Santiago de Cuba beat Camagüey 7-4 today and recovered the lead of the 61st edition of the Cuban National Baseball Series, in which the champion Granma crushed Artemisa 12-1.
At the Guillermón Moncada stadium, Avispas and Toros were tied 2-2 at the end of the fourth inning, but a cluster of five runs in the next led the locals to victory, number 11 with four defeats.
The success was the account of Edialbert Valentín, the setback for Pedro Luis Guzmán and Luis Fonseca scored his seventh saved game to consolidate himself at the top of that locker in the fight.
Central fielder Yoelquis Guibert homered for the winners and shortstop Alexander Ayala did it for the losers.
With their victory, the men of coach Eriberto Rosales take half a game ahead of the Matanzas Crocodiles surprised by the Artemisa Hunters, better this Sunday 1-0. In the duel of left-handed pitchers, Geonel Gutiérrez was the winner and Naikel Cruz was defeated, while the experienced right-hander José Ángel García achieved his fourth save of the contest and number 277 to establish himself as the historical leader of Cuban baseball.
For his part, the champion Granma punished Vladimir García, starter for Ciego de Ávila, early on, and did not stop until he was knocked out 12-1 in seven innings.
Yunier Castillo scored the success and his teammates Alexquemer Sánchez and Roel Santos dispatched the ball beyond the fences, in the case of the second, with two teammates in circulation to push three goals.
Also with victories came Mayabeque, Industriales, Isla de la Juventud, Sancti Spíritus and Las Tunas.
The Hurricanes defeated the Vegueros de Pinar del Río 7-2, with the third smile of Mailon Cruz and the first loss of Branlis Rodríguez, while Industriales led the Elefantes de Cienfuegos 8-3.
Juan Xavier Peñalver, in relief function, was the winner of the match and starter Yasmani Insua was charged with the defeat of the duel, in which Jorge Enrique Alomá and Andrés Hernández homered for the winners, the fourth for him of the campaign.
Isla de la Juventud defeated Villa Clara 13-7, in a match in which Alberto Hechaarría came out through the wide door and Eriel Carrillo through the narrow, Kendry Hernández saved the match, while Leandro Turiño and Yeniet Pérez hit homers for the losers.
At the Calixto García, in the city of Holguín, the Gallos de Sancti Spíritus defeated the local Cubs 3-1, with victory by Ariel Zerquera and failure by Wilson Paredes and save by Yanieski Duardo.
And in another game of the day, Las Tunas beat Guantánamo 7-5, supported by home runs by Rafael Viñales and Yosvani Alarcón to support the work of the winner, Alejandro Meneses, and certify the backhand of Daniel Blanco.
Lefty Yudier Rodríguez scored the first save of the competition and Robert Luis Delgado took it out of the stadium for the Indios del Guaso.
After these results, Santiago de Cuba leads the tournament (11-4), followed by Matanzas (10-5), Mayabeque (9-5), Ciego de Ávila, Sancti Spíritus and Industriales, Pinar del Río and Granma.
Behind the middle of the table are Villa Clara and Artemisa, both with seven hits and the same number of setbacks, Isla de la Juventud (7-8), Las Tunas and Guantánamo (6-9), Camagüey and Cienfuegos ( 5-10) and Holguin (3-12). (LP)
