U.S. wins 12th straight, tops Cuba

NETTUNO, Italy -- Terry Tiffee homered, Lucas Harrell (3-0) got his third win of the tournament, pitching four innings of one-hit baseball in relief, and Ehren Wassermann pitched 2 1/3 solid innings to push Team USA past Cuba, 5-3, at Stadio Borghese in Nettuno, Italy.

The U.S. (12-1; 6-0) has won 12 consecutive games after dropping the opening game of the World Cup in Germany.

In the first inning, Trevor Plouffe reached on a fielding error by Cuba's second baseman, and Ike Davis followed with an RBI double to the center-field wall to plate the first run in the game.

Tiffee and Jason Castro extended the U.S. lead to four in the third inning. After Davis walked with two outs, Tiffee slammed a homer to deep left for his fourth home run of the 2009 World Cup. Castro later added an RBI through the right side to cap the scoring in the inning.

Buck Coats added an insurance run for the U.S. in the bottom of the eighth inning. With a runner on second base and a 4-3 lead, Coats hit an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Josh Kroeger from second base and secured the victory for the defending World Cup champions.

B.J. Rosenberg gave up three runs in his fifth appearance in the tournament, and Cedrick Bowers forced a bases-loaded double play before Wassermann closed the game for his first save.

USA starter Trevor Reckling left the game at the end of the first inning after straining his left lateral muscle during his second inning warmup. Reckling pitched a perfect first inning for the U.S.

The U.S. will face the Netherlands next in Round 3 of Baseball World Cup action, Friday, Sept. 25, at Stadio Borghese in Nettuno, Italy. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET).