SYDNEY, Sept. 20 -- Ken Brauckmiller, an American citizen with a dual passport, helped record one of the biggest upsets in international baseball history Wednesday by pitching eight innings of relief to boost the Netherlands to a 4-2 Olympic victory over Cuba.
The loss by the Cubans left the United States as the only unbeaten team in the tournament. The Americans got an eighth-inning grand slam from Doug Mientkiewicz to defeat South Korea, 4-0, and improve to 4-0 in the tournament.
Since baseball became a medal sport in 1992, Cuba had won 21 straight games and both gold medals before falling Wednesday to the European champions.
"These guys are great players, great hitters," Brauckmiller said. "You can't take anything away from them. You can't win 20 games in a row, or however many they've won, without being great players. Sooner or later, something catches up with you."
Littered with tremendous players that few fans know about, Cuba survived a scare againt Korea on Tuesday, rallying for a 6-5 victory to remain unbeaten in preliminary action.
But the Cubans ran out of heroics Wednesday night, falling to Brauckmiller, a 34-year-old righthander who was born and raised in Portland. He became a citizen of the Netherlands after marrying a Dutch woman.
"I am very fortunate to have met the woman of my dreams," said Brauckmiller, who allowed one run and seven hits in relief of Rikkert Faneyte. "I am very much a Hollander and it is definitely part of my nationality."
Brauckmiller was not exactly a likely choice to upset the Cubans, having posted a 20.25 ERA at the 1998 World Championships and a 5.40 ERA at the 1999 International Cup.
A three-run double by former major leaguer Hensley Meulens gave the Netherlands the bulk of its offense.
In other games Wednesday, Japan moved to 3-1 with a 6-1 victory over Italy as Yukio Tanaka went three for five with a home run and Norihiro Nakamura drove in two runs. Australia also downed South Africa, 10-4.