pan American Games, the nation's baseball team squandered a four-run lead and lost to Canada in its controversy-spiced opener Monday.And there was more from Cuba, this time from the man at the top. President Fidel Castro accused Canada and the United States of dirty tricks aimed at harming Cuba during the games.
"We are competing in enemy territory," Castro declared during his annual Revolution Day speech in Havana.
The baseball fireworks were ignited by Whitt, the Canadian manager, ejected in a rulings dispute with the umpires, then filed a protest that was rejected. The resulting 30-minute delay only served to inspire the Canadians, who trailed 6-3 at that point, but rallied for a 7-6 victory in 11 innings.
"The second he got ejected, he believed we were going to come back and win this game," said Canada's Andy Stewart, who had to admit, "that was an unusual way to do it."
White, 16, who has yet to outgrow her braces, is one of the youngest members of the entire U.S. delegation. She also came from behind. She was third heading into the final rotation of the all-around competition, but put together a strong routine on the uneven bars that was enough to give her a .031 margin over Canada's Michelle Conway.
Thompson, second going into her last routine, held on for the bronze despite falling off the balance beam.
The loss to Canada didn't do much for the confidence of the U.S. baseball team, It seemed to have its game well in hand before Stewart, who plays Double-A ball in the Phillies organization, hit a three-run homer off Scott Stewart to tie the score in the 11th.
Canada then loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter before Stubby Clapp hit a routine popup into short left field. Shortstop Travis Dawkins appeared to be under the ball, but left fielder Shawn Gilbert called him off.
Bad move. Gilbert couldn't get to the ball, it plopped to the grass and the winning run scored.
"It's hard to lose when you feel like you played hard all game long, you go up by three and got two outs," U.S. manager Buddy Bell said. "You just pretty much figure things will work out the way you want them to.
"But I have been in this game long enough to know better than that."
Whitt erupted after walking to the mound in the top of the 11th to talk to pitcher Chad Ricketts, who had just surrendered a two-run homer to Jason Hardtke that gave Team USA a 6-3 lead.
Because Whitt talked to Ricketts the previous inning, the umpires said he exceeded the number of free trips allowed in a game and had to remove the pitcher. Whitt thought otherwise, a 20-minute discussion -- which eventually became an argument -- followed and Whitt got tossed.
He promptly filed a protest, which international baseball officials turned down. By the end of the game, Whitt had cooled down -- somewhat.
"I guess they make the rules as they go," he said. "Needless to say, I'm still upset about it, but it's nice to come back and win."
With the two gymnastics medals, coach Mary Lee Tracy felt much better leaving Winnipeg Arena than she did on Saturday, when the favored Americans finished second to Canada in the team race.
The United States leads the medals count with 63, including 24 gold. Cuba has 37, with 15 gold, and Canada has 35, with nine gold.