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Baltimore Orioles to play in Cuba amid US thaw

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Starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen of the Baltimore Orioles throws to a Houston Astros batter in the first inning, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Rob Carr)

Havana (AFP) - The Baltimore Orioles will become the first US big league team to play in baseball-crazed Cuba since a diplomatic thaw, playing Havana's national team, a Cuban official said.

In December, US President Barack Obama and Cuba's Raul Castro announced a historic change of course after more than five decades of Cold War bad blood.

"A clash with the Orioles is planned," the director of Cuba's National Institute of Sport, Antonio Becali said on Tuesday, quoted by Radio Habana Cuba.