Cuba debuted this Wednesday with a 2-4 defeat against the Netherlands in the opening match of the World Classic that takes place in venues in China, Japan and the United States. Just a few minutes after the match, manager Armando Johnson came out to declare that he saw “a very close game, very close” and that there were still “three games” remaining.
He Cuban manager regretted that his team had only connected three hits and could not do the races. One day before the debut of the Cuban representative, on the island the official media Granma He published an article in which he discussed Cuba’s options in the World Classic, while acknowledging that “no runs don’t add up” in baseball.
“We had a first inning where we thought we could do more runs and we didn’t score,” Johnson insisted to the media. official media cubadebate summed up the result with his headline: “Holland continues to be Cuba’s bête noire”
At the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on Wednesday, almost 6,000 spectators watched the Team Asere Cuban with forced casualties due to injury from the start of Andy Ibáñez and Alfredo Despaigne. Few imagined that the team, reinforced for the first time with Major League players, would set another negative record, that of only three hits in a World Classic game.
Cuban manager Armando Johnson came out to declare that he had seen “a very hard-fought match, very close” against the Netherlands and that there were still “three games” remaining.
A precedent that Johnson downplayed: “there is no alarm” and added that “athletes at this level can make their adjustments and can improve their offense. But this is fast because there are only three games left and you have to speed up so that get well.”
When asked about the immediate future and the responsibility of baseball players Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada, the coach said that for these athletes “the responsibility of each one is quite strong.”
Johnson said both Robert and Moncada “it seems that their adjustment was not good when they were practicing there (USA)” and mentioned that they are going to “work hard for the next games with these athletes to see if they recover.”
Heavy cost for the gardener Luis Robert of the White Sox who made a blunder against the Netherlands. In what seemed like an obvious wild pitch by the Dutch ended in a nightmare for the Cuban, who was caught halfway between second and third base after hesitating on his way to third base.
Didi Gregorius and Josh Palacios were the architects of the triumph of the Netherlands with two runs, while Chandwick Tromp had two. For the representative of the Island, Yadil Mujica who won the two races. Team Asere faces Italy this Thursday.
With their victory, the Netherlands is at the head of group A, which also includes Cuba, Taiwan, Italy and Panama. The final phase of the World Classic will be played in the United States, which won the last edition in 2017, defeating Puerto Rico at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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