United States' Thomas Mendonca, right, slides safely as Erisbel Arruebarruena waits for the ball during the fourth inning of a semifinal baseball match at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, Monday Oct. 24, 2011.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
United States' Thomas Mendonca, right, slides safely as Erisbel Arruebarruena waits for the ball during the fourth inning of a semifinal baseball match at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, Monday Oct. 24, 2011.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
United States' Joseph Thurston, right, is late as Cuba's Rosney Castillo runs past second base during the first inning of a semifinal baseball match at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, Monday Oct. 24, 2011.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
Cuba's starting pitcher Freddy Alvarez, center, is replaced by Yulieski Gonzalez, left, during the third inning of a semifinal baseball match against United States at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, Monday Oct. 24, 2011.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
United States' Brett Carrol, left, hits a foul ball during the first inning of a semifinal baseball match against Cuba at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, Monday Oct. 24, 2011.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
Gold medalist Yuderquis Contreras, from the Dominican Republic, gestures during the award ceremony for the women's 53 kg weightlifting event at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 224, 2011. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) ? The United States beat 10-time defending champion Cuba 12-10 Monday in the baseball semifinals at the Pan American Games.
The Americans, who won their only Pan Am Games title in 1967, led 7-0 in the third inning and stretched their advantage to 12-2 before the Cubans rallied.
Cuba has won 12 of the 15 baseball titles at the Pan Am Games, including every one between 1971 and 2007. The United States has finished second to Cuba eight times.
The Americans will face either Mexico or Canada in Tuesday's final.
Also, Yipsi Moreno set a Pan American Games record while winning the women's hammer throw for Cuba. Her toss of 75.62 meters broke her own record of 75.60 from the last games in Rio de Janeiro.
"These may be my last Pan American Games and I'm proud I'm leaving my sports career like this," Moreno said.
Marisol Romero of Mexico later won the women's 10,000 meters, and teammate Juan Barrios won the men's 5,000. There were two more track gold medals to be won Monday, including the women's pole vault.
The United States won the women's team all-around in gymnastics and Jordan Burroughs took gold in the men's 74-kilogram freestyle wrestling category.
Yuderquis Contreras of the Dominican Republic won the women's 53-kilogram category in weightlifting and Maria Escobar of Ecuador won the women's 58-kilogram class. Israel Rubio of Venezuela won the men's 69-kilogram category.
Earlier, the United States women's basketball team finished the Pan American Games with a second straight win. The 87-41 rout of Jamaica was not for a medal like usual, however. Instead, it gave them seventh place in the eight-team competition.
The women's basketball team came to Guadalajara as the favorite to defend their title. But they lost to Argentina 58-55 in their first game, then fell to Puerto Rico 75-70.
Despite beating Mexico 87-58 in the final game, the Americans still finished last in the four-team group and had to play for seventh.
"Nobody likes to lose games by one or three points," said United States forward Breanna Stewart, a 17-year-old high school student. "We all played well. Unfortunately, the results came in the final minutes and luck did not favor us."
The Americans came to Guadalajara with an inexperienced team that had only five practice sessions before the tournament opened.
"We have different styles of playing," Stewart said. "We had trouble adapting to a single style of playing, despite the good rapport we had from the beginning."
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