After two insufferable sleeplessness against the Netherlands and Italy, the Cuban baseball team underwent a total metamorphosis and resoundingly defeated Panama and Chinese Taipei to increase their chances of staying alive in the V World Classic.
In Taichung, the Antillean squad thrashed the hosts 7-1 this morning, who could not put their feet on the ground in front of a wild shootout from the very start of the match. A very long double by Yoan Moncada through the center field ignited the spark for the Cuban ship in the same opening episode, which ended with four scores.
The first two were towed by Alfredo Despaigne with a double to the right, a sovereign line that shot to 108.4 miles. Right away, Erisbel Arruebarrena didn’t want to be left behind and hit a 408-foot home run through the center field of the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
The Cuban attack did not stop there. In the second inning, Yadir Drake and Yadil Mujica hit consecutive hits and the Yumurino first baseman then scored on a groundout to Roel Santos’ infield. As if that were not enough, Moncada hit another home run to the right to leave the score 6-0.
In the fourth inning, Drake doubled back on base and went through the register thanks to an RBI shot from Roel. With the score 7-0, the Cuban offensive relaxed, although in total they hit 13 rockets against six Taipei launchers.
Along with the batting, the West Indian pitchers also gave an extraordinary demonstration. Starter Elián Leyva walked 2.1 scoreless innings at the rate of four strikeouts, but in the third he had to leave the game with a soreness in his pitching hand.
“I had some cramps in my arm because of the time I hadn’t worked and because of the humidity in this place, which is very high. I was able to make some adjustments to remove the innings, but I preferred to prevent and notify management of the inconvenience before putting the team at risk,” Leyva said in statements offered to journalist Roberto Ramírez.
Miguel Romero from Guantanamo entered Leyva’s place, who got the last two outs of the third inning with two strikeouts. From then on, the Cuban relay did the job. Romero himself liquidated 2.2 innings without allowing runs, while Onelki García and Liván Moinelo retired the nine batters they faced between the sixth and eighth.
Only Raidel Martínez from Pinar del Río faced complications in the bottom of the ninth and allowed a run on an infield hit by Wei-Chen Wang and a double run by Asian star Yu Chang.
Only Raidel Martínez faced complications in the bottom of the ninth and allowed a run on an infield hit by Wei-Chen Wang and an RBI double by Asian star Yu Chang. However, the man from Pinar del Río recovered and sealed the Cuban victory.
This result does not automatically eliminate Cuba, but it does place it in a very good position to sneak into the eight best teams of the World Classic for the fifth consecutive time. The outcome will depend on the duel between the Netherlands and Italy, which closes the group A actions in Taichung.
