354 
Alfredo Despaigne
The defending Olympic champion Cuba picked up a 4-2 victory over Japan to open up their 2008 Olympics. The Cuban team was led by Alfredo Despaigne who went 3-4 with three RBI while Alexei Bell went 2-4 with two RBI. Norge Luis Vera started the game where he went six innings allowing two runs and seven hits. Pedro Luis Lazo pitched the final three innings allowing two hits to pick up the save. Munenori Kawasaki led the Japanese offense by going 3-3 with two runs scored. The Cuban team will be back in action on Thursday when they play the Canadian team at 6 am Eastern time while Japan takes on Chinese Taipei at 7 am Eastern time.
