Baseball: Cuba beats Australia to reach WBC semifinals

Cuba became the first team to earn a spot in the World Baseball Classic semifinals with a 4-3 win over Australia on Wednesday.

Veteran international star Alfredo Despaigne broke a 1-1 fifth-inning tie against the Pool B runner-up with a sacrifice fly at Tokyo Dome, and Cuba held on to its lead to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2006.

Yoelkis Guibert’s two-run single completed the three-run fifth, allowing the Cubans to survive Rixon Wingrove’s two-run sixth-inning homer with the lead.

Cuba’s Japan-based bullpen stars took over in the eighth. SoftBank Hawks lefty Livan Moinel...