July 13, 2008
HAARLEM, The Netherlands - San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg picked up a gold medal as a member of the USA National Team that defeated Cuba, 4-1, Sunday afternoon in the title game of the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week tournament. The event, which ran from July 5-13 at Pim Mullier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands, saw the USA go 5-0 in pool play, then defeat Chinese-Taipei in the semifinals before capturing the championship against the Cuban team that will compete at next month's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Strasburg got the USA National Team off to a perfect start as he picked up the win in the tournament opener against Japan on July 5. In that contest, which he started, he went seven innings, allowing a pair of runs on six hits over seven innings of work. Along the way he struck out seven and walked only one as he was credited with the win.
After the USA squad recorded wins over Cuba (1-0), Netherlands Antilles (11-1), Netherlands (2-1) and Chinese-Taipei (3-1) in pool play, Strasburg was called upon to start the semifinal contest against Chinese-Taipei.
In his second appearance of the tourney, he went seven innings to pick up the win as he surrendered just two runs on four hits in the 5-2 victory that propelled his team into the final. Strasburg was nearly unhittable through the first six frames, allowing only a second-inning bloop single to center and facing one over the minimum through six. He finished his seven innings with 11 strikeouts while issuing only one base on balls.
Sunday's victory in the championship contest marked the first time in recorded history that a United States Collegiate National Team has defeated the Cuba Olympic Team in a tournament title game. The team fielded by Cuba for Haarlem Baseball Week was the same roster minus one player from Cuba's 2006 silver-medal World Baseball Classic and 2004 gold-medal Athens Olympic Games teams.
Since joining the USA National Team for its 2008 summer tour, Strasburg has made five starts and compiled a record of 3-0 with a 1.33 earned run average. Over his 27 innings of work, he has struck out 40 and walked four while limiting opponents to a .160 batting average.
Team USA returns to action Tuesday (July 15) against the German National Team. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT. It will then meet the national team of the Czech Republic before beginning play in the FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship that runs from July 17-27 in the Czech Republic.
Fans can follow the progress of the National Team at the USA Baseball web site by clicking here to access game reports and statistics.