Cuba tops U.S., goes for gold again in baseball

BEIJING — The Cuban baseball team will go for gold again, having beaten the United States 10-2 to reach the Olympic championship game.

Alexei Bell hit a three-run homer in the eighth to put the punctuation mark on the defending champions’ 10-2 victory Friday. He raised his hand to signal No. 1 while rounding the bases, then Ariel Pestano added his own three-run shot three batters later to seal it.

Cuba will play Saturday night against unbeaten South Korea. The U.S. will face Japan for bronze in the first game of the day. South Korea rallied past Japan 6-2 in Friday’s first semifinal.