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A baseball with the Olympic logo lies on the field during the U.S.-China baseball game at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 18, 2008. Baseball is scheduled to be eliminated as an Olympic sport after the Beijing games. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United Sates beat China 9-1 in an ill-tempered contest that saw three ejections, while Canada watched its medal chances slip away with a tantrum-filled 1-0 loss to Japan in baseball preliminary round play on Monday.

In other games, South Korea and Cuba both rallied for comeback wins to maintain their unbeaten records setting up a top-of-the-table clash between the two countries on Tuesday.

A close contest between China and the U.S. exploded in the fifth inning when the Americans pushed across three runs to take a 4-1 lead.

But the real fireworks came when China manager Jim Lefebvre was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing with umpire Edwin van den Berk after Nate Schierholtz slammed into catcher Yang Yang.

Yang was a replacement for Wang Wei, who was knocked out in the fifth inning after being run over by Matt LaPorta.

China sought pay back in the seventh, when reliever Chen Kun drilled LaPorta in the helmet with a pitch, earning him an ejection along with the team's pitching coach.

"I just hope everyone is OK," U.S. manager Davey Johnson told reporters. "My guy (LaPorta) got hit in the head and is getting a CAT scan to make sure he doesn't have a concussion.

"I hope the fans don't get the impression that's how you play baseball."

After four one-run losses, Canada's frustration surfaced in an un-Olympic display against Japan as players tossed their bats and helmets, argued with the umpire and shocked spectators with bursts of profanity.

Atsunori Inaba's fifth inning solo home run powered Japan to victory and back into the medal chase, improving their record to 3-2 while Canada slipped to the bottom of the table and out of medal contention with one win.

South Korea had looked poised for an easy afternoon as they scored seven runs in the first then pushed another across in the second to take charge 8-0.

But Taiwan, battered by a doping controversy and humbled by rivals China, fought back to tie the score at 8-8 in the sixth before Korea recovered and pushed across the deciding run in the seventh.

Cuba also started slow falling behind 2-1 to the Netherlands but scored nine runs over the fifth and sixth innings to win 14-3.

(Editing by Steve Ginsburg)