(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Pinar del Río comes alongside again in Cuban Semi-Final
Nederlands
 SANCTI SPÍRITUS (Cuba) -
Vegueros de Pinar del Río won 5-3 against Alazanes de Granma on Wednesday (February 24) in Game 4 of the best-of-seven Semi-Final of the 60th edition of the Cuban Serie Nacional de Béisbol.
With the win, this series is now tied again at 2-2.
Granma won the opener on Saturday with a 9-2 score.
The next day, Pinar del Río trailed 3-2, but then scored eleven runs in the seventh and eighth inning combined to record a mercy-rule 13-3 victory in eight innings.
On Tuesday, Granma recorded a big, 7-inning, mercy-rule, 12-1 victory to re-take the lead.
Game 5 will be played on Thursday.
Reigning champion Cocodrilos de Matanzas also reached the Semi-Final by completing a sweep last Tuesday (February 16).
They have to wait until the conclusion of the belated last Quarter Final to know who they will face.
In this Quarter Final, Avispas de Santiago de Cuba plays against Leñadores de Las Tunas.
Santiago de Cuba opened with a 7-4 win on January 26, but thereafter, this series was put on hold, as there were several positive cases of the coronavirus in the team of Santiago de Cuba.
The series will resume coming Sunday, February 28.
Pinar del Río vs. Granma
Granma outhit Pinar del Río 12-6 and led twice, but was left empty-handed due some costly errors.
Granma opened the score with two runs in the top of the second inning off of starting pitcher Yosvany Torres Pérez.
Miguel Antonio González Puente led off with a single, then scored when next batter Guillermo García Garcia homered.
With two outs, Roel Santos Martínez was hit by a pitch and Osvaldo Abreu Sánchez singled, but they were left behind.
Pinar del Río came alongside in the bottom of the third inning off of Joel Mojena Machado, but one run was unearned.
Luis Pablo Acosta Martínez led off with a walk.
Pedro Luis Dueñas Castillo followed with a force play-grounder, but Acosta reached second base safely on an error, as second baseman Miguel Antonio González Puente was off the base when he received the throw from pitcher Mojena.
Acosta and Dueñas then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Olber Anier Peña Sánchez.
Moments later, they scored on a single by Juan Carlos Arencibia Echeverria.
Hereafter, Esteban Terry Sanz also singled, but a double play ended the at bat.
Granma took the lead for the second time in the top of the sixth inning.
Miguel Antonio González Puente led off with a single and thereafter, Guillermo García García doubled.
That led to a pitching change, as Yoandy Cruz Melendez took over from Torres.
Cruz got the bases loaded when he walked Darlin Luis Jimenez Gallardo, but followed with a strikeout.
He then gave up a single to Roel Santos Martínez, which gave Granma a 3-2 lead.
However, three runners were left behind when a strikeout and grounder closed the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Pinar del Río answered with three runs.
With one out, William Saavedra Valdés was hit by a pitch, then moved to third base when Pedro Luis Rodríguez Candano followed with a double.
With two runners in scoring position, Juan Danilo Pérez Meriño took over the pitching from starter Mojena.
Pérez walked Yaser Julio González Castro intentionally to set up a force play.
However, the force play was lifted shortly thereafter and two runners scored when Pérez made a throwing error during a pick-off attempt at first base.
As first baseman Guillermo García García injured himself during this play and was unable to go after the ball, González ended up on third base.
He then scored on a following grounder by Luis Pablo Acosta Martínez, which made it a 5-3 score.
In its final three at bats, Granma got only two more baserunners.
After the team was retired in order in the seventh, Darlin Luis Jimenez Gallardo was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth, but a double play followed.
In the ninth, Osvaldo Abreu Sánchez reached on an error with one out.
But hereafter, the defense of Pinar del Río turned a game-ending double play.
(February 24)
|
