Photo: Roberto Morejón (Taken from JIT)
Havana, February 21 (RHC)-- The victories of Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba left the top of the 61st National Baseball Series intact this Sunday, in a day in which the most striking was the sweep of Mayabeque over Industriales.
At the Latin American Stadium, Michael Gonzalez's players won by a score of 6 to 4 on Saturday and 10 to 9 on Sunday, in a game that was fought until the last inning.
The victory went to the fourth and last pitcher used by the Mayabequense mentor, right-hander Marlon Vega, despite tolerating three runs, two of them clean, in 3.1 innings. It was the fourth victory for him in the contest.
The top hitters for the winners were Juan Manuel Martínez (6-4), Rafael Fonseca (4-2) and Luis Fernández (3-2), while Industriales were led by Andrés Hernández (5-3), Alberto Calderón (5-2) and Yasiel Santoya, the latter with a home run for the second consecutive day.
The Blue Jays used a total of eight shooters and the loss went to Erick González, who in 2.2 innings allowed three runs, one of which was clean.
The Hurricanes continue to have a tremendous start to the season, with 13 hits and six losses, and are in third place in the standings.
However, the good moment should not be stained with inappropriate actions. In the last game, three players from this team were sent off: Lázaro Martínez, Yadián Martínez and Juan Carlos Hernández. Inappropriate words and wardrobe, plus protests for out plays, were the causes.
The other sweeps of the weekend were by Matanzas over Isla de la Juventud, Villa Clara over Artemisa and Las Tunas over Granma.
The Cocodrilos overcame the Piratas 14x2, in a game in which Javier Camero hit the ball out of the park for the winners. Armando Ferrer's students have four smiles in a row.
Pedro Jova's Azucareros won 5x1 against the Cazadores and Pablo Civil's Leñadores defeated the Granma champions 9x3, with another run by Rafael Viñales.
Santiago de Cuba resumed the path of victory by putting the Tigres de Ciego de Avila out of action. Yoelkis Guibert (SCU) and Yudiel González got balls out of Guillermón Moncada Park, while Luis Fonseca earned his eighth save of the season.
The Camagüey Toros defeated Holguín 4x3, with José Ramón Rodríguez's third hit; and Cienfuegos did the same with Pinar del Río 9x6. Hermes Gonzalez tasted his fourth victory and the westerner Yasser Julio Gonzalez homered. The Vegueros used eight pitchers.
The ninth sub-series of the competition, whose preliminary stage will end in May, will begin on Tuesday.
