The Cuban team preparing to participate in the V World Baseball Classic they suffered their third defeat against Japanese clubs, in the game that marked the end of their friendly matches on Japanese soil.
This time the executioners of the West Indians were the SoftBank Falcons, who won the game with a 5×2 slate, thanks to their effectiveness in producing with runners on base and making the most of the opponent’s errors.
This is what happened in the second inning, when the Fukuoka franchise stepped on home plate three times, after a costly error by the Cuban waiter Yadil Mujica, in a move that would have meant the third out.
These three dirty scores went to the account of Cuban starter Elián Leyva, one of the players who works independently in professional baseball. After the error, the Mayabeque right-hander was punished by the SoftBank hitters, who also stole a couple of bases in that inning.
The other two runs for the Halcones were supported by Javier Mirabal, also a right-hander, who is not part of the official roster of the Cuban team. After two outs in the sixth inning, the man from Villa Clara gave away two tickets and then came the run-scoring double that put the final figures on the game.
An inning earlier, the Cubans had managed to discount two runs against reliever Sota Tanoue, which ultimately turned out to be insufficient. In the first three innings, the submarine Rei Takahashi had not allowed liberties to the hitters from the island and in the fourth, already against Tanoue, two men had been left in scoring position.
In the rest of the game, Cuba also failed to score against the Japanese pitchers, while left-handers Onelkis García —as first reliever—, Liván Moinelo and Naykel Cruz did not concede any runs to the Halcones when they went up to the box.
Left-handed Onelki García (no runs allowed in relief) and right-hander Elián Leyva (3 unearned starters) made their debut today in the game lost by #elCubaClasico2×5 against Halcones de SoftBank, heading to the #WorldBaseballClassic. #Cuba #BaseBall pic.twitter.com/ZvUjozgVvz
— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) February 23, 2023
In summary, both teams shot eight hits and the Cuban team made two defensive errors. At bat, the best on the island were Roel Santos (4-2, a triple and an RBI), Erisbel Arruebarrena (4-2) and Yoelkis Guibert (2-2 with two tickets), according to review the place cubadebate.
The game also served for the club and the SoftBank fans to fire Alfredo Despaigne and Yurisbel Gracial, who served with the Halcones for several seasons and won several titles.
In this way, the Antillean team bids farewell to Japan with three defeats and two wins against clubs from the Japanese professional league. A day before, he had also lost 0-2 to the Yomiuri Giants, and in his first game he was beaten 2-11 by the Nippon Ham Fighters.
The successes were achieved against the Chunichi Dragons (3×2) and the Yakult Swallows (10×4).
Now, the Cuban team will travel to Taiwan, headquarters of group A of the World Classic, where this Saturday they will have their sixth preparation game, before beginning their journey in the tournament on the 8th.
