Leones vs. Vegueros
Havana, Jul 14 (PL) Industriales took advantage of its home stadium and defeated Pinar del Río for the second consecutive day, this time with a 4-3 score, to tie the semifinal playoff of the Cuban baseball championship.
After falling twice on the clay of Capitán San Luis, the capital troop, supported by its demanding fans, rose from the ashes as it did against Santiago de Cuba to reach this stage and raised the temperature of the Western Classic.
A run in the very first chapter, unearned to the records of starter Mario Valle, and another in the third act towed by a long single by Yasmani Tomás, gave the hosts an advantage until the sixth episode.
There, Rafael Orlando Perdomo, who had hung five runs on the board with only one hit allowed, took three in a row, including a double by William Saavedra that brought two teammates home and evened the game.
At the end of the second third of the game, the Industriales took Valle out of the box and thanks to a sacrifice fly by the pinch hitter Angel Hechavarria, they took a minimum difference that lasted until the eighth inning.
In that inning, reliever Pavel Hernández hit a batter and allowed a pair of hits, one of them a RBI by Yaser Julio González, but that was all the right-hander allowed to get the credit.
The final run came in the bottom of the inning when Roberto Álvarez hit his second double of the night and scored for the fourth time, pushed by another sacrifice fly by Hechavarria.
Jenier Álvarez took the setback by accepting the run that defined the hard-fought confrontation.
Tomorrow Monday at 6:30 p.m. local time, both teams will play the fifth game of this best-of-seven duel at the same Havana Colosseum.