Pan Am newsmaker of the day: Weird baseball rule

When the men's gold-medal baseball game between Canada and the U.S. went into extra innings on Sunday night, a strange international rule came into play that set up a crazy ending.

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In extras, each team gets to start its half inning at the plate with runners on first and second. The manager can begin at any point in his batting order, but the order must be followed from there. So, for example, if he decides to put his leadoff and No. 2 hitters on base, then the No. 3 man comes to the plate.

Here's how it played out in the gold-medal game:

The Americans started off the 10th with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and third, and Canada responded by loading the bases to set up a potential double play.

Tyler Pastornicky ruined those plans by smacking a double to left, scoring two runs and putting the U.S. up 6-4 before Canada retired the side.

Things got off to a rough start for Canada in the bottom of the 10th as Sean Jamison tried to bunt with two strikes, resulting in a strikeout when he rolled the attempt foul.

After Pete Orr hit an RBI single to centre to cut the Americans' lead to one, the real craziness began.

Despite the presence of a runner on second, blocking Orr from going anywhere, American pitcher David Huff tried to pick him off at first. The throw got away, allowing both Canadian runners to score and win the game.