Baseball

Team USA baseball clinches series against Cuba

By Mike Reader

mreader@charlotteobserver.com
Cuba's Urmany Guerra Vargas bats against the U.S. collegiate team during a baseball game in Charlotte on Saturday, July 4, 2015.
Cuba's Urmany Guerra Vargas bats against the U.S. collegiate team during a baseball game in Charlotte on Saturday, July 4, 2015. Dillon Deaton AP

Charlotte native Nick Banks (Texas A&M) and Ryan Howard (Missouri) launched home runs to lift Team USA baseball to a series-clinching 11-1 win Saturday night over the Cuban National Team in front of 10,352 at BB&T BallPark, according to the USA Collegiate National Team website.

The win equals the largest win over Cuba in Team USA history. Team USA (9-5) claimed the series-clinching victory in the fourth game of the series.

The series concludes on Monday at 7 p.m. in Cary at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

The Cubans played Saturday without two star players, third baseman Luis Yander La O and outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, who defected earlier in the week.

This story was originally published July 5, 2015 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Team USA baseball clinches series against Cuba."

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