WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Blood flowed in wrestling and pride swelled in baseball.
No matter what the sport, there's nothing like a meeting between the United States and Cuba to get the competitive juices going at the Pan American Games.The United States got the best of the major matchups Wednesday. Americans beat Cubans five times for gold medals in wrestling, including a victory by Joe Williams that left him bleeding from the left side of his head.
That came after the Americans pulled off an even more significant victory, stunning the powerful, confident Cubans 10-5 in baseball.
"It's Cuba, the team to beat," U.S. pitcher Dan Wheeler said. "We knew they would be tough. That's why we played so hard, so well."
The wrestlers competed hard as well, none more so than Williams and Stephen Neal, who staged a dramatic comeback to upset Cuba's defending world champion at 130 kilograms.
Neal, only 4 1/2 months removed from his NCAA championship at Cal State-Bakersfield, rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat Alexis Rodriguez 8-7 on a takedown with 20 seconds left.
"I'm real fortunate in that the USA has the top heavyweights in the world," Neal said. "Four Americans have beat that guy in the last year. I knew I could do it because of my style."
Williams' match at 76 kilos against Yosmany Romero was a bruising affair that forced trainers to wrap his bleeding head three times.
The cut was opened when the two banged heads as Romero was taking Williams down -- after the whistle had blown. But Williams fought through it and won 3-0 for his first gold in a major international competition.
"I've seen matches like that, so it didn't surprise me," said Williams, a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa. "You've just got to keep your composure and remember your sportsmanship. I'm out there to score, win and get off the mat."
Other Americans who beat Cubans for gold medals were Cary Kolat at 63 kilos, Lincoln McIlravy at 69 kilos and Dominic Black at 97 kilos. Les Gutches gave the United States its other gold by beating a Canadian at 85 kilos.
Eric Guerrero, who arrived early Monday as a last-minute replacement for Terry Brands, won the silver at 58 kilos and Eric Akin took the bronze at 54 kilos as the United States went 30-3 in the two-day tournament.
The baseball victory was the first by the United States over Cuba in a major competition since the 1987 Pan Am Games and helped soothe the pain of a 7-6 first-round loss to Canada, a game in which the Americans led 6-3.
Had the United States lost on Wednesday, it probably would have had to play Cuba again before Monday's finals. Now, the Americans have a good chance to reach the gold medal game, which would give the United States a berth in the 2000 Olympics.
"I very much believe this has a lot to do with the game we had with Canada," said U.S. manager Buddy Bell, who was ejected for arguing a call in the ninth inning. "That hurt a lot and we were disappointed. It also made us understand what we were up against."
Right after Bell was tossed, Marcus Jensen hit a three-run homer to break a 5-5 tie, and the United States added two more runs to finish it off.
Canada passed Cuba in the medals race but still trails the United States, which has 43 golds, 42 silvers and 28 bronzes for 113. Canada has 21 gold medals and 72 overall, with Cuba at 26 golds and 67 overall.
Defections and ejections were the story elsewhere, and Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey finally showed at the track.
Two more Cubans -- softball coach Jose Mendez and a shooter -- have sought asylum in Canada, according to sources close to the Cuban team. They left the delegation earlier this week, said the sources, who would not provide the shooter's name.
They were the third and fourth Cubans to seek asylum at the games. Pistol shooter Abel Juncosa Reyes asked for asylum before the games got started. Reporter Lisette Cepero of Radio Rebelde also has sought to defect.
Soccer turned ugly when police had to rescue referee Rich Grady, who ejected four Guatemalans and both coaches in Canada's 2-1 victory.
Several players from Guatemala rushed toward the retreating official following the final ejection. His assistants and several police officers formed a circle around Grady, and they waited for the field to clear before escorting him away.
Bailey, the Pan Ams poster boy roundly criticized for not running in the 100 meters, ran on the opening leg of Canada's 400 relay team in Wednesday's semifinals and helped his team record the fastest time.