2024-07-03 14:40:34
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial Team
Photos: RL Hevia
The Cuban baseball classic is about to expire and all that remains is for Santiago de Cuba to deal Industriales one last blow today in front of its own fans at the Latinoamericano stadium, in one of the quarter-final duels of the postseason of the 63rd National Baseball Series.
What promised to be an epic battle with a similar ending to last year’s has turned into a skirmish that could end much sooner than expected. The longed-for revenge for the Wasps seems to be coming quickly after falling in seven games during the semifinals of last year’s series.
But let the possibility of a sweep not fool anyone: Guillermo Carmona’s Lions have put up a good fight and none of the three losses fell by more than two runs. An example of this was the game the day before, the first to be held at the Coloso del Cerro in Havana, which featured an extraordinary performance by the blue starter Maykel Taylor and did not end with the expected reward.
The right-hander from the capital had worked a whopping 10 innings, where he allowed four runs and the same number of hits, but the relievers who followed him could not hold out and opened the doors to the run that meant the defeat thanks to a sacrifice fly.
Earlier, in the first game of the match, Santiago left Industriales lying down in the bottom of the ninth with a huge home run by Harold Vázquez that unleashed madness in the packed stands of the legendary Guillermón Moncada park. The second indomitable victory came, for its part, supported by the scandalous number of seven errors by the defense of the blues.
This afternoon, the Latinoamericano will be back in its best clothes starting at 7:15pm for what could be the last challenge of this long-standing rivalry between the two teams that have the most appearances in the playoffs in national series. Veteran Danny Betancourt should be the one chosen by Edy Cajigal to put the last nail in the Industrialista coffin, knowing that not doing so could become a very big risk.
Another park that will also be dressed up as best as possible is the Victoria de Girón in Matanzas to welcome the Cocodrilos who hit hard on the grounds of the Alazanes of Granma. Very few would have guessed that Armando Ferrer’s pupils would get two victories at the Mártires de Barbados in Bayamo.
Granma has been Matanzas’ bête noire in recent postseasons, as confirmed by the four times they have defeated them in these instances, including the finals of the 60 and 61 series. However, the Matanzas “curse” can come to an end now if they complete the job in their own stadium, taking two more victories starting this Monday.
Meanwhile, Pinar del Río and Sancti Spíritus will try to tip the balance in favor of one side or the other in the third match of the day on Monday. The duel, which is tied at one win each, will continue today at the José Antonio Huelga yayabero with three matches until next Wednesday.
Likewise, the defending champions from Las Tunas will try to finish their match against the Tigres from Ciego de Ávila tomorrow and repeat the 4-0 sweep they gave them in the same phase of the last championship. For now, they have already done half the work after the two initial victories in their Julio Antonio Mella stadium.